Client: Command

British electronic music has had its ups and downs over the years but never has it sounded so uninspiring as it does right now.

Command is Client's fourth studio album but you wouldn't think it, not when it sounds as amateurish and cliché as this.

Introductory track Your Love Is Like Petrol is nothing but overblown by-the-numbers indie-synth-pop and seems a little too proud of itself. It relies way too heavily on repetition and an overly unattractive baseline to get through to its finish, starting the record off on a meandering stumble rather than a sprightly jog.

Every single moment of the more hyperactive material falls flat in one way or another and it's only when we hit the lesser-tempo tracks that we're given a break from all of the cheesy generics. Don't Run Away burns hauntingly, shedding any form of over-elaborate nonsense from previous songs and it actually comes across as impressive instead of off-putting. The vocals still grate and it's not exactly outstanding but comparative to what came before it, it's a huge leap in terms of quality. Another strength comes in the form of Ghosts and once again it impresses because of its restraint and more melodic tempo. It's still a little over-cooked but it's more cohesive than the material surrounding it.

The overall atmosphere is what seems to be the crux of the records aggravating tone and it seems the greater your exposure, the worse it gets. It's like witnessing someone pleading to be accepted into the mainstream but with a sound that would only add to the growing heap of rubbish out there. They don't have one unique element about them and they overplay every electro characteristic in the book. Overbearing bleep's here, repulsive over-produced synth chords there, and a big smattering of annoying vocals everywhere. 

From Son Of A Gun's uninspired rhythm to Make Me Believe You's cheap pacing and tone, through to the false-but-mildly-appealing 'anthem' that closes the record In My Mind (Half-Life); there really isn't much to see or do at camp Client and they don't even offer lunch. It'd be ten times easier to digest if they weren't so insistent on keeping everything as middle-of-the-road as it is.

Both devoid of much entertainment and way too derivative to warrant continued listening, Command is nothing but a blip on the electronica scene that should be glanced over as if it were nothing but a floating piece of flotsam on a cruise-liners radar.