Courteeners: Concrete Love

They've sold enough gig tickets to be deemed a "band of the people", and the likes of Noel Gallagher and Morrissey have publicly extolled their virtues. Still, Courteeners have never quite won over critics. Their fourth album is unlikely to change that, largely because Concrete Love fails to offer anything beyond their anthemic indie-rock. Admittedly, Liam Fray coins the odd nifty lyric, as when he pokes fun at his so-called arrogant image on International: "You wanna talk about cocky? I'm like Muhammad Ali tag-teamed with Rocky". Even so, the Manchester four-piece present little more than the surging guitars and power choruses heard on How Good It Was and Saboteur. The Arcade Fire-style flourish of horns on Small Bones is promising, but it's not quite enough to make these perfectly passable songs remarkable in any way. thecourteeners.com

Download: Small Bones, Dreamers