Haven’s debut has now sold over 150,000 copies, so there’s clearly a market for this kind of third division not-so-indie rock. So derivative is the Haven sound that the opening of “Have No Fear” manages to sound both like late-period James and Manic Street Preachers’ “Motorcycle Emptiness”. Which isn’t so surprising given that Manics producer Dave Eringa manned the desk, as, rather more disturbingly, did Johnny Marr, who clearly hasn’t pulled himself out of his recent creative nosedive. All For A Reason is uniformly epic and stirring, apart from “Wouldn’t Change A Thing”, which sounds a bit like The La’s. Singer Gary Briggs’ is a prosaic melancholy, and his tone oddly transatlantic. A rum do.
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