Klaxons Myths of the Near Future

Already one of the most talked about records of 2007, the debut album from London's Klaxons is rapidly becoming the most polarising. To its admirers Myths Of The Near Future is a much needed breath of fresh air, an energetic, genre-defying beast. Critics on the other hand, have held it up as the ultimate style over substance album, a disappointing product at the end of a carefully calculated marketing campaign.

But who do you believe? Is it time to embrace the hype or join in the backlash? Well, neither actually.

First things first, if you're familiar with any of the singles - that's Atlantis to Interzone, Gravity's Rainbow, Magick and latest offering, Golden Skans - then you've already sampled the best that Myths Of The Near Future has to offer. Klaxons may owe a significant number of column inches to their involvement in the new rave debacle but don't underestimate the role that these four gems played in their rise to prominence.

Elsewhere, the band makes a few valiant attempts to match the level of these standouts. The much publicised cover of Grace's It's Not Over Yet manages to sound sincere and fun at the same time, while foreboding opener Two Receivers, a glorious combination of taut drumming, arpeggiated keys, and pulsating bass, is perhaps the band's most mature number to date.

But for each of Myths' highs, there is a corresponding low. The frantic Totem on the Timeline is a busy, up tempo tune with the grating vocal hook "At club 18-30 I met Julius Caesar, Lady Diana and Mother Theresa". The term filler was invented for dross like this. Klaxons' attempt at an epic centrepiece Isle of Her is equally uninspiring. Imagine Bloc Party on a bad trip and you won't be too far off. Forgotten Works has a cracking funk bass line but for all the grandiose production, there's not enough else going on to support it.

With Klaxons related hyperbole dominating every 2007 preview going, Myths of the Near Future never really stood a chance at measuring up to expectations. But while it's far from a classic debut, there's enough good material here to ensure Myths is not a failure either. At their energetic best, Klaxons remain ten times more interesting than Kasabian et al, and if they can fashion some of the better ideas from early singles into a consistent second album then a bright - maybe even Day-Glo - future awaits them.