Coming in just as beautifully minimalist packaging as its predecessor, "Modern Apprentice" can mean only one thing: the architects of Nu-New-Wave have returned to finish what they started. Okay, hyperbole aside for a second, what's there to get excited about? Well, you know that really great song by Art Brut that came out a while back, the one about forming a band? Well, stick that in a cleaner, sharper suit, tell it that its kitten just died and that there is no Santa Claus, lock it in a shed and don't let it sleep for a week, and this is what it might sound like.

Sure, it's not a million miles advanced from 2002's excellent "Chat And Business", but the changes that have come in have all been for the better. Tighter and more focused, if you can imagine such a thing, the warp-speed krautrock drumming of "I'm With Stupid" both condenses and accellerates the essence of their debut. "Modern Feeling" expands on the hints of disco that lurked beneath the surface of older songs like "At The Lodge", and in any just kind of world would be a massive hit, and "Day Draws Thin" does its understated Joy Division thing with all the style and class that you would expect.

Short, sharp, powerful, energetic, and vital. Thumbs up. -Ian Martin, July.05.04

Modern Apprentice