The new Audrey Horne album suffers from the exact same problems as their previous record No Hay Banda, which is that it’s simply not good enough at being original. Now No Hay Banda may have been released in ‘05 but it still gets a lot of repeat plays in the McGrath homestead, or at least parts of it do (“Crust,” “Deadhorse,” “Weightless”) and it’s certainly going to be the same deal with Le Fol.

While it is a good record with some solid tunes on there overall it’s simply a bit disappointing and it’s surely not a classic. Which is unfortunate because I’m in doubt whatsoever that Audrey Horne have a great record in them somewhere. They just haven’t written it yet. It may seem harsh to judge them this way, but why accept second best when you know they can do better. In the meantime ‘Le Fol’ does have some good songs on there, just like the previous album and you’d definitely go out and see them live if they were playing in your town. They’re not going to feature in any end of year polls though.

Right so, some of the one’s you will keep going back to include “Afterglow” which features some really cool vocals courtesy of Toschie and “Jaws,” which, rolls along on a typically rocking roll and features some nice staccato singing. Again the Faith No More touches are evident in the explosive choruses (“Last Chance For A Serenade,” “In The End”). Musically, it’s a kind of classic-post-grunge, alternative rock mix, with Toschie’s vocals retaining their Norwegian accent, thus adding a certain sweetness to them. Audrey Horne (named after the character in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks) favour the big release sounding chorus, arms wide open, pleading with the sky type of thing. A little Soundgarden, a bit of Faith No More.

However, “Pretty Girls Make Graves” suffers by having a vocal line which tries to reanimate the long dead vocal chords of Alice In Chains’ Layne Staley – the mechanical guitar riff also calls them to mind, therefore rendering the song anathema to many. “Bright Lights” again calls to mind Faith No More and this once again is the essence of what makes Audrey Horne poor.

Yes, in parts they’ve got their own sound – especially when Toschie lets rip with his own true voice – but that the sound like too many early/mid-90s bands that you grew up listening to. A modern, nostalgia act for people in their mid-to-late twenties and early thirties.

www.audreyhornemusic.com