The Beat - 13th April 2008

This is officially the last mention of Envy & Other Sins as winners of that T Mobile competition. From now on, following debut album We Leave At Dawn (A&M), they will be referred to only in the context of the music they make.
It seems fitting that they should be signed to A&M since in world where there's numerous pretenders to the Squeeze crown, the Birmingham boys have a better claim than most. Listen to the opening Morning Sickness and you'll hear the sound of classic Difford & Tilbrook, likewise on the witty pop of Almost Certainly Elsewhere, and Man Bites Dog.
Elsewhere they take on the Cure at their own Lovecats game with the overlooked single Highness while the burlesque flavours of Talk To Strangers calls to mind Madness with a hint of Joboxers and It Gets Harder To Be A) Martyr is a Britpop Joe Jackson crossbred with the Kooks and Billy Joel.
And between their inventive arrangements (check out The Company We Keep), infectious melodies, appealing soft burr vocals and the seven minute slow building to tumultuous climax Radiohead-like closer Shipwrecked, they are clearly destined for a place in the current pantheon of Brum music gods alongside Editors, The Guillemots and Misty's Big Adventure. Someone should just tell the label to get their fingers out and give them the promotion they deserve.