Very few, if any young British acts have managed to polarise opinions in quite such a manner as The Blackout have, ever since they first burst out of South Wales armed with countless impressive support slots and those Toni and Guy approved haircuts. While it's not big and it's certainly not clever, the band's long awaited debut full-length, We are the Dynamite, is likely to ensure that their star continues on the ascendancy despite its questionable merits.

'I've Got Better Things To Do Tonight Than Die' ensures that the listener gets the drill early, with its generic screamed verses giving way to the inevitable melodic sing-along chorus. Covering the middle ground between the radio-friendly hooks of Lostprophets and the unwittingly clumsy brutishness of Limp Bizkit, it's a formula The Blackout aren't embarrassed to continually repeat throughout the eleven tracks on offer. Indeed, 'Prophets man Ian Watkins adds interest to proceedings midway through with his cameos on 'It's High Tide Baby!' and 'Murder In The Make-Believe Ballroom', but elsewhere the likes of 'I Know You Are, But What Am I?' and its cringe inducing "I wanna taste those lips / Why don't you shake those hips" refrain has the listener desperately reaching for the skip button after being presented with the unwelcome ghost of nu-metal past.

All in all, We are the Dynamite may well go on to sell by the bucket load, but it does little to go against naysayers claims that it's not a question of what you know, but a question of who.

Rating: 2/5 by Dan Jones

Tracklisting

1. Tick Tick Boom!!
2. I've Got Better Things To Do Tonight Than Die
3. I Know You Are, But What Am I?
4. Spread Legs Not Lies
5. The Beijing Cocktail
6. Murder In The Make-Believe Ballroom
7. Prepare For A Wound
8. It's High Tide Baby!
9. Tops Off Party!
10. She Is Macho
11. Life & Death In Space

Further links

Fierce Panda

Home of the mighty British indie label

The Blackout on Myspace.com

Home to rising Welsh rockers The Blackout