Bruiser (Import)

VINYL FORMAT. IMPORT. It's almost a rock'n'roll cliche: the group that took years to write their debut album, and then were horsewhipped back into the studio by labels with eyes fixed to their balance sheets. The result: a rushed and unsatisfying follow-up. Credit, therefore, to London quintet The Duke Spirit - and the labels that have mothered them over the years - for allowing the band some three-and-a-half years between each of their three albums to date.

What, then, have the band been up to since issuing their second full-length, Neptune, in early 2008? In rough order: enduring a line-up change, touring incessantly, being cooed over by the late Alexander McQueen and, eventually, recording Bruiser. By the standards of their previous two albums, unpolished garage blues located near 80s bands like The Gun Club or early Bad Seeds, these 12 songs are hi-fi and buffed. This is probably the result of production duties being handed to Andrew Scheps, an American more normally employed as engineer for genuine rock superstars. Rest assured, though, that there's still feedbacking squall and gothic clang, and The Duke Spirit still sound like The Duke Spirit. --Noel Gardner