I was very excited to see Derdang Derdang appear in my letterbox. I enjoyed 2003's Fur, not because it was a great album, but because there was something in the sound of the Archie Bronson Outfit, some quality that differentiated them from the general mass of indie-rock. On Derdang Derdang you can hear that the difference is one of attitude: unlike the self-assured power you expect from acts like Domino's golden boys Franz Ferdinand, the raw anger and passion of The Vines or the cocky whimsy of The White Stripes, the Archie Bronson Outfit sound unsure, uncertain and a little bit desperate. And therein lies the strength of Derdang Derdang.

Derdang Derdang could best be described as blues-inspired krautrock. It follows heavily along the drum line, which gives it a driven, definite, almost military forcefulness. But balanced against this solid sound are the uncertain, edgy vocals of Sam Windett, seeming even more vulnerable in contrast to the music. His voice has a raw, folksy quality that breathes melancholy and desperation into every line he sings. That the emotion in his vocal style renders several lyrics on the album only partially intelligable only adds to this evocative power.

The lyrics themselves border on trite, though only occassionally uncomfortably so. Dead Funny - possible innuendo aside - is a definite lyrical low point, regaling us with tales of being "a disco dancer / I'm gonna dance for you", and various iterations, including a deep-sea diver who's predictably "gonna dive down on you". Repetition is definitely one technique that the Archie Bronson Outfit are absolutely comfortable with: from iterative lyrics to cycling guitar riffs, Derdang Derdang is an exercise in repetition. In some cases - such as Dead Funny - this repetition is boring and without any real effect, but Dart For My Sweetheart - the first single and standout track on the album - uses repetition with force and purpose to create a real knockout song. It's a 'list song' - a sequential style of lyric writing made famous by David Gilmore's lack of real lyrical creativity and something which you would normally only tolerate from Pink Floyd or another equally epic outfit - that begins with:

"One is a gun with a dart for my sweetheart"

and proceeds to count through ... whatever it is he is counting through. I confess the point of this song eludes me, but it rocks, and it rocks hard. I first heard it at about two in the morning on rage where it was played with the scratchiest little low-budget-esque grunge-folk video clip that complimented the song perfectly. It drives, it cycles, it repeats, it builds and it rocks without question.

What it doesn't do is save the album. Not that the album neccesarily needs saving. I suspect the audience is going to fall into two camps here: those who like the current UK grunge-rock sound will enjoy Derdang Derdang, while those who either hate it or have just had enough of it will find that the Archie Bronson Outfit are too familiar to really grab them. Personally I fluctuate between enjoying this album or finding it tedious, depending on my mood. This is because Derdang Derdang is a good example of its kind, with some real drive, great vocals and a fantastic attitude, but it still fails to raise itself above the level of paint-by-numbers music, albeit with a good quality paint.

The standout track remains Dart For My Sweetheart. Cuckoo is also well worth a listen, a kind of grunge-rock blues ballad that really is hauntingly beautiful if it catches you the right way, while Rituals is a good example of the other kind of haunting, the one where the hackles are up on the back of your neck and you can't sleep. Rituals really does exploit the edginess of Windett's voice remarkably well, and, together with Cuckoo and Dart For My Sweetheart, shows the real and the potential depth of the band to deliver power and emotion from the few remaining unexplored corners of the genre. Harp For My Sweetheart is an attempt to strip back the single to 'guy with a guitar', but while I applaud the witty title Harp lacks all the elements that made Dart such a good song and ultimately fails to get your interest.

In the end Derdang Derdang is a matter of taste. If you enjoy Franz Ferdinand et al but like it a little more folksy and raw, whack this in the stereo and you won't be disappointed, but you won't be thrilled either. If you don't like the current - and ever-expanding - crop of UK grunge-rock, you're not going to find anything here to change your mind.