The Ramona Flowers - Part Time Spies
6/10
'There's a wolf, that lives inside of me' sings Steve Bird in opening track Dirty World, a cautionary tale of ethical dilemmas within the city, nodding references to both 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street and 1987's Oliver Stone classic, Wall Street. Later, the pacy Run Like Lola presents a contemporary twist on the struggle for identity, drawing inspiration from Tom Tykwer's 1998 German thriller Run Lola Run.
Musically the band is fighting too, to bridge a chronological chasm, and whilst Bird's soaring falsetto attacks like Simon Le Bon forging past Friendly Fires, White Lies, and La Roux, elsewhere spirits of OMD and Depeche Mode are readied and prepared for battle.
And herein lies the problem of Part Time Spies. It somehow tries too hard to be both retro and modern, hygienically clean yet gritty and honest, lyrically purposeful whilst maintaining lightness and warmth.
Two years ago the music press were similarly confused by the band's debut, Dismantle and Rebuild, citing elements of Thom Yorke and Bono lurking amidst the synths. The Ramona Flowers today still sound like a band with something to say, but unable or unwilling to strike away from a formulaic sound that fails to distinguish.
6/10
