Already highly tipped as a band to watch in 2008, Helmsley's One Night Only is the latest outfit to benefit from Myspace exposure. Beginning as a tribute band in 2003, a support slot last year with The Pigeon Detectives did them no harm and they'll spend February on a nationwide tour.

Taken in small doses, One Night Only are a decent enough indie proposition with inoffensive melodies, but over the course of an album there is a rather uninspiring lack of variation on show. Jo Whiley-backed single 'Just For Tonight' is jolly, anthemic and will no doubt inspire a bit of a boogy, but it's far from exciting or groundbreaking. For those who do enjoy it, there's more in the shape of 'You And Me' and the slightly more rock and roll 'He's There'. Lowering the tempo, 'It's About Time' is a snapshot of the band, not bad but difficult to really enthuse over. It mixes piano and guitar well and the result is a sweet love song that would light up the day of Radio 2 listeners.

Easily the stand out moment of this debut album is the highly enjoyable 'Start Over', from the drum-heavy intro and decent riff right through to an extended guitar solo that U2's The Edge could have produced. It all goes downhill from there though, with the backend of the record being something of a challenge to not reach for the skip button. 'Time' goes for the brooding indie that Snow Patrol have perfected but without the same effect and George Craig's Yorkshire accent comes through a little too harshly. By the time they've rounded things off with 'Sweet Sugar' - which starts like casual restaurant music - and 'Hide' the monotonous tone is overpowering and it's rare that anything above mediocre has registered.

Alex Lai

Site - http://onenightonlyonline.com

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