New Order - 'Waiting For The Sirens Call' (London Recordings) Released 28/03/05

The former Joy Division and recently crowned Godlike Genius’ return to the fray with a rabbit punch of an album that reminds us quite how important they are. After the world success of 2001’s ‘Get Ready’ Hooky and co resume almost exactly where they left off. The first thing that strikes you about this LP is the welcome return of dance floor rousers, conspicuous by their absence on the afore-mentioned ‘Get Ready’.

‘Who’s Joe?’ starts proceedings and is a perfect slice of electro indie pop shot with just a hint of mancunian melancholy. The strangest thing about a New Order LP is it always seems like they’ve been away for ages but upon listening you feel they’ve somehow always been by your side. The title track ‘Waiting For The Sirens Call’ is really quite superb Bernard’s “I won’t desert you...” refrain fits with this ideology beautifully and is the first appearance of a proper Hooky bassline.

The recent single ‘Krafty’ follows and is a delight, yes it’s just another piece of perfect pop from the Mancunican synthsters but just ask yourself how incredible that can be. “Gimme one chance, gimme another night…” croons Bernard and on this form just who exactly wouldn’t? It’s not entirely faultless though, ‘I Told You So’ is a slow burning reggae inspired groove that has more in common with early nineties Swedish poptarts Ace Of Base than The Maytals, and is actually quite funny when it should be menacing. Things do pick up again with ‘Morning Night & Day’ which has a chorus so poppy it’s practically made of opium and a banker to be their next single. Electro beats clash beautifully with a classic Hooky bassline to dazzling effect.

Elsewhere on the LP highlights include ‘Jetstream’, ‘Guilt Is A Useless Emotion’ and the stomping finale ‘Working Overtime’. The guys (and gal) aren’t doing anything particularly new or breaking fresh ground with ‘Waiting For The Sirens Call’ but do they have to? With the likes of The Killers and The Bravery tipping their hats (or copying their sound, you decide) the Manchester contingent have come out blasting to show the Americans that they were doing it first. This record is not likely to save your life, but certainly has the power to heal. Keep em coming guys…