Athlete has a different sound but one that definately puts a smile on your face.

Like their 2005 follow-up, *Tourist,* *Vehicles and Animals* is a terrific album. Compared to the pre-packaged dross that passes for most American popular music -- including those interminable garage bands with grinding guitars and howling lead singers who are dubbed "alternative" -- this is a breath of fresh air. The UK music scene is sooooooooooooooo much more interesting than the pap we are subjected to on this side of the pond. Of recent English bands, Athlete rate at the top. Don't believe the blah reviewers below. This is a terrific album that mixes different musical styles. The songs often take an unexpected turn. The title track is just fantastic. Highly recommended to those with a discerning ear.

The problem with musicians who love to dabble in experimentation with feedback and techno touches within pop is that they often forget that melody is paramount. They allow all the "edgy" touches to obliterate the feature that makes a song repeatedly listenable: a great melody and killer hook. Athlete dodges that pitfall and makes an album that's highly listenable and one I expect will continue to wear well on my ears. (NOTE: The U.S. version of this one adds on bonus track "A Few Differences" and a video for "You got the Style")

HIGHLIGHTS:
"El Salvador" starts the disc in fine style as the band looks for a day away from the touring life. It slowly builds to its "Fly to El Salvador/don't know why and I don't what for" chorus. "Westside"'s philosophy of fame is cheeky enough to actually have the band scream "CHORUS!" gleefully before the hook observes "Whenever you look you can see/that everybody wants to be part of the rock scene.." "One Million" wallows in self-regret as the singer recalls the girl he never took a shot at, the "one at the top of a pile of one million". In the end he concludes "It was just one of those things/I needed to deal with...". If you can listen to "You got the Style" without singing "Oh..it's getting hot in here/There must be something in the at-mo-sphere" then you're a stronger soul than I. The title track celebrates childlike innocence. ("I need my vehicles and animals/And I will be alright/Take me back to 1979 so I can/Find my open eyes..")

LOWS:
"Beautiful" is a nice melody but it looks as though they couldn't be bothered to write more than 2 short verses and a somewhat weak hook (which is repeated ad infinitum). "Dungeness" drones on for 4 minutes without any real hook or much in the way of lyrics.

BOTTOM LINE:
There are plenty of nice melodies here on nearly every track, but they do have a tendency to allow the songs to go on past the point at which they're interesting. If they learn to trim the lengths of the songs to match the lyrics more often, they'll have more winners. Most of the songs I didn't like weren't "bad" per se...just overlong. It's not a "must have" but Brit pop fans will probably love it as will fans of Semisonic and like-minded pop leaning "alternative" bands.

3 1/2 stars

This is perfect accompaniment for the following activities: Writing letters, chopping onions, recycling old clothes.

Athlete are not groundbreaking by any means, rather, they are quite downtown, having fallen into the kind of lyrics one would suspect Blur or The Beautiful South to leave on a C-sides greatest hits CD. OK, that's not saying much, but the brilliance is in the simplicity. This is end-of-summery easy listening for urbanites and city-wannabes. Best singles are "You Got the Style" and the somewhat similar "One Million." The video for "You Got the Style" is remarkable for its cartoon character, which pouts and juts its head much like the way the music on Vehicles & Animals takes one-steps up and down the staircase and over the carpet. This is not to say the record is dull by any means, rather, it is an apropros accompaniment to the mundane.

In sum, this CD is not to play in the car. It's not good to jog to. It's not good to select from the jukebox. When you're done with the CD, you can put it in its case and think about life for a second, and then get back to the rest of whatever it was you were doing.

A date played "You Got the Style" for me (it worked), which inspired me to find the whole CD. At best, Vehicles & Animals is fun, uplifting and catchy, but after a while the sing-song quality of many of the songs starts to sound the same and it gets a little monotonous. It's a shame to say it, because I love "You Got the Style" and "Salvador," but I don't think the album is anything special, unless you want some mellow, cheerful background music.