Have to be honest, I was a bit wary of Idlewild, and approaching this album. Without really having listened to them, I was in danger of having formed the definition opinion on them. And it wasn’t going to be good. Another brash bunch of youngster, doing the manic pop punk sort of Ash indie rock crossover thingie, who would use the rock press as it suited them, but be dismissive of the rock audience when it suited them. That’s just the way it was coming across to me. Which is why you should never really believe anything you read, even in a zine, and should always ultimately make your own mind up on something and give a chance. Which is what I decided to try and do here. I don’t always manage that, cos I can be as hypocritical as the next person. But this is my chance to them.

Hope Is Important is the debut, and with 12 songs in 35 minutes, some of my initial fears were going to be well founded so it seems. And that’s the way it went. I’ve tried hard to find something to get excited about here, but I’ve failed. It’s good and it’s competent, but at the moment I can’t see why some people are regarding them as amongst the brightest hopes in British music.

There seems to be two formula’s, the thrashy fast song, and the slower more melancholic version. And in songs such as A Film for The Future and Everyone Says You’re So Fragile there is a lot of potential.

But for the most part it just all merges into one. I’m not noticing the difference between songs, though for some reason REM spring to mind on Safe and Sound.

Idlewild may be the future of British music, but this is the present, and at present, they still have some way to go

Available on Food Records.