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Electric Soft Parade: The American Adventure


Electric Soft Parade were last year’s Athlete: a smashing group of blokes playing cheerfully uncomplicated indie pop. Accordingly, their splendid debut, Holes in the Wall, garnered a Mercury Music Prize nomination.

Clearly, such modest achievements are not considered sufficient as they head into the “difficult” second album territory. Consequently, The American Adventure is a transparent attempt to catapult the band into the meaningful rock elite. So, while Hole in the Wall was immediate, this new album rewards repeated listening. Where ESP used to exude exuberance, they now sound decidedly downbeat. And where they used to keep it simple, they are now desperate to experiment.

Surprisingly, the whole thing works. The cut-and-shunt, three-songs-in-one title track is a step too far, but otherwise their refusal