The Apples – Fly On It

Israeli 'post-funk' band The Apples are obviously a tight band, trading funk licks on drums, bass, turntables, trumpet, trombone and sax with finely-honed precision. There are occasional highlights on this album, but rather than being standout tracks, they are isolated moments of brilliance – the dextrous scratching on the title track, the driving, sampledelic soul shoutouts of Thang, the loose, splashy jazz drums of Do The Car Horn.

Taken as a whole though, the professionalism and ability of The Apples' musicians is what makes Fly On It so instantly forgettable. There's no sense of pushing any kind of musical boundary; no feeling that the band want to create or explore new forms. They do what they do very well, and arguably the world's lounge bars and summer music festivals need bands like this; creating solid, good-time music. Unfortunately, a whole album of the stuff is dangerously close to muzak, and shows a complete lack of innovation. There's nothing 'post-' about Fly On It. It's funk, straight up. You'll either love it or be indifferent. [Bram Gieben]