Sine Star Project - Building Humans

Lazy comparisons to Muse are too easy to make here, but too irresistible to ignore. Sporting all the grandiosity of Matt Bellamy and an even cooler surname, singer PJ Croissant conducts a vast array of instruments from guitars and synth to a full brass band with his dramatic, attention deficit falsetto. The Southampton outfit's music has a clear agenda to surprise, and the first few listens do just that. On Post-human, a ropey staccato bridge is rumbled by funky bass, plummeting with a drum fill into a soaring existentialist chorus; just one of countless unexpected thrills. The only problem is shelf life, as with time some of these moments lose their magic and reveal disappointing ingredients like the glammed up Chelsea Dagger-like chorus on single Bleeding Like a Dog. With Building Humans, Sine Star Project prove they know how to smash and grab attention, now they just need to work on holding onto it. [Shaun Love]