The Young Knives: 'Up All Night'

Ashby-de-la-Zouch rockers The Young Knives have been as anonymous as their Leicestershire hometown in recent months. The momentum built by their Voices of Animals and Men album at the end of 2006 has all but disappeared. Where once they seemed capable of taking Futureheads-style jerk-rock to the mainstream, they now look destined for the indie scrapheap.

'Up All Night' finds them ditching the drug-influenced lyrics and murky slant of 'Terra Firma', their last single, for a power-pop anthem laying into vain, inane fashionistas – a clear attempt to rescue the band's ailing chart fortunes. While the trio's bitterly sarcastic asides about the music biz are appealing spirited, they tell us nothing we don't already know. The tune, meanwhile, waddles along over a tight but predictable guitar riff, failing to spark into their usual mix of wiry, clashing guitars. But, perhaps worse than all of this, The Young Knives just don't sound like a 'new' band anymore. Rather than offering a sum of their influences, they've become mere imitators, with this single sounding more like Supergrass B-side than a top 20 hit in waiting.