If you like your guitar music non-exceptional - good but not amazing, note-perfect but lacking in passion - then this could be for you. As with so much music these days, there's nothing specifically wrong with what London four-piece The Cognition have to offer, but if 'So Different' is the best they can come up with to promote upcoming album, 'Dead Electric', one can't help but doubt whether that album is likely to cause much of a stir.

The best thing about The Cognition is singer Jim's vocals, which are consistently strong, although perhaps a little too reminiscent of Oasis-esque drawl. In 'So Different' they reach their peak a little too late, right at the end of the song, where Jim shows what he's capable of, only to find himself three minutes too late. Conversely, the rhythmic opening is promising, with an interesting, syncopated bass line spicing up the standard indie fodder of the guitar parts, but sadly this is neither varied nor developed for the duration of the song, leaving the impression that if they injected a bit more passion into their songwriting, and perhaps into their performance too, the technical expertise of all four band members could be put to better use.

Second A-side 'The Bamboo Section' is a little more promising, even if it does sound a bit like a more successful re-writing of the first track. Here the vocals are given more chance to shine, but not quite enough, and the song is too long, given its lack of development. If The Cognition realised that there can be more to a song than a verse, bridge and chorus, then perhaps this technically excellent recording wouldn't seem like quite so much of a wasted opportunity.