Fridae

During what is known as the "Worst Dressed Decade" of all time (read: the 80s), Ms Scary would often dress up as electric youth Debbie Gibson and spend her weekend afternoons at tea dances shimmying to New Order's "Blue Monday" and "True Faith." So speaking from a purely nostalgic viewpoint, Ms Scary is really looking forward to the release of New Order's Waiting For The Sirens' Call.

Comprising 11 tracks, the British synth-pop quartet's eighth album continues to feature the same melancholic melodies anchored by Peter Hooks' spine-tingling bass lines and the droning of Bernard Sumner's voice - in other words, you could either say that they are one of the most consistent bands around or they are stuck in an 80s rut which they can't seem to get out of.

Although there are a couple of un-New Order worthy songs such as the embarrassingly Ace of Base-ish "I Told So" and the this-is-the-last-track-so-what-the-heck "Working Overtime," Waiting For The Sirens' Call still contains some wonderful synth-swirling tracks such as the cat-walk friendly first single "Krafty," the Oasis-sounding "Hey Now," the dance-floor puller "Morning Night and Day" and Ms Scary's favourite track "Turn."

Despite the lack of new musical breakthroughs and the absence of tracks as good as their enduring hits from the 80s, Waiting For The Sirens' Call is still an admirable pop release for a group whose members (all fast approaching 50) are close to being granddaddies of the Manchester music scene.

Scary's Selected Spins: "Hey Now What You Doing," "Waiting For The Sirens' Call," "Krafty," "Morning Night And Day" and "Turn."