The front cover of the album features Skinner posing in a bus shelter at night, taken by British photographer Ewen Spencer. [4] Singles [ edit ] Christgau, Robert (6 July 2004). "Consumer Guide: Squirt You". The Village Voice . Retrieved 15 September 2015. Rough minimalism would be best to describe the music. clanging drums, atari-ish bleeps and samples snatched from records you've not heard of. a bit like what UNKLE was doing at that time, but mike does it more effectively... cleaner.

Is stood up at a nightclub by Simone, but passes the time drinking alcohol and taking ecstasy. He thinks he sees Simone kissing Dan but the drug-induced high distracts him before he can think about it properly. ("Blinded By the Lights") On first listen, ‘Fit But You Know It’ is the obvious single. Nothing else is as immediate as ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’ or ‘Weak Become Heroes’ from his debut. A great first single, it takes a guitar chug and a boozy rant and combines them to joyous effect. Close your eyes, put four moptops in suits in the picture, and you could easily imagine it as an early Beatles song. It captures the naivety of tunes like ‘She Loves You’ or ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ but transplants it to an era when ‘innocent’ means not yet having your brown wings.

Simon Rogers (19 November 2009). "NME's top 50 albums of the noughties revealed". The Guardian. London.

The first single from the album, " Fit But You Know It" reached number four on the UK Singles Charts with the second single, " Dry Your Eyes" entering the UK Charts at number one. The album itself reached number one in the UK Album Charts, number eleven in Australia and number eighty-two in the United States. ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2004". Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 17 July 2020. Suspects his mate Scott of stealing his coat, money, and girlfriend but discovers that Simone is actually having an affair with Dan. ("What is He Thinking?")

Adrien Begrand (14 May 2004). "The Streets: A Grand Don't come For Free Popmatters Music Review". Popmatters . Retrieved 10 March 2010. Repeated listens reap rewards. Skinner’s vocals are so high up in the mix that it’s easy to forget there’s some music underneath. And he certainly hides his thingy under a whatsit. He plays with a broader musical palette than the just-thrown-together feel suggests: from the Hammer horror strings and brass stabs of ‘What Is He Thinking’ and the acoustic guitar on the beautiful heartbreak-balm of ‘Dry Your Eyes’ to the sweet soul vocals that punctuate the tale of sofa-bound inertia that is ‘I Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way’, where the lyric “The ashtray needs emptying and the Clipper needs a shake” is delivered with the kind of heartfelt conviction usually reserved for love songs.