WHATEVER happened to The Wonder Stuff?

Few will care, judging by this return to the record shelves.

There's no doubt that Miles Hunt can write a lyric, but 11 years in the wilderness hasn't knocked out that teeth-gnashing earnestness. Neither has three years' hard slog on the live circuit.

Can't anyone throw a bottle with accuracy any more? Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight is the single (out this week), but You Don't Know Who... actually has some grit and a chorus you could imagine remembering. This one's for the magnifying glass-clutching album sleeve studiers who lapped up Never Loved Elvis like the long-lost works of Marx. No sign of escape here.

Updated: 09:55 Thursday, October 14, 2004