Britpop is not dead. Sure, it's comatose, riddled with pestilence, has several severe injuries, and is at a point where not even Dr Gregory House can bring it back, but underneath all the diseased, rotting flesh, its heart still beats. Take Delays for instance, not only are they from Southampton (the same place that launched the Titanic, that got bombed by the Luftwaffe, and was a departure point for millions of immigrants), one of the most British-sounding places in Britain, but they don't mind playing pop music that's full of hooks.

The refreshing thing about Delays is that they're not coming out of Britain wielding an NME recommendation and a cocky attitude. Instead, they're just about creating good music, which is really refreshing, to be honest. They're all about bright guitars, sweeping synths, and a slick, almost futurist sound. They also have a penchant for overproduction, which makes all but the strongest of their songs sound a little bit tedious, but I'll get to that later.

Album opener You And Me, for instance, kicks off with an a cappella vocal before a wave of synthesized sound starts washing over the song. Valentine starts with a stuttering bass riff that may or may not blow out your speakers, before an almost mechanical beat kicks the song into higher gear. Unfortunately, from here onwards, the songwriting rapidly detours into blandsville, each song more or less featuring the same structure, and the same tricks. Winter's Memory of Summer, for instance, is an almost painfully jangly tune that crosses the line from retro-chic to plain dorky, and just keeps going.

The main problem with this music is that it's almost too clean. The music has the same feel as a low-budget science fiction film, everything is way too clean and glossy, there should be a bit of dirt and dust on everything. The music here is much too polished to sound natural, and that takes away from it. Even with as many electronic elements as this album has plugged into it, a skilled musician can make it sound organic and natural. Once you get over the excellent first couple of tracks here though, it all starts to sound somewhat soulless and artificial.

That's what is going to hold Delays back, and it's what makes this album a little tiresome. Every song here is technically adequate, and the songwriting certainly isn't terrible. But nothing sticks, and after listening to this album, it's hard to remember details of anything but the first two tracks.