So what does the term "indie music" mean these days? Back in the good 'ole days it was easy; literally something released independently. Nowadays, well, it's a bit more complicated. You have to go a long away to find a truely "independent" label these days and they're increasingly becoming a dying breed as the recent shifting of power at 4AD shows. In the good 'ole days The Late Greats would be described as "indie". But, at the moment, these guys sound like stuff that's in the charts, that's featured on MTV and E4 and would use to soundtrack the end of an episode of Skins . The problem with Life Without Balloons is that it sounds just like everything else out there. Each track has a riff, a tinkle, a drum beat that you've heard somewhere else before. 'Gareth' is Art Brut by numbers, 'He's Not It' has the staccato vocals and jangly guitars of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, 'Kitty' is The Cure but with slightly more street cred.It's only on 'Quick Fix' do the copybook tendancies loosen their grip. The "Oooohs " and "Aaaaaahs " nicely compliment the switchblade riff and Black Francis style vocal delivery. It's just something too little, too late in the end, to save a promising group from mediocrity. 50% Links The Late Greats [myspace]