One

Dirty Vegas' debut was built around the dreamy, semi-mysterious single "Days Go By," a slick slice of dance-pop that sold a bunch of Mitsubishis and excused the band's shortcomings. Lyrically they were no threat to Dylan, but that didn't matter much when all the pings and pongs echoed gracefully and synths conjured up beautifully detached, nocturnal landscapes. Now they've returned with the heartfelt album One, which is filled with guitars and oh so serious, and delivered by bandmembers who are much better programmers than they are storytellers. There are hints of late-period New Order and Duran Duran on One, but none of the excitement with each wistful and maudlin track blending into the next. "Couldn't help it if I tried," "I can't stop this feeling," "Nothing ever lasts forever," and "The only thing worth living for is love" are just some of the numerous clichés used for the lyrics, and while some tracks are entirely built from them, Dirty Vegas could have just barely pulled it off if they had pulled out the old drum machine. As a guitar-based band, they have no style, and there's no evidence of inspiration guiding the beat combo switchover. One fulfills all of the "faceless" criticisms thrown at them in the past, while alienating whatever fan base they had before.