The Courteeners: Falcon

To say that the Manchester quartet's new album represents a step forward from their 2008 debut is about as damning as faint praise gets. There's a development of sorts here but it extends only to leavening brash indie swagger with bolted-on string sections and heart-on-sleeve anthemics. You could hardly imagine a more literal-minded expression of the tough guy/sensitive soul conflict than "Take Over the World", which hitches terrace-style backing vocals to piano-driven MOR. And lyrically, introspection just isn't a good fit for chief Courteener Liam Fray; barely a verse goes past which isn't hamstrung by some clunking sentiment.