Order returns with elevator music

It's relieving, I guess, that New Order hasn't taken the drastic departures that other 25-years-and-counting bands like U2 or Duran Duran have taken. By and large, their style remains the same, as does their consistency: they make great singles and relatively lackluster albums. \nWaiting for the Siren's Call, their follow-up to 2001's Get Ready, features singles like "Who's Joe" and "Hey Now What You Doing" that could feasibly become club hits after remixes. They haven't taken a turn for the worse or for the better -- they're just the same that they've been since 1994's Republic. At least there aren't any World Cup anthems on this album. \nIt's really nice that they're putting out new material -- from the standpoint of a longtime fan who grew up with songs like "True Faith" and "Regret," a new New Order release is hardly something to cause complaint. The only problem is everything on this CD they've made already. The two singles are sharply produced and smart-sounding, but they're still pretty much the same songs that New Order put out on albums like 1989's Technique. Actually, Technique had strong singles like "Vanishing Point." There is nothing on Waiting for the Siren's Call as stimulating as the songs that came out before most of the high school kids that tout New Order as the end-all-be-all of relevant music were born.\n"Morning Night and Day" is a breezy pop song that features the famous Peter Hook bass line; however, for the first time in a really long time, New Order has managed to write songs without stunningly stupid lyrics. "Dracula's Castle" is more of the same -- forgettable lyrics, pretty synth lines peppered with piano and a brisk rhythm section. "Jetstream" doesn't break with the trend, either -- imagine if Moby made half-hearted electro-pop instead of wonky semi-soul ballads and you'd have this track. In fact, you'd have the whole album.\nI hope that this release garners attention for New Order and gets people to buy their older records, albums made when they were challenging, relevant and unique. If you've been listening to them in the long term, this is nothing you haven't heard before, especially if you bought side projects like Electronic and Monaco. Still, if you've kept abreast of music world name-dropping, the video for 2001's "Crystal" gave The Killers their name and the impetus to wreak their New Order-inspired mouth breathing on humanity. Who knows what New Order can spawn this time?