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Difficult to believe as it may be now, there was once a time when the Wonderstuff sat astrode the Brit music zeitgeist like lanky-haired colossi. Four very good albums and a series of brilliant indie-punk singalong singles (think Razorlight only like not completely shit), they bowed out at their peak in 1995 and that was that.
Except, as you might've guessed, it wasn't. Two years ago singer Miles Hunt reformed the band (albeit with only himself and guitarist Malcolm Treece remaining from the original line-up) and hence we get a new album. Which is not so good.
Essentially, "Escape From Rubbish Island" is the work of a more grown-up Wonderstuff and, considering that the mainstay of their appeal before was their ability to coat barbed lyrics in joyful singalong tunes, it's not something that sits easily. Occasionally, the plainitive likes of "Better Get Ready For A Fist-Fight" and "Another Comic Tragedy" evoke some interest but this is the sound of a group having comprehensively lost their collective sense of humour and wallowing in misery instead. A shame.
Rating: 5/10
Reviewed by Andy James
