Reviewed by Peter Bate

Ian Eskelin's All Star United have never been the subtlest boys on the block, shooting irony-laced pop/rock bullets from the hip. True to form, the US quartet's fourth album lasts a little over 30 minutes but contains enough electricity to power a small country. "Kings And Queens", about the inheritance of believers, and the jaunty "We Are The Future" start things frantically, the latter proving Brit-pop still casts a heavy shadow over Eskelin's work. Sometimes you wonder if he's forgotten Oasis, Supergrass and co peaked more than five years ago, which could be why my pre-release CD's highly derivative - and great fun. "Pop Music" (with its jokey "Be the new Delirious?" lyric) doesn't make the final cut. It's the (slightly) slower offerings that endure, the pick being the title track with its "All You Need Is Love"-style global rallying cry: "Have we all been shot by phasers set to stun?/It's time for all the world to wake up one by one." That Eskelin only needs half an hour to lay out such an accomplished album is testament to his shrewd skill. Not quite a "revolution", it's none-the-less worthy of breaking beyond the Christian bookshop scene.

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