After a prolonged hiatus, Midlands 'lad-rockers' The Twang return to the airwaves this summer with the altogether more thoughtful, grown up sounds of Barney Rubble. It marks a departure from the bands 'Madchester' aping debut album as they take the sound of their 2007 single "Either Way" and take away all the layers, exposing a simple little pop song which is nowhere near as awful as what I was expecting..... but that's not to say it's a good song.

The first thought that immediately popped into my head upon pressing play was how eerily similar the song sounded to Doves classic indie pop anthem 'There Goes The Fear'. The structure, expansive sound and general vibe of Barney Rubble has taken more than a little influence from the Mancunian alt-heroes most popular song and it's a fact that never really let me see the song on it's own terms without comparing it to it's vastly superior bedfellow.

For a start, the chorus is nowhere near as strong as it needs to be. The backing vocals sound like they belong on a Take That record and although I'm sure the sentiment is heartfelt, the lyrics just don't punch through with the immediacy that's required in a song earmarking itself for anthem status. The lack of any dynamics in the song is a let down too and the repetitive, looped guitar lines grow stale after the first minute.

On the plus side it's a great sounding single with a crisp, lively production which at least means it'll sound at home on radio even if it doesn't really belong there.

A pretty boring song then but at least the Twang appear to be not quite as awful as they once were.