Mansun - Six (Parlophone) No, this is not Mansun's sixth album, and neither has the band turned into a sextet - nothing explains why the Chester boys' sophomore release is called Six.
Six is 70 minutes of continuing guitar noise, incoherent at times, but mostly well collaged. It might even go farther than its Pink Floyd or Genesis forefathers: the band is preposterous enough to divide the album into two parts with an interlude.
Those who lust for the pop tunes from Mansun's previous outing will be disappointed: gone are the string-drenched anthems and stripping vicars. Replacing them is a sound which changes shape and tempo within songs rather than among them.
It would be easy to discount Six as self-indulgent rock'n'roll farce. But beyond the initial humdrum Six is refreshing and even entertaining. However, at times the band seems to lose the plot (the harpsichord and pseudo-operatic baloney of Witness to a Murder (Part 2)).
The unconverted may still feed on Part Two tracks such as Legacy and Being A Girl - which retain traditional pop structure and smack of the sounds of Closed For Business. Six does not hit the old-school rockers for six, but a small-margin victory can be proclaimed.