Coming off the longest hiatus of the band's career, Manchester, England's own Doves try to shake off the lackluster feel of 2005's Some Cities and try to recreate the magic of Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast, their two great early albums. For the most part, they do a nice job of it.

Kingdom of Rust starts off swimmingly with the blissful "Jetstream" sung by lead guitarist Jez Williams and it's reminiscent of those classic New Order tracks of old. Lead singer Jimi Goodwin shines in multiple instances as well, the best of the bunch being the rocking "The Outsider" with its Dark Side Of the Moon style keyboard intro and the soulful "10:03" which just may be one of the best tracks yet in the Doves' catalog. The first half of Kingdom of Rust is so good however that It outshines the just average second half that drags in parts, but let's be honest, it's still better than the bulk of the clunky Some Cities. While Kingdom of Rust overall doesn't quite live up to their early work, it's still a better than average release from one of the U.K.'s consistently rewarding bands.