The Xcerts - Do You Feel Safe?
[Mannequin Republic]

Bands like The Xcerts could be found flat-packed at IKEA, so contrived, mass-produced and identical is the tired-and-bland sound they toss out before us.

From the wannabe stadium sized guitars and passable melody (which you will have already forgotten before the song even ends), things couldn't get any more dull... could they? Not unless you count a frontman who gets a bit throaty in the chorus, to try and pull off a passionate / emotional front that wouldn't fool even the stupidest of listeners.

Ok, they do alright on the catchy radio side of safe indie, but when there are so many bands pulling off the "insta-hit" sound (with much better results) already, it will hardly register on the radars. Let's just say, Do You Feel Safe? isn't quite the track you'd find on top of your Last.fm playlist. A disappointment, when compared to the wealth of great indie singles out this week.