Arctic Monkeys in average single release shocker...

Well, I suppose it had to happen at some time. With the ink still not dry on all the superlatives thrown at their Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not long-player, the only route was always going to be downhill from that point on.

That's not to say that 'Leave Before The Lights Come On' is particularly bad. It isn't, but it doesn't grab you by the balls, kicking and screaming, like '...Dancefloor' and_ '...Sun Goes Down'_ before it. As a marker for the next chapter in the band's story, doesn't really offer anything that we didn't already know and haven't heard before.

Of course this will sell by the truck load. Then again, so does lime-flavoured Coca-Cola, which is equally baffling and leaves a sickly aftertaste, too.

Merely a blip, then, or another case of 'too much too soon equals washed-up'? Only time will tell...