It must be hard being Degrassi. Consistently tipped to be on the verge of breakthrough, they probably thought the introduction of Bob Fairfoull on guitar was the best thing to happen to them in a long time. Unfortunately, this backfired, and publicity for the band ever since has deemed them “Bob from Idlewild’s new band”.

So, what have Bob from Idlewild’s new band got lined up for us on this new CD?

The height of their career being a Peel session and a slot at the Wee Diddy Unpublicised Tent at T in the Park, the slightly discordant mess which saw them so ‘in’ with the underground in 2000 (in the oh-shit-they-could-be-next-big-thing stakes) has now mutated into something more pop. Now, nothing wrong with that - there has been many a classic and underlooked indiepop single from the Scottish scene in the past, be it from The Pastels or The Shop Assistants or The Shamen. This isn’t one of those, as it wombles along at a far too plodding pace to be of any interest and just when you think it's about to do something exciting, it doesn't... but it has that same ‘vibe’ which makes ‘The Form’ a fucked up hybrid of New Order, Big Country and REM, which makes them so ‘80s. But we’ve heard an Edinburgh band be much better at this early REM ripoff thing, haven’t we, kids? So I suppose that makes Degrassi sound like… a step ladder falling down a step ladder.