Album: Band of Skulls, Sweet Sour (Electric Blues)

With the resurgence of interest in classic 1970s-style heavy blues-rock following The Black Keys' success, Southampton power-trio Band of Skulls have been tipped for success.

And when this latest album opens with a big amp-switch noise, it sounds like a statement of high-wattage, analogue intent. But oddly, "Sweet Sour" fails to bear out that promise, the band diluting the leaden trudge of tracks like "The Devil Takes Care of His Own" and "Bruises" by sweetening with cross-gender harmonies, and elsewhere heading off in directions which recall instead The Cure ("Navigate") and the pastoral fatalism of Pink Floyd ("Lay My Head Down", "Hometowns").

It's pleasant enough – and I prefer the more experimental stuff – but somehow lacks the cutting edge.

Download this: Sweet Sour; Hometowns; You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin' On