Beady Eye - BE

Ever get the feeling you’ve been duped? News emerged that one Dave Sitek – he of progressive popsters TV on the Radio, producer for the likes of Liars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Foals as well as his own band, was set to work with Beady Eye. That’s the Beady Eye of Liam Gallagher, a sort of pseudo Oasis, him having brought Gem Archer, Andy Bell and touring drummer Chris Sharrock along for the ride, just without, well, Noel. It was an announcement to raise more than a few eyebrows; a suspicion that continued apace with the brassy, pounding drums of ‘Flick Of The Finger’, the first song to be unveiled from the band’s second album and follow-up to 2011’s ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’: ‘BE’.

And then came first single proper, ‘Second Bite Of The Apple’, a massive, percussion-tastic number; Sitek’s name stamped all over it. It sounded as un-like anything Liam Gallagher’s name had been put to, well, ever. What’s that? We thought. Has he finally done something – dare we suggest – inventive? Has working with a forward-thinking producer, and watching his brother and former bandmate’s solo work lauded while his own floundered got Liam thinking along different lines this time?

In short, no.

Just five minutes into ‘BE’, and the groansome lyrics return: “you’re the apple of my eye / spread your wings and fly”, says ‘Soul Love’ (yes, there’s a song titled ‘Soul Love’; a combination of words which couldn’t be more wannabe 60s if they wore velvet bell-bottoms). Meanwhile ‘Soon Come Tomorrow’ gives us essential life insights like “breathe in, breathe out, and then breathe in again” and ‘I’m Just Saying’ beats its own title’s ‘most annoying Internet phrase of 2012’ repetition with “I’m feeling fine / this is my time to shine”. Well, at least this “shine” isn’t elongated, eh?

And there’s still plenty more 60s pastiche to be endured. If it’s not ‘Don’t Brother Me”s “give peace a chance” (really, Liam?) it’s the organs, and samples played backwards. A trick that, elsewhere, might add texture to a recording here just sounds like yet more Beatles aping. Yawn. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a riff on ‘Face The Crowd’ that sounds custom-made to soundtrack a popular Friday night TV show in the 90s.

The vocals, the terrible rhymes… it’s business as usual then for Liam; it’s just scrubbed up a bit.