Future Sound Of London - Amorphous Androgynous (FSOL Recordings)

In 1992, FSOL released the single 'Papua New Guinea', which immediately catapulted them from the dingy underground clubs of London to the major dance scene. Since then this fascinating duo (Garry Cobain and Brian Douglas) have spent their time on several more records, remixes and strange side projects.

Illness, success and travelling the globe all took their toll and the band has been rather quiet until this year. This 8-track album starts with the wonderfully austere tune 'Yo-Yo'. An excellent start and a song that I can imagine being played in a lot of smokey bedrooms at 6am after a boisterous night out. Such a perfect launch to the CD that I almost want to end the review now, because from the second song onwards, this is a boring, bedevilling tiresome piece of junk.

It fails to create any of the spirit and freedom so finely capsulated in their previous work. 'She sells electric ego' is a tired, formulae slice of nonsense. Sounding like a poor version of David Bowie (circa. Ziggy Stardust) mixed with Death In Vegas via the blandness of Oasis. After trawling through this codswallop time and time again, I finally found a little bit of solace in a sea of irksome trash, with track seven 'The world's in transience'. It's a decent psychedelic little flummox, but, when compared to the early work of FSOL, is barely worth mentioning. That is how bad this album is - I am mentioning songs that previously would not even have been passed around friends of the band.

The album spirals wildly out of control in too many directions, too many times and with no real anchor to keep it all together. In the past, their elusive madness was a joy to listen to. This takes it too far. I have a feeling that even with the strongest of hallucinogenic, this CD would still sound incredibly boring. Dull bargain bin material.

Graham Smith