The Cardigans

There's nothing inherently wrong with The Cardigans' fifth official full-length record. There's nothing entirely right about it either. Thankfully, they've ditched the pure alt.country approach in favour of a hybrid between that genre and their indie pop origins. The thing is, the quintet were one of the most compelling bands of the mid to late '90s, equally catchy and heartbreaking. The magic, simply put, isn't there anymore. The tracks are all pleasant and anyone picking this up as their first Cardigans' LP could probably fall in love with it, but nothing here reaches the heights of "Been It" or "Black Letter Day," and if you're starting from that point, that's a killer. It's not an embarrassing record by any stretch of the imagination, but longtime fans will be left wanting.