A slight improvement on 2002’s grey, DFA-assisted Gotham!, Radio 4 are now closer to a late-’80s pop/funk/house revival group with elements of political protest. Indeed, tracks like “Party Crashers” and “State of Alert” ?although all basically the same song ? come on like INXS doing “Naked In The Rain”, with the occasional touch of Jesus Jones. There’s even a Clash-do-dub pastiche in “Nation”. However, unlike The Clash, Radio 4’s politicking seems spurious and tacked-on ? no one is blamed, and the music isn’t sufficiently strong to change anyone’s mind or move anyone’s heart.
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