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Apollo Four Forty

(Epic/550 Music)

The first track on Apollo Four Forty's third album, Gettin' High on Your Own Supply - the follow up to 1997's Electro Glide in Blue - asks listening audiences, "Are we a rock band or what ... ?"

Well, the answer is yes.

The electronica that permeates the album can be seen as the new wave, the future of modern rock 'n roll music. Especially, with both the music and commercial industries saturated with the likes of Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers.

The lads from Liverpool who formed Apollo back in 1990 are currently enjoying their own commercial success with their new single, "Stop The Rock." The track consists of all the stereotypes of the genre: a solid, repetitive guitar riff, redundant but catchy sound bites and drum 'n bass beats that solidify the song.

Not that this almost trite formula is a bad thing. The spacy, electronic lounge that Apollo Four Forty produces sits well. Reminiscent of memorable 1970s game show theme songs set to electronic loops and beats - topped off with the odd horn or classic guitar riff.

Tracks worthy of praise include: "Heart Go Boom," Apollo Four Forty's tribute to reggae music, with a drum 'n bass loop providing background to a pleasantly chunky bass line, textured horns and crisp guitar melody.

"Crazee Horse," a spacy, laid back track is sporadically uprooted by its 80s metal riff, lending the song an added layer.

Apollo Four Forty's Gettin' High on Your Own Supply doesn't necessarily contribute a great deal of innovative material to the new world of rock 'n' roll, but it does hold its own.

- Barry McGuire