Boisterous teen four-piece Thee Unstrung recorded their debut album in the summer but it's not out till the New Year. Meanwhile this EP jumble-sale of musical styles and derivative swagger is suffering from an ever-slipping release date too.

It's not hard to see why - the title track is by-the-numbers jangly pop-punk that slips by nicely enough, but by the deja-vu opening of My Friends, second up, you'll be wishing Shed Seven had staged a comeback instead.

Some very small highs follow, like an incongruous polka-esque intro juxtaposed with the lyrics, "My friend's doing crack and I hope that it buries him" on A Masters in Drug Taking. But there are more gently mild lows, like Do Dum De Dum Do, which is every bit as bland as the title implies.

Release date: December 12, 2005.

Mark Horne