IN AN alternate rock universe, it would be possible to root for Miles Kane as a tenacious underdog, an honest trier in a competitive market, resolute in the face of his limitations and in it purely for the music. Unfortunately, he makes it pretty difficult to do that.

Kane seems to see himself as a loveable rogue, a bit of a scoundrel, whose occasionally boundary-overstepping laddishness is OK because he "keeps it real" and is a funny guy who doesn’t really mean anything by it.

And third solo album Coup de Grace is apparently designed to show that he’s a sensitive soul underneath, that he can have his heart broken like the rest of us. Made in the wake of a long-term relationship ending, Kane has even described this as “my Adele album”. That’s strange. I didn’t know Adele did pub rock.

From its WWE-inspired title to Kane’s sneering nasal whine, Coup de Grace doesn’t offer even the slightest hint of emotional turmoil, self-analysis or vulnerability. Instead, it rampages through every glam/punk staple it can get its hands on, playing to the crowd rather than reflecting a state of mind, while demonstrating not the slightest evidence of an original thought.

York Press:

The album artwork for Miles Kane's Coup de Grace

It’s dreary, it could be described as one-dimensional if that wasn’t being harsh on dimensions, and it makes you wonder exactly how Jamie T – who co-wrote Coup de Grace – influenced this album. His quality control and grounded, whip-smart observations are nowhere to be found.

Even where there’s a reasonably functional song – such as Loaded, Kane’s most obvious attempt to address his feelings, and the Seventies' disco-funk of the title track – it gets buried beneath random, disconnected, darts-at-a-board wordplay that even Be Here Now-era Oasis would have felt didn’t scan.

Kane may be desperate to prove he’s more than the clothes-horse/hanger-on he’s often derided as, but with Coup de Grace, let’s just say he has not exactly made much progress on that front.

Miles Kane plays Leeds O2 Academy on November 29 and Hull University on November 30.