They've been dubbed a Scottish indie supergroup, but for those not subscribed to either contemporary Glaswegian rock or Domino's mailing list, just call Correcto as you see 'em-- another plucky indie rock band. Hiring Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson nets these guys some catchet, and ex-Royal We bassist Patrick Doyle will rile up hometown crowds, but in reality Correcto's little more than a vessel for little-known singer/songwriter Danny Saunders. Unfortunately, the band fancies its tenuous supergroup status a little too strongly, and there's little built-in intrigue here to hedge the threadbare compositions and lackadaisical attitude.
On the bright side, these guys clearly dig all the bands you do. From the windmill power chords of Townsend-esque opener "Inuit" to the tear-in-beer-glass drawl of fake Libertines ballad "When You Get Away From Me", this debut provides a walking tour of Great Britain's rich rock history. That said, the tour's a look-don't-touch deal, with many of the hit-and-run genre shifts feeling brusque and unfulfilling. Saunders exudes an airtight ennui in his vocals, a nice tactic to use when blatantly copping your influences, but his versatility gets stretched to its limits. Sure, he can rough up the Buzzcock-y melody of no-brainer single "Joni", but on mellower tracks like "Walking To Town" or "Even Though", Saunders can't decide whether to go off-pitch completely or hope all his cussing and self-loating distracts the listener from otherwise cutesy melodies.
When they're not dragging their feet through droopy Britpop dirges, Correcto bag some noteworthy rawk tracks, each one pumping its fist in its own nuanced way. "Do It Better" accurately captures Wire's twitchy guitar work, but the barked vocals claim the song for Correcto. Even when they get sloppy and act all irreverent, the band can't hide the fact that they want these hooks to sound huge. Saunders may let his delivery sag on "Here It Comes", but the epic opening guitar riff belies his tongue-in-cheek understatement. "Something Or Nothing" almost sounds like Pavement, tranquilizing a Stooges-style power chord flurry until it lapses into a jazzy, laid back chorus of "ooh's."
Even considering these highlights, though, Correcto's debut feels sparse and indifferent, and it has little to do with Saunders' fuck-'em-all demeanor. The tracks follow a typical rock album progression for rock album's sake, with little indication of any higher artistic aim. There's a big opener, a pair of singles, then mashers neatly separated by ballads until the half hour's up. Obviously the band's middling in low stakes territory here, but the filler could at least be a lot more fun if it's not going to be challenging. Maybe for Glaswegian scenesters, this outfit is their Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young or Cream, but most outsiders will find this supergroup sounding pretty mortal.
