Audio Bully's - 'Generation' (Virgin) Released 31/10/05

Welcome to the world of the Audio Bully’s – a place where decks, music, lights, clubs cities, drugs and chicks are order of the day. Fuck, it sounds like a damn cool place to be. Sadly though, with this, their second long-player, they once again foray into eclecticism fusing house, hip-hop, quirky samples, chunky beats and clever lyrics together yet still manage to sound a tad tired.

An unerring drawback is Simon Frank’s almost omnipresent, lazy drawl that permeates throughout many tracks. The nonchalance may be vaguely charismatic, yet the cockney chap telling us about life on the streets in almost spoken word ditties has surely already been covered? Definitely an acquired taste then, that some will get sick of by track ten. But, despite this, there’s little doubting ‘Generation’ is a slickly produced work. ‘Keep On Moving’ is all smooth-as-fuck grooves, the title track blends old school synths with nicely warped acid-tinged bass lines. Similarly the unhinged ‘Eq-ing’ is all Alter Ego-esque bleeps, arrogant vocals and uncompromising beats. ‘All Sing Along’ is schizophrenic, cheeky and fun, while the album highlight ‘I Won’t Let You Down’ is buoyed by an inspired, clubby bass line and tantalising breakdowns. Gurntastic stuff, indeed.

Elsewhere, guest appearances from Suggs on the distinctly average ‘If This Road’ and the don of UK hip hop Roots Manuva on the voluminous ‘Made Like That’ – whose appearance serves to remind us how many leagues ahead he is of Mr Frank – fail to lift the album significantly. Perhaps a saving grace is that the Bully’s do give us a slightly remixed version of the Nancy Sinatra sampling ‘Shot You Down’ that’s been dominating the airwaves recently. True, it’s an inspired sample, yet the tune is just dire.