Fun - Some Nights (Atlantic)

With a moniker like 'Fun.' there's no way in hell 'Some Nights' was going to be choc-a-bloc with caustic death metal or wrist-slashing EMO was it? And so it proves.

Sadly, it could do with a touch of the dark qualities which purvey those much maligned genres as 'Some Nights' is just too saccharine for its own good.

I don't know whether it's harder to believe that these US cats are from the hip Brooklyn streets of NYC or aren't some naff '80s revivalist outfit unearthed by the producers of Glee.

That's not to say there aren't some nice moments amongst the sun-drowned power-pop which oozes from every pour of this sophomore offering from songbird frontman Nate Ruess and co. 'We Are Young' simply soars and it's patently obvious why it topped the charts over in the States - the first indie single to do so apparently since Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida'. Meanwhile 'Out On The Town' dances along a pleasant pace - all chiming guitars, pounding bass drum and the kind of sweet harmonies ELO nailed down so well.

'Stars' too is something of a sugary treat - blending layered keyboards with Ultravox-esque basslines and Ruess' late night musings. Elsewhere though the record is simply too overwhelming and over polished.

Jeff Bhasker, unsurprisingly a West Coast disciple, has produced this to within an inch of his life - it is simply too clean, too square to have any palatable impact. Album opener 'Some Nights' tries to ape Queen in their '70s pomp but falls into the dreaded territory inhabited by cheesy pop peddlers The Feeling - not good, not good at all.

While 'Carry On' starts tenderly but gets swept away in schmaltz and bombast and 'All Alone' misses the spot with an ill-advised foray into hip-hop. There's no doubting Fun have a great ear for a melody - but it's all just too over-powering, like that extra spoonful of sugar in cup of tea. Sometimes lads, less is more.