“Nice”. It’s not a word that strikes anything into the heart of anyone, does it? It’s a word that’s so safe, you can use it to such great affect when describing anything to someone when you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Unfortunately, it’s the perfect way to describe Lowgold and their brand of middle-of-the-road indie rock.To be fair, their debut album, Just Backward of Square, released via the now defunct Nude label, was a perfect slice of Coldplay-esque indie rock that was full of emotive lyrics and gentle guitar hooks. There was a sense of pop to their approach too. ‘Mercury’ is still an understated pop gem whilst ‘Beauty Dies Young’ was an anti-anthem for the losers and loners of the lost NME generation. Their follow up, Welcome To Winners wasn’t as widely accepted, but still hinted at them finding their feet as a more upbeat and intelligent counterpoint to the insipid blandness of Athlete but never as rock influenced as Snow Patrol. The problem was, the label couldn’t sell that to the FHM and Heat generation.So, having set up their own label, releasing a bits and pieces double album, they’re back with another stab at the big time with Promise Lands. Where Just Backward of Square is one of the great lost debuts of the 00’s and was an interesting development in a post-Coldplay world, Promise Lands fails to make itself heard in a world which now has more laid-back indie-rock ballad based bands than ever before. They’re no longer alone. The ten songs pass buy so quietly and discretely that you’re left wondering what you’ve exactly done in the last 40+ minutes.The only times you’re awoken from the quiet spell is on the 60’s influenced pop of ‘Burning Embers’. It’s full of vocal harmonies, shimmering guitars and a sense of urgency. ‘Just Like Skin’ also battles the mundane. The hacksaw guitars are sparse around the crackling drums whilst the vocals soar across this barren soundscape. ‘When The Song Is Over’ also has some of this glimmering pop, but fails to capitalise on it’s angst driven lyrics. ‘Dead Sea’ is their best attempt at being Snow Patrol ”“ the driven guitars and lifting chorus has a pace the rest of the album would die for.Unable to capture past glories, Lowgold have found themselves left on the shelf and Promise Lands is obviously an attempt to bring them back from the brink. It’s just a shame it lacks any of the aching pop hooks and urgency that stood them out from the crowd originally. 50%Links Lowgold [myspace]