Beady Eye - BE

Whilst the majority of time spent by Oasis fans when browsing upon anything done by its alumni is now concentrated on ripping apart everything Liam Gallagher says and does, the sheer media presence - whether that's down to genuine charisma or a tedious knack for slagging off everything relevant in NME interviews - of Beady Eye means it's unlikely that anything they release will go ignored.

Which is a shame really, because I'd rather not remember Different Gear, Still Speeding: 2011's debut from the Manchester gods. Aside from the magnificent closer The Morning Sun and promising single Four Letter Word, it was sadly a torrid stream of Beatles ripoffs and boredom. And that's coming from someone who denies the majority of Oasis' work was totally derivative: not a popular opinion sometimes.

Straight away we're in familiar territory, with an incredibly strong album opening from 'Flick of the Finger'. Bold, brassy and assured, it takes full advantage of producer Dave Sitek's (of TV on the Radio fame) ear for fine orchestration, and puts Gallagher in the perfect position to sneer and snarl his way through a fine single. In fact, Gallagher's writing contributions to this album are often the strongest - which is a promising sign of maturity and development from a man more known for relying on his brother's talents. 'Soul Love' is a hushed and dark acoustic number that shares more in common with 90s Radiohead than 90s Oasis. A pleasant surprise. Guitarist Andy Bell then takes charge on the much more standard fare 'Face the Crowd', which plods along hoping that its riffs are catchy enough to do the talking. They aren't. Gem Archer's first of three solo contributions is 'Second Bite of the Apple', another brassy and fun track with tongue-in-cheek lyrics ("tickle my feet with the NME"). But his second - 'Iz Rite' - is a thoroughly shameless indulgence in nostalgia, basically begging to be a sitcom themesong where some Northerners mill about family life with much giggles.

If there's a message to 'Soon Come Tomorrow', it's lost on me. A busker's take on the impermanence of life, perhaps. Bell also offers up 'I'm Just Saying', and it's the strongest counterweight against the album's intention to ditch the past and begin again. A real cluster of lyrical cliches and dull britpop. The track most of the tabloids will warm to because of its title is 'Don't Brother Me', a 7 minute acoustic diss with otherwise pretty moments. It ends with the perhaps sarcastic 'give peace a chance' (there goes another Lennonbomb), before a 3 minute outro of sitars and shuffles steals the show.

Thus, 'Shine a Light' is given the task of fighting back from a natural closer. A jagged, static ball of energy, it's a fantastic wake up call and gives the band another modern, grand pedestal to perform upon. Disappointingly, they're followed by the schmalzy and unoriginal 'Ballroom Figured' and wistfully beige 'Start Anew'.

There are positives to take from this: the band are moving away from the retro-love and have opened up to the idea of different genres and production styles. And they still perform extremely well: Gallagher in particular has lost none of his presence. For the timebeing however, BE is a very small and very shy step in the right direction.

Rating: 6/10
Highlights: Shine a Light; Flick of the Finger; Don't Brother Me; Soul Love
Avoid: I'm Just Saying; Face the Crowd; Iz Rite

Artwork Watch: Boobs! On an album cover! Could this possibly get some attention!
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