No messing, it’s straight in with the title track, and it’s upbeat guitar-led power-pop. The vocals are clear and crisp and the guitars are chugging and crunchy but also quite produced. Ok, so the cynic in me can’t help but think it’s a bit Busted / McFly. Then a rather incongruous keyboard line jumps in late in the track and there’s a touch of Midge Ure era Ultravox and 80s synthpop that sits a little oddly. This continues noodling in the background of ‘Brake! Brake!’ is it, as the band claim, ‘a full-on rock monster, retaining the agility of US bands like Fall Out Boy while heading in a harder, faster direction’? Well, perhaps the latter is true, but I’d not really describe it as being particularly full-on or fulfilling the criteria for a ‘rock monster,’ but hey. It’s innocuous and fun enough.
The same is true of the rest of the album. It’s largely one tempo, with many of the songs following the same kind of blueprint. The lead single, ‘Drive to the City’ stands out by virtue of some terrible early 90s dance style piano that would even make D:Ream cringe, and truly nasty disco drum machine beats and modulated vocals to boot. What were they thinking? I can’t help but wonder if the story that they parted company and made the decision to release their forthcoming releases completely independently was entirely a matter of choice.
‘This Isn’t Hollyood’ fulfils the function of ‘obligatory ballad,’ complete with falsetto notes, sweeping synths and a lighter-waving chorus.
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It’s back to business with the bouncy ‘Save Me Now,’ which again balances punk-pop guitars, chirpy vocals and retro keyboards a-go-go. I can’t decide if it’s an altogether successful mix. Racing onwards through the remainder of the tracks – which are all much of a muchness – to the closer ‘Forget About It’ is something of a blur.
The album’s closer sees something of a shift as the dance element comes to the fore, and I’m left wondering precisely what I make of it all. It’s a rather different take on the boyband with guitars thing we’ve all grown accustomed to, and credit’s definitely due to Go:Audio for forging a different kind of blend of elements that have been heard a million times before. And it’s good fun, and with 10 tracks clocking in at precisely 36 minutes, ‘Made Up Stories’ doesn’t outstay its welcome. I’d be unlikely to rush out to buy it myself, but nor would any of the tracks on the album make me want to smash my radio if they came on while I was cooking the dinner. Believe me, given much of what I hear on the radio at the moment, that’s a considerable compliment.
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