Obviously unaware of the fact my mate has an Astra van and therefore a nearly very stupid name, this Seattle bunch are serious about their rock.

The six tracks on this release straddle the line of classic rock, blues and metal and have seen the band open up for the likes of Papa Roach and Nickelback back home, and you can see why....but not exactly in a good way.

Let me explain; I just don't like the blandness of it. Americans seem to love this stuff and if Creed and the likes are your bag, you'll probably think this is half decent. I certainly can't sit here and slag it off, and don't be surprised to hear it in the background of a CSI episode, but if you want music that stirs emotions and rockstars your mother would hate, this lot aren't the band for you.

Track four, 'Uptight', is a prime example; riffing guitars, stirring drums, screaming vocals etc etc but you can't help thinking if Simon Cowell made a rock band, they'd sound like this. Or if Jools Holland had a rock house band with Alison Moyet on vocals, they'd be called Astravan (Oops, I mean Astrovan). And yeah, singer Deezer does sound like Moyet half the time and that's not actually a bad thing.

I've read that back and it sounds like I hate it but in all honesty, it's just bland. I'm off to buy Alf instead.

www.myspace.com/astrovanner