"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it," Santayana said in 1905. If he were alive today and heard 'Panic Movement', he might add that those who can't get over the past will definitely repeat it.
Not that 'Panic Movement' is by any means a bad album. If you're looking for gutsy, raw, elemental rock'n'roll, you'll certainly find it here. But why would anyone want to when they could buy 'Exile On Main Street' or 'The Stooges' instead and hear it when it was still fresh and invigorating? For The Hiss, it's clear that the last 25 years barely happened at all.
If rock is ever to truly excite again it will have to wriggle free of the coils of the past. In the early nineties, My Bloody Valentine made bold attempts to forge new sounds from the rock blueprint, eagerly embracing technology, while Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was sculpting something altogether nastier but no less innovative on the other side of the Atlantic.
Sadly MBV collapsed under the weight of their own perfectionism, while NIN's sonic genius disintegrated into the embarrassment of nu-metal. Since then, most rock music has reverted to navel-gazing, retrograde traditionalism, as epitomised by today's hilariously misnomered 'new rock revolution'. At the same time, pop (thanks to prodigies like Timbaland and the Neptunes) has been pushing itself ever further into the avant garde.
From the thumping drums and squalling guitars of the excellent opening track 'Clever Kicks', 'Panic Movement' makes its intentions very clear. This is a thunderous rock record - nothing more or less - with big riffs, big melodies and a sniffy attitude to subtlety. Throw in the whisky-rough, sneering vocals of Adrian Barrera, and the Oasis parallels are irresistible. The fact they have the same producer and recently supported the Gallagher brothers doesn't help.
In fact, 'Panic Movement' is a far better Oasis album than the Manc bores have managed in years. Yes, slower songs like 'Ghosts Gold' are plodding, but 'Back On The Radio' and 'Lord's Prayer' have a lean, rough economy which would get any rock fan's adrenaline pumping, while 'Step Aside' is a breezy epic with the swagger of the seventies Stones.
But in the end, listening to this record is much like owning a second hand car. Yes, it's comforting, yes it's reliable, but - hey - isn't that your best friend racing far ahead into the distance? Save your money and buy Beyonce's genius 'Crazy In Love' instead, a record which knows what year it is.
