Some secrets should stay secret
At times on this album Age's sound feels almost impossible to pin down but not in a good way, from bombastic rock tunes, some of which are really good, to a horrible pop ballad ('Standing At The Side'), which sounds like something West Life or some other boy band would come out with, to a couple of dreadful covers of 80s pop classics, the album hits you with enough curve balls that you're not sure by the end whether this is the same band all the way through.
To start with the album is far too long at 14 tracks and would literally be a 100 percent better record with the dodgy tracks removed, basically the aforementioned 'Standing At The Side', 'Call Me Al' and 'Vienna' to start with. It's hard to believe the same musicians came up with these tracks and then turned out the fantastic opener 'The Perfect Consumer' which is an anthemic gem with a touch of quirky guitar a soaring chorus, rousing vocal delivery and catchy sing along sections. When I reviewed them back in 2009 I descried their sound as "lying somewhere between the slightly punky raw catchiness of Jetplane Landing and the melodic rock of Gratitude" and I stick by that as their best tunes still have those qualities, I do though feel genuinely confused by the inclusion of those weaker tracks which should never have been included.
This record contains the five good tunes from their 2009 EP "Useless Souvenirs", but also a few other decent ones; with the already mentioned opener, its follow up 'Reload' and the (slightly cheesy but) rocking 'No Sleep' amongst others, there are plenty of decent moments to be had. Trimmed down to the essentials this could be a great record, in its current form the curve balls unsettle and pull you out of the moment.