Feeder: 'We Are The People'

If you happened to bump into Feeder at your local corner shop, would you recognise them? They may have a seemingly endless string of Top 40 hits and a couple of platinum albums to their name, but in terms of pizazz and personality the band score lower marks than a British Eurovision entrant. So with the Welsh trio prepping themselves for album number six, should we still be blowing our hard-earned cash on their chugging indie-rock tunes?

Well, if 'We Are The People' is anything to go on, the answer is a resounding "No!" The first proper single from forthcoming LP Silent Cry, it follows the predictable rock-by-numbers formula of previous records Comfort In Sound and Pushing The Senses. The stodgy guitars, over-the-top feedback effects and dreary lyrics are inoffensive enough to guarantee plenty of airplay, but that's pretty much it. Singer Grant Nicholas has described 'People' as "sonically uplifting" and a "call to arms", but he's clearly listening to a different song to the rest of us.