Reviewed by Steve Scott

Another band to emerge from Down Under with punk rock tendencies, the youthful Rookie are made up of vocalist Andrew Whitaker, guitarist Nathaniel McManus, bass player Philip Moore and drummer Sam Williams. Two things stand out for me on this album, firstly a guitar-driven cover version of the Enrique Iglesias hit single “Hero”. Certainly an interesting and humorous concept, but whether Mr Iglesias himself would speak so highly of it is debatable. And secondly, Enrique’s showbiz buddy Anna Kournikova is not ignored by Rookie either, as “Anna K” pays homage to the Russian tennis star (“I wanna play tennis so I can save Anna Kournikova/We’re Rookie and we’re your biggest fans”). The impressive “Night So Clear” and ballad “Jesus” both move away slightly from the conventional punk format, but in general this strikes me as a mediocre album with too many weak tracks to succeed in keeping me interested.

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