For a while in the late 90s, The Living End were the great hope for Australian rock music. With underground cred from a couple of early EPs, coupled with significant commercial attention after the release of the wildly popular "Second Solution/Prisoner of Society" double A-side single, it looked for a brief time like they might even end up being the grunge era's response to the AC/DC. Of course, as anyone who was a teenager around that time will know, the band unwisely hitched their wagon to the rockabilly/ska fad that was in full swing at the time, and when that dried up, so did their chances of superstardom.

Now, despite releasing a number of solid albums to a dedicated band of fans since then, the band didn't seem to ever go anywhere musically. Which is why the following statement is so important: the title track from "White Noise" is easily the best song that the band have written since Prisoner of Society, if only because it was hard at first to tell that it was actually The Living End. It's got everything that a rock song should have; some good guitar work, a suitably anthemic chorus, and a beat that keeps the whole thing moving along quickly enough to stop the listener from getting bored.

Not that White Noise is the only thing worth looking at here though. The explosive riff from How Do We Know is taken straight from the Angus Young playbook, and the tinkling glockenspiel on Kid marks interesting new territory for this band. On the other hand, the album is also loaded up with lazy and forgettable rockers like 21st Century and Make The Call, which come complete with the sophomoric political commentary and uninspired riffs that marred "State of Emergency". These songs might have had a place in the band in 1998, but it's 2008 now, and it's disappointing in a way that they haven't moved on from writing clunkers like this.

Chris Cheney should still perhaps be strung up for his baffling insistence on wearing flat caps in The Living End's video clips, but this album marks the first time in years that I've actually been interested in what his band comes up with next. Cheney's brief departure from the band seems to have worked wonders for the band's creative process, and hopefully they really take their time before the next album so that there is more White Noise and less filler on it.