O sophomoritis, what a vicious plague thou art; of course, the task of following up as glorious a debut as Bang Bang Rock & Roll is an understandably difficult one, but who would have thought that Art Brut, too, might fall ill to a nasty case of the sophomore slumps?

It’s A Bit Complicated follows the same half-spoken-half-song pop punk formula as its predecessor, but the band’s sound seems to have gotten a bit more tame over the past couple years. Eddie Argos’ once biting commentary is now replaced by halfheartedly romantic references to making mixtapes and making out to pop songs with a somewhat blase delivery that’s suddenly far more “Parklife” than “London Calling.” The same holds true for Ian Catskilkin and newest member Jasper Future’s somewhat uninspired guitar work here; Art Brut now sound more like a canned, radio-ready britpop band than the genuine punk rockers they once were.

So, if you were expecting Art Brut’s sophomore album to fulfill the promise they made on Bang Bang Rock & Roll to write the song that makes Palestine and Israel get along, you may be severely disappointed.  All that’s left to do now is just pray that Argos and company finally come to their senses and get back to their good old badass selves as soon as possible.