Cold Dog Soup - The Spider and The Fly EP

A word of warning: if you're arachnophobic, opt for finding this online because the artwork won't go down well. As for the song, it does little to distract from the never-ending 90s Britpop revival. Sounding very much like something Oasis might have stuck on as an early B-side to Shakermaker, there's little new here, and while the guitars are menacing and the vocals suitably dour, the songs typically build up to a dull, flat chorus. There's obviously a talented guitarist lurking in here, but his riffs are more than the rest of the songs can handle, and the funky bass breakdowns can sit rather awkwardly. Perhaps they're simply inhibited by their production; with a bit more thought this could have been a fine EP, but as it is, it barely hangs together. [Heather Crumley]