Cut Off Your Hands

Despite receiving a respectable level of pre-release buzz, New Zealand's Cut Off Your Hands aren't doing their rep any favours with this generally bland Brit-centric debut. Produced by Bernard Butler (ex-Suede), You and I is ultimately the kind of generic, inoffensive record that won't be remembered for being particularly good or bad. It has its moments — "Heartbreak" is the kind of majestic, Weezer-esque power ballad that's incredibly fun to get lost in. But there's a pervasive stench of grating adolescence that can't be shaken, exemplified by dorm room rockers "Oh Girl" and "Expectations." Roping in ex-Smiths and Morrissey henchman Stephen Street to produce a song ("Turn Cold") doesn't help either, as the end product is basically "This Charming Man" stripped of anything that makes it good.