Radio 4 is a band that's rarely well received by critics. Ever since 'Gotham!', they seem to have lost their footing, and there isn't much that's saved them since then. Their fourth and final album, 'Enemies Like This' is a solid effort, it's just too bad the studio product isn’t more engaging. The title track, '(Always A) Target', and 'Packing Things Up', are fantastic Radio 4 tracks. They're full of energy, catchy hooks, and punchy drumming. It's the middle that weighs this album down a lot. From track 6 to 9 (excluding 8) the songs are stale, generic, easily repetitive, and they would've been better off releasing this as an EP if they cut these tracks out.
The best of the bunch here is '(Always A) Target', featuring LCD Soundsystem's guitarist, Phil Mossman, and the production and mixing work from DFA. If the whole album was full of these punchy grooves and spectacular song writing, we could've had something great on our hands. This great potential could've resulted in a Radio 4 album that would make them stand out from the croud, like 'Gotham!'. But they continue to take this direction a second time; poorly hide their influences and stick with the same formula that wasn't received very well to begin with.
