Undeniably old-fashioned compared to the spiky pop sound of
Girls Aloud and the edgy urban output of
Sugababes, Liverpool trio
Atomic Kitten don't appear to be in any hurry to keep up with their more credible girl band rivals, judging by their third studio album,
Ladies Night. There are a few attempts to grace the dancefloor with the hen party-friendly reworking of
Kool & the Gang's "Ladies Night," the string-soaked
ELO-sampling disco of "Be with You" (arguably their best single since "Whole Again"), and the Gallic-tinged filtered house of "Loving You," but despite the presence of
Kylie producer
Rob Davis and
Jenny Frost's DJ boyfriend Dominic Thrupp on board, the majority of its 15 tracks stick with the
Stargate-esque watered-down R&B, breezy acoustic pop, and midtempo ballads of its predecessor,
Feels So Good. Taking a more active role third time round, eight songs feature at least one of the girls' names on the credits, but while the gorgeous sparse
McClarnon-penned piano ballad "Someone Like Me" hints at a previously untapped songwriting prowess, the bland flamenco-tinged "Never Get Over You," the anemic funk of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," and the forgettable "Everything Goes Around," which uses the same shuffling beats as all of their big hits, suggest it's a good thing that the likes of
Take That's
Gary Barlow (the gospel-inspired "I Won't Be There"),
Alisha's Attic's
Karen Poole (the melodic dream pop of "Nothing in the World"), and
Madonna cohorts
Billy Steinberg and
Rick Nowels (the lush
Bangles-esque "Believer") were on board to lend a hand. There are times on
Ladies Night when the girls appear capable of losing their "female
Westlife" tag, while the increased creative input is a promising progression from their manufactured early days, but frustratingly, it plays it too safe too often to be considered as anything other than a harmless and slightly forgettable piece of fluff.