Larsen B – Musketeer

Arriving on a wave of approval from a sea of taste-makers, Larsen B – named after an Antarctic ice shelf – dream of the stars but wake up in stained sheets with their debut album. The songs are melodious, dexterously orchestrated and in frontman Paddy Smith they have a rhymester with great potential. Yet Musketeer can be summed up by only one word: nice.

Good manners are to be encouraged in society, but ‘nice’ can leave a sour taste in the mouth when it summarises a tune. Opening couplet Codeine and Marilyn show great promise, but a pale Grandaddy imitation on Robots Learn To Love stunts the album’s progress. The whimsy becomes unbearable on the Ray Davies doting Red Indians And Witches, and in Stitch the band is so saccharine it’s the musical equivalent of stuffing your face with ten bags of candyfloss. Being sick? Not quite so nice. [Alan Souter]