New Cassettes - ‘The Art Of…’

Have some tantalising dots and an allusion to creativity in an album title ever been so much of a red herring? Northampton's New Cassettes may have got off to a flying start – festivals'n'ace supports galore, lovable label patronage, that sort of thing – but they've sadly sullied it with a debut that shoots at the most beerily banal elements of indie and rock's most dispiritingly chart-lionising traits, peppered with only occasional flashes of charm, though even the compulsive windmilling of 'Carnivals', the almost Futureheadsy rush of 'Recover/Retreat' and the urgently skipping 'Lucille' aren't enough to make this a release worth rewinding...