They say the sophomore slump is an uphill battle; these words have never been truer than with the release of Reading based band ‘Pete & the Pirates’ new album ‘A Thousand Pictures’. After the critical reception of their first album, great things were expected from the indie boys, but it seems that they have failed to deliver results.
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Technically the album can’t be faulted; it contains everything that a good British indie album should have, depressing subject matter and the upbeat sound to go with it. For some reason however, it just has no spark. Perhaps it the way that the record feels like nothing new, just extra songs left off their old album. The band has seemed to have made literally no progression since their last album. Don’t get me wrong though, it is a good listen, but it lacks drive and gets boring and repetitive within a few songs.
On the upside though there are a few catchy songs that will leave you humming them after you have stopped listening, such as ‘Winter 1’ and ‘Shotgun’, which feels like it is inspired by White Lies. My recommendation is to buy the album if you aren’t familiar with the band, as it does have an overall good sound. If you own the first album though, it isn’t worth the money. Let’s hope their third album is a little more original.