On releasing story-so-far debut Under The Crooked Moon two years ago, Aberyswyth's The Hot Puppies proved all too tempting for genre pigeonholers. The Blondieish new wave tints and decadent lyrical glamour evoked Pulp, while the Shangri-Las melodrama saw them corralled among the Spector-referencing new girl groups, going as far as touring with the Pipettes. Last year, as well as releasing perhaps pop's career earliest B-sides collection Over My Dead Body, the Puppies hired Manics producer Greg Haver, made Blue Hands, sat back and waited. And waited. And eventually, a year after first promising its release, it emerges in the wake of an 80s keyboard sound-led revival it should have pre-empted and with vocalist Becky Newman eight months pregnant. Timing is clearly everything in this business.The band's strengths, Newman's seductively powerful vocals and Luke Taylor's urban glamour and subtly dystopian way with a lyric, are stronger if anything, the lyric sheet full of allusions and metaphors that by and large work. Musically, while traces of the glam-pop past still remain, the band have clearly aimed to reflect a lot more reference points, and while there's nothing at all wrong with ambition especially for a band at risk of getting painted into a corner, in terms of how it helps their sound move forward their aim is far more scattershot than consistently sure. It works best at its darkest, where the dramatic flourishes are allied to the sharpest songwriting. 'Clarinet Town' adds a pop swagger to a fatalistic stomp which recalls Diamond Dogs-era David Bowie, Luke Taylor giving it some Robert Fripp guitar to suit, while last year's single 'King Of England' bolts a dirty funk bassline to a Pretenders swagger and sharp political sentiments ("bring me the head of the man who took my people to war") The title and closing track puts Newman against a spare, solitary piano to moving effect that recalls Emiliana Torrini.So when it works all the promises the overheated press release makes for it are near enough matched, but when it doesn't it's like running into an eclecticism for the sake of it brick wall at high speed. They just about pull off 'Somewhere''s build from Disneyfied opening to overarching power balladry with synths, helped by Newman's soaring vocal range, but nobody is done any favours by the way 'How To Choose A Wife' - inspired by Kraftwerk, it says here - gets a backing of the sort of keyboard stabs Hue & Cry would have passed on. 'Secret Burial''s more overt shot at 80s power pop-rock dynamics only serves to show how carefully the Mystery Jets and Erol Alkan had to tread in getting this sort of thing just right well before the vocoder, the one instrument not nearly ready for a critical reappraisal yet, turns up and the whole thing turns into a bad low-tech Chromeo.Actually, the album released during this record's gestation period that really does Blue Hands no favours is the Long Blondes' "Couples", which while boasting a less technically accomplished singer cherrypicks from many of the same areas and exudes a synth-pop strut to much greater and more sure-footed effect. Ultimately it's as if the band themselves didn't have enough faith in what they were doing to be able to cross the line seperating knowing retread from utilising those influences in fresh and exciting ways. Blue Hands is ultimately frustrating, being half a great album that should have made the Hot Puppies' reputation secure and half tripping themselves up trying to force themselves out of their comfort zone. 62%The Hot Puppies on Myspace