Let's be honest, British artists have never done hip-hop or rap well.

The Streets, the alias of rapper Mike Skinner, became a hero for a generation with his wry take on life in urban Britain, marrying honest, sometimes witty lyrics about suburban life with well-crafted tunes, while Dizzee Rascal and the So Solid Crew both marked out a name for themselves in the genre.

Yet all would have been jeered off stage had they done battle at a club in Detroit.

Two years ago Audio Bullys, the alias of vocalist Simon Franks and producer Tom Dinsdale, appeared set to add to the new wave of British rap with their critically well received and ska-tinged Ego War.

Two years on, however, they have returned with a dud. Franks makes Skinner sound like Eminem and Generation is a mixture of tired house, stolen electronic gimmicks and embarrassing rap - 'inexplicability tired, unbelievably inspired' runs one of his best rhymes.

I Won't Let You Down and EQ-ing would have been hailed as pioneering - in 1990. Fact is they came along 15 years later and are treading well-worn pastures. Not enough time has passed to disguise the rip-off, and not enough dexterity displayed to get away with it.

Audio Bullys had a top 10 UK hit with a sample of Nancy Sinatra's Shot You Down, but that is one of the few listenable tracks on the album.

The other two are This Road, featuring Madness singer Suggs - mainly because it's great to hear him again - and Made Like That with Roots Manuva. But Franks' clumsy vocals even ruins that one.

Frankly speaking, one wonders how or why their guests got mixed up in this mess.