Enjoy It While It Lasts, Fiction **
Like Kaiser Chiefs, Menswear, and many other bands, Spector are proof that a profile-building media campaign, a major label deal and, in their particular case, a berth on the BBC Sound Of 2012 list count for nothing if you can't put a decent bunch of songs together. The problem for Spector is that there are just not enough tunes here to justify their swagger. While songs such as the anthemic What You Wanted and Grey Shirt and Tie make you want to hear more, they are, unfortunately, in quite short supply. Upset Boulevard and Chevy Thunder come with aspirations galore, but Spector lack the means and the ambition to turn these into alternative pop jewels. It's as if even the band themselves don't believe the hype. For all Spector's talents (frontman Fred McPherson can pen some sharp lyrics at times), they fail to convince on this occasion.
spector.co.uk
Download track: What You Wanted