The Dears: No Cities Left

Herald rating: * *

Does Murray A. Lightburn not know that he sounds exactly like Morrissey on Lost In the Plot?

Oh, it has been pointed out many a time. Sorry. But if he's not sounding like Morrissey then it's Blur's Damon Albarn, or Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, or Paul Weller - when he yelped - back in the Jam days.

It's a shame the Dears are so blatant because there are some delightful moments on No Cities Left, such as the smoky organ and Lightburn's ambling, then dramatic singing on The Second Part, or the discordant rumble of Expect the Worst/Cos She's a Tourist.

But, where a band like Franz Ferdinand or the Bloc Party have enough originality of their own to comfortably rip off their favourite influences, the Dears just rip it off.

They even admit that, when forming back in Montreal in 1995, "spurred by cigarettes and too many pints", they spent their nights overanalysing Smiths records.

This assessment might sound harsh but it's so obvious it stinks and the music comes across as being as limp as those flowers that used to hang out of Morrissey's back pocket.

Label: Speak'N'Spell