The Bronx - The Bronx (III)

Three eponymous albums into their career and The Bronx still sound pretty much as they did when their eponymous debut came out. Eponymous second album The Bronx was met with reasonable acclaim, paving the way for this, the eponymous third album The Bronx. However, as with the album names, most of this material is entirely interchangeable. That's not to say it's bad, but save for some very slightly more grandiose moments of melody on the newer stuff, you might be forgiven for thinking the band would surely get a little bored of that same, gruff, full-tilt, punk-n-roll thing they've been kicking out since 2002. Opener Knifeman is pretty entertaining and Past Lives sits nicely alongside the classic White Drugs. Basically it’s a solid, if acutely predictable, rock album. Perhaps 2009's scheduled fourth album – tentatively entitled El Bronx (sorry, no translation available) - will take a few more musical chances. [Chris Cusack]