For their fourth album, the Mystery Jets headed off to Texas and made the inevitable Americana album so beloved of British indie bands with a hint of longevity. Radlands is executed with polite faithfulness to its inspirations: The Ballad of Emerson Lonestar is built on the finger-picking and slide guitar one might expect, while album closer Luminescence is a mournful ballad plucked straight from the campfire. But this new southern influence plods, and Radlands is more successful when it gives in to a more straightforward sound: Sister Everett is an amiable, chugging tale of a flawed missionary. But the veneer of sepia-tinged retro-rock smothers the album, and it ends up lacking the bounce or charm of previous efforts.