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4 out of 10
Ormskirk quartet The Steeples look like they were in the same class as The Kooks the Brits School - curly hair, scraggy cardigans, trilbies and all. And from the sound of 'Alley Girl' they copied their homework as well. They've won the praises of 'Maxim', the 'News Of The World' and style mag 'NYLON' (Make of that what you will) with their combination of traditional Scouse jingle jangle and a variation of One Night Only's diluted Libertines indie-pop. They sound retro even though The Libertines only disbanded in 2004 and The Coral are still going. Only The Coral can get away with sounding like The Coral and that's because they write better songs than most people, while there's no excuse in 2008 for a Liverpool band to still sound like The Las (As The Steeples do on 'Tori') when there are the likes of Hot Club de Paris, Indica Ritual and aPAtT to copy now, or even the more straightforward pop of Elle 'sappelle.
Opener 'Britney's Tears' is not about Ms Spears, which is a shame because it might be more interesting if it was. Instead it, like the rest of 'Tea For Two' is full of the obligatory, indie-working-class-hero references to clubs, bus stops, the 9-to-5, junkies and encounters with a string of girls with names like Betty, Lucy and Tori which are easy to rhyme. 'Soldier Dance' is a rambling indie-meets-music hall update (?) of 'Too Much Too Young', while frontman Andy Culshaw's yelps are indecipherable on the folksy 'Kickin' Off The Shackles'.
I'm glad that the Arctic Monkeys have started working on their third album already, because then they can show up the identikit indie, like this, that's come in their wake. The only exceptions are when guitarist Dan Rankin takes the mic on 'Do But I Don't', a touching little ballad, and the unselfconscious "woah-oh-ohs" of 'On The Run'.
Listen: www.myspace.com/thesteeplesmusic
Tracklist:
1. Britney's Tears
2. Tori
3. Bus Stop
4. Betty Kitten
5. Soldier Dance
6. Alley Girl
7. Loosy Lucy
8. Do But I Don't
9. Heart On A Sleeve
10. Kickin' Off The Shackles
11. Denny Ding Dong
12. On The Run
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