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Despite the ubiquity of 'Wires' in 2005, the lack of excitement over their third album 'Beyond The Neighbourhood' suggests that those compiling the history this decade's pop music won't be keeping too many pages aside for Athlete. 'Tokyo' is a fairly typical example of their oeuvre: pleasant enough electronic-tinged indie with a pounding chorus, identifiable only by Joel Pott's slightly grating bending-up-to-the-last-note-of-each-line.
And it's the pleasantness that may prove to be their undoing – in an era when the pop colossi of Doherty and Winehouse bestride the front pages, penning a few nice tunes and being thoroughly good eggs was never going to cut the mustard. A Shed Seven for the Naughties, anyone?
Released 19/11/07 on Parlophone.
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