7

Summer ditties from Manchester

The artwork for this single is impossibly cute, with its hand drawn charm so it looks like it's business as usual for the lads from Manchester. And indeed it is, except it's not quite. Some I Am Kloot is alright - like '86 TVs' - or doesn't downright awful - like 'Proof' - so it naturally follows that 'I believe falls right in the middle.

Once you get past the start, which makes my skin crawl in a C&W-pastiche-but-done-seriously sort of way, it's a decent track. What really rescues 'I Believe' from the depths of bland hell is the vocals, as they take away the schmaltzy C&W sensation - there is something very reassuring about the down-to-earth northern-ness of I Am Kloot. Mind you, underneath all that, there is actually some jaunty indie so it's perhaps a bit harsh to focus entirely on one aspect.

I won't say this is nice, because that'd be doing it a disservice, but it is, well, pleasant. However, it isn't that dull or unremarkable, and makes an agreeable, summer ditty. No doubt fans of the band will love this.