- Saskwatch have been relentless since their inception in 2011, with the release of their debut album, Leave it All Behind, and a harrowing tour schedule that saw them hitting some of Australia and the world’s biggest music festivals including Bluesfest, Falls, Glastonbury and Edinburgh Fringe, playing stage for stage with genre greats such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Maceo Parker and Earth, Wind and Fire.

Now the Melbourne nine-piece are ready to release their second album. Unfortunately, Nose Dive sounds more like a mixtape of entries from other bands, almost as though they took a roulette wheel, covered it in influences and spun it to find each new track. After the bevy of covers dotting their debut, it’s hard to dismiss the fact that the original songs on offer here sound less than fresh.

There are interesting moments throughout it though, like the darkly somber tone which permeates Left Me To Die or the rousing finale of Now That We’re Alone, a passionate and furious closer for the album that sadly takes too long to arrive.

Thematically Nose Dive only ever keeps one of two beats, maudlin or manic, and never quite hits the polar peak of either. Every song is a story that reads, my man’s no good or I’m too good for him, both of which are valid arcs for a piece of adolescent literature but start to grind over the course of a forty minute record.

But really, it isn’t bad. The eleven track set is beautifully sung and composed, with sinister brass moments, hints of darkness, cowbell fan service and enough heartbreak to drown a One Direction forum. Solidly constructed and note-perfectly played, Nose Dive is a good album, it just doesn’t really do anything exciting. There’s toe-tap in its DNA but somehow the soul is missing.

- Nic Addenbrooke.