King Adora are a band who are renowned for their sexier-than-thou image. (Despite their also-renowned prowess in the field of being utter mingers.) While this is fun and interesting for about 3 minutes, the novelty starts to wear thin after a while. So it's nice to see that with Suffocate, the Birmingham boys have more than one trick up their tight sleeves.

It's not that it sounds particularly different to standard King Adora material - the trademark components are all in place with this one just as much as with prior releases. Here, then, is Matt Browne's everpresent snarl, backed by guitars that tear the song to pieces and then reassemble it in haphazard and satisfying ways. It's got all the noise and nihilism of King Adora's other singles, but what's this we see before us - emotion? Sincerity?

Gone, thankfully is the tedious oh-so-raunchy bluster that is woven so tightly into everything else we've heard from King Adora so far. In its place we get an emotionally taut, desperate explosion of noise; Browne's recognisable vocals become a wild, passionate roar, a welcome change from the usual posturing that he subjects them to. The Manics comparisons start to have some relevance, as the guitar stabs bear a remarkable resemblence to those in Masses Against The Classes - but the song is strong enough to carry it off. It smacks of passion, urgency, desperation - elements that the Adora lads all too often forsake in favour of faux-sleazy verbal theatrics. And it unlike the rest of their singles, it doesn't sound like a glossy remake of Subcircus' "Do You Feel Loved?" (it sounds like the Smashing Pumpkins instead, but all the better for it). If they can produce more of this, they may not be as throwaway as they first appeared.

I'm starting to realise I may have to buy King Adora's debut album when it's released...