Freebass

On paper, Freebass sound like an interesting proposition. Bringing together New Order's Peter Hook, the Smiths' Andy Rourke and the Stone Roses' Mani should, in theory, produce something memorable. But in practice, it's all rather underwhelming. The band appear to agree, deciding to call it a day before their debut album was even released ― not a good sign. It's A Beautiful Life is a big, sloppy mess of a record. The biggest problem is that while most would expect it to be crammed full of guitar-driven anthems, it isn't. There's very little of the Smiths and pretty much nothing that sounds like New Order (apart from the occasional bass line), but there are some songs that hint at the Stone Roses' unfortunate second album. Peculiarly, the best moments are reminiscent of the Cure ("The God Machine") or a multitude of early '90s jangly pop bands like the High ("Not Too Late"). Also included is a bonus disc that has songs from the band's EPs; it turns out they might have been wiser to call it a day after those because the songs hold up better, especially in the hands of remixer Arthur Baker.