Many a teenager painted the walls of their bedrooms black and used this lot as an angst ridden soundtrack to their pallid youth in the eighties and nineties and in fairness they could have given up the ghost years ago and retreated to opulent country mansions and counted their hefty cash wedges safe in the knowledge their place in musical history was assured.

However it would seem “Laughing Bob” Smith and his not so merry chums aren’t quite ready to kick the can just yet and The Cure are back with a single every month as part of their as yet untitled album.

“The Only One” might not rank with their very best but there’s a certain delight to be taken from knowing some things in life just don’t change. Smith’s voice still wails like a tattered flag blowing in the breeze beneath a gloomy sky while the band still chime away in the background with instrumentation so glacial you would think it was responsible for downing the Titanic.

He’s still warbling on about how some lucky lady has torn out his heart in such a devilish fashion that the maudlin bugger is actually enjoying it. Yes, there’s something in Smith’s vocal that suggests he’s still liking what he does while propping two fingers firmly in the face of 21st Century musical progress and declaring that it’s the late eighties all over again.

Well, I’ve certainly heard worse, Welcome back Bob!

“The Only One” is out now as a digital download from iTunes. Eyeliner and lippy and crap smelling scented candles remain as optional as they ever were.