Hadouken! - Declaration Of War

Nu-ravers Hadouken! are playing with people's childhoods. For many, the band's name will be sacrosanct: harking back to a time when whether Ryu could out-combo Ken on the SNES was the only bone of contention in their simple lives. But if their choice of name tries to refashion an institution, then single Declaration of War conversely refuses to modernize anything. Its main ingredients are cheap synths, 'retro' 16 bit samples and whiney vocals - occasionally usurped by some grisly Scooter-ish 'rapping' - cooked up into a lacklustre, stomach-churning gruel. There's nothing wrong with retrogression, but the good ship Hadouken! sailed a long time ago. [Finbarr Bermingham]