I've got to hand it to Dean Wareham and Luna, nobody really expected them to last as long as they have. When Wareham formed the band more than ten years ago after the demise of the much-loved Galaxie 500, it looked like Luna might go the way of many secondary projects like that, and gradually sink into obscurity. What we have instead is a long list of albums and releases from the band, which vary widely in terms of quality and tone, but which contain some real gems. It's a bit disappointing then, to learn that the band is finally going to finish making music, but at least we can still listen to their excellent previous work.

Unfortunately, if I'm going to be straight, their final release, "Rendezvous" is definitely not the jewel in Luna's crown, and it pales in comparison to the band's previous album "Romantica", and it's quietly brilliant pop songs. Instead, some of the lacklustre tendencies that marred albums like the anaemic "The Nights of Our Days", with half-thought-out tunes that just sound too passive and inert to really do much, are present here.

You wouldn't know this from the opening track though. Malibu Love Nest is in many ways a classic song from this band, with repeating guitar riffs laying the foundation for the song, languid vocal delivery, and a lengthy instrumental break. It's actually done in an agreeable fashion though, which is more than can be said for Buffalo Boots and Rainbow Babe, two later songs on the album which follow much the same template, but without the charm and charisma of the opener.

In between the valleys of boring filler material though, there are some positive highlights. Astronaut, originally from the "Close Cover Before Striking" EP makes another appearance here, but in a drastically altered form. Broken Chair, which features guitarist Sean Eden taking over vocal duties, is also a feature, his voice being just subtly different enough to Wareham's that a gentle shift in the dynamics of the music does occur.

Still, for every good song on here, there are three that are limp, lifeless, and just plain uninteresting. For a band with such a distinguished history, this sounds pretty anticlimactic for a final record. Whether Wareham just wanted to get back to his conservative basics for this album, or whether he was afraid that further developments in the band's sound a la "Romantica" would lead to a fan backlash, the simple lack of adventurism displayed here means that it's good, but it's not as good as it could have been.