Cheap whiskey and godawful truths

Well, the new Manic Street Preachers record has gone and leaked, and it was with pretty low expectations that I gave Send Away the Tigers a listen. The bad news is that there isn't a song on there that really grabs me and makes me say "Yes! That is fanfuckingtastic!", but on the plus side, it's their first album in almost ten years that I imagine I'll listen to multiple times.

'Rendition' and 'Underdogs' are the requisite rockers, but there's a strong sense of the big-strings-plus-huge-choruses sound of 'Everything Must Go' that's a welcome return. I mean, I say return, but to be honest, I couldn't even name more than two songs on their last record, much less hum any of them. 'Indian Summer' and 'Autumnsong' are pretty, ideal for bigger venues and singalongs. 'Winterlovers' is an anticlimactic closer - veers close to being a huge, fully formed power-rocker (complete with na-na-naaas) but clocking in under four minutes. 'Imperial Bodybags' is about the war but isn't trite, the image of "children wrapped in homemade flags" is macabre enough to recall vintage MSP.

Your sample track has the word patsy in its title, that should be explanation enough. Reminds me of first album Stereophonics, which is no bad thing. What's going on with that album cover, though, guys?

[download Manic Street Preachers - I Am Just A Patsy]