veryone knows that punk killed off prog back in the seventies, right? That’s why last year’s biggest live music event in the world was headlined by returning punk heroes Pink Floyd, and why no one gives the time of day to Muse’s black holes or The Mars Volta’s inertiatic televators.

Pure Reason Revolution, with their twelve-minute long singles and inclination towards the overblown, have surely picked the right time to stake a claim on the mainstream, then. And yet, while two top seventy-five singles is two more than M.I.A. has ever had, they still don’t really seem to have made much of an impression—even as a laughing stock. Perhaps they just aren’t ridiculous enough?

They have clearly studied their long-haired, gong-wielding heroes: the horrible artwork is present and correct, as are the obligatory silly song titles (“Nimos & Tambos,” “Bullitts Dominae”). Plus “The Bright Ambassadors of Morning,” is taken from a line in an actual Pink Floyd song and “The Intention Craft,” is surely a reference to Philip Pullman’s amazing His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy. As far as the actual music goes? Instrumental opener Aeropause employs a vast, echoing slide guitar sound, which loops off into the distance in great swathes of sound. Which would have been a nice nod to Dark Side of the Moon if they didn’t use it a few more times to diminishing effect. Elsewhere there are definite hints of Rush (not a surprise, as Paul Northfield is credited as a producer), and Camel keyboards underpin a number of songs.

There is a bit more to their sound than retreads of the distant past, though. For starters, they have a female singer—and Chloe Alper and Jon Courtney’s harmonised vocals are among the nicer touches. The screeching violins and aggressive guitars of the interlude to “Voices In Winter” are another non-prog moment, and make for one of the few really exciting passages of the record. Problem is, though, that Pure Reason Revolution rarely reach for any such extremes. They are musically proficient, but never enough to stun anyone with the quality of playing. They write nonsense sci-fi lyrics, but of a rather earnest, drab kind. They’re ambitious, but outside of a few glorious moments are too timid to really let loose. Pure Reason Revolution has the ability to write rather good, catchy tunes—check out the chorus to “The Bright Ambassadors of Morning”—but cover them in layers of noise and spread them thinly among aimless instrumental repetition to little effect.

It seems almost comical, right? A prog’s band restraint is their downfall. But because the group so slavishly dedicates themselves to constructing epic music in the style of former giants, it’s this restraint that eventually kills The Dark Third. And it’s this restraint that will continue to keep them from any sort of commercial or musical success in the future.