Ah, Australia, the ambiguous continent/country that brought us Kylie Minogue, Men at Work, Jet...and now Appleseed, whose clean guitars, straightforward vocals, no-nonsense lyrics and bog-standard song structures do little to augment the roster of Aussie virtuosos. Opener "Fade Away"'s descending guitar riff and wavy nuggets of synth flair are promising at first, but the song drags on too long, devolving into nondescript aural wallpaper. The first notes of "Exit" prepare the listener for a cover of Dada's 1992 hit "Dizz Knee Land", but the song quickly turns into elevator music -- the sort of stuff that must echo through the halls at The Gap's corporate headquarters. The esoterically titled "Now and Zen" features some pleasant Johnny Marr guitar glitter, but there's none of Morrissey's panache in Tim Elder's workmanlike vocals. However, on the heartstring-tugging title track, a glossy ballad mourning a failed relationship, Elder at last sounds sincere, admitting, "I just don't know what we could've done differently, and I think you know that I wouldn't change anything."

The album picks up at the end with the horn-laced "Save Me", full of boisterous drums and emo vocals, and closer "Out of Time", which establishes a tight beat and splashes blazing guitar chords over it. Unfortunately, by this time Appleseed are indeed "Out of Time", and the creative upswing is too little, too late.