Lyrically anyway.

It's like sixth-form poetry, or a naive teenager getting into the Smiths for the first time. I mean, Know your Enemy sounded like the deranged scribblings of a serial killer, but surely that's more entertaining than "Pointless jobs just lead to pointless lives."

I hate to say this, because they're a band I've always had a lot of time for (though since Richey disappeared, no matter how good the music's been they have been a bit like a jet running with a faulty engine).. but there's a of them writing music to fit their label's demands. I don't expect them to write the next Holy Bible being fortysomething dads like their more insane fans do, but it seems like they've gone back to writing sub-Phil Collins material after hints on Journal for Plague Lovers they could be capable of so much more.