St Jude's Infirmary - Little Sparta

I’m not sure what to make of St. Jude’s Infirmary. One minute they’re rattling around like Johnny Cash on a bad acid trip, shouting “v-v-vampires”, the next they appear to be some kind of fey after-school assembly band, with keyboards atop laps whilst needlessly clutching gimmicky lyric sheets. On record though, the Edinburgh quintet are more consistent and Little Sparta is the first taste from their forthcoming second album. It certainly sounds a more polished effort with Arcade Fire-esque production built around a Peter Hook-ish bass riff, but the vocal melody sounds lazy and despite several listens, it unfortunately evades any kind of cerebral penetration. [Michael Collins]