THE WOLFGANG PRESS: “Funky Little Demons” (4AD)

THIS IS smooth music which smacks of smugness. There is an overriding electronically produced feel to Funky Little Demons, and it sounds dry-cleaned. Everything is executed with a high degree of professionalism and expertise, but it's dull.

It's all too arty here. The thoughts are just too ‘deep’. There is an anger and frustration expressed in the songs, but the delivery seems untouched and distant. Clinical!

“Thinking surface looking under/You want something look no further/Thinking hard but working in small time/She was born in mid-town provincia.” That's from ‘She's So Soft’, and it's smart up to the point of boredom. It's like everyone was watching their lipstick and cigarettes as they recorded it. It's like a wet, cold, slippery, totally unfunky thing.

A new year deserves better.

• Gerry McGovern