To paraphrase the Manic Street Preachers: if you tolerate Mumford & Sons, then Skinny Lister will be next. You see, this five-piece folk act love a good hoedown and wouldn't say no to the odd sea shanty, either. They've been mentioned in the same breath as the Pogues, yet where that band took traditional influences and made them roar with energy, this is all softened edges. The cover alone should have set alarm bells ringing: a heart embedded within the Union flag, it could be window dressing in a twee vintage tea shop. And just like those cupcake-laden cafes, it seems symbolic of all that is wrong with jubilee Britain – fetishising elements of our past while doing nothing of vibrancy with them. Of course, it's wonderfully accomplished, and they can knock out a nice enough tune (Peregrine Fly, Rollin' Over). But the whole thing just seems so safe, so divorced from the idea that we're currently living in 2012 – here is a set of national anthems for a creatively bankrupt country.