The appropriately titled 'Brand New Start', begins the album with acoustic guitars and bongo rhythms, a prelude to the subtle songs which lie ahead. 'Takes You Back' plugs the amps and keyboards in for a cutting look at the music industry and A&R men in particular while 'In My Head' is the albums fastest moment, a rush of distorted fuzz pop and catchy "ba ba ba" chorus. 'On and On and On and On' is a more familiar Lovers sound, about their destain (shared by many) for inane pop songs ("...sung by a 15 year old moron/It go's on and on and on an on...").

The guitars are unplugged for the next four songs and it's in this bracket that Phillpa rejoins the band singing backup on the title track and taking lead on the entrancing 'Sound of Another Love'. While these songs are all quite beautiful and lulling, it's comforting when the guitars do kick back in for 'Descending for now' and single-to-be 'Undone', before the album ends as it began, with the stripped back 'Tabloid or Bust'.

The Lover's have once again made a near flawless album which will be played long after most others from this year.

Rating (out of 5 trainers)

Caleb Rudd

I'm not sure why some people are condemning Wild Mood Swings for being "too poppy." Sure, there are a scattering of relatively straightforward pop songs on the album, but they aren't nearly close to dominating the entire album (as in Wish, which really had only about 2 really "poppy" songs).

Still, even if the album was filled to the brim with these pop songs, who cares? People love proclaiming the wonders of pop for new, more "indie" bands but once a band like The Cure delve into it, they're suddenly dull. I'm not the biggest Cure fan in the world, but I still feel it is unwarranted to blindly slam them so much recently. Check out this new album again, it is well worth spending time and money on.

Dean Carlson
Rating (out of 5 trainers)

It opens fabulously with the familiar guitar riff and sleazy lyrics of 'Black Nite Crash'("Everyone's got the same disease, it's alright/Everybody lives down on their knees, it's alright"), but the mood on the remaining tracks is much more subdued and laid back. The style flows on from Carnival of Light being distinctly retro, so Stones, Byrds and Black Crowes comparisons are unavoidable, although they also add reggae tinges (Sunshine) and Paul Weller references (Dead Man, Deep Inside My Pocket) as well.

So why disband after such a fine effort? The old "there's only room for one front man" routine I'm afraid. What was once Mark Gardener's band was now Andy Bell's, as Gardener only writes one song (Deep Inside My Pocket), and sings lead on that and one other on this release, when in the past he did the bulk of both. Duly pissed off because of this he left the group and the rest decided to stay true to their promise of not continuing if any member left.

Despite this, Tarantula is a fitting epitaph to a fine band who blessed us with more records, live shows and memories than we probably deseve.

Rating (out of 5 trainers)