Still sitting pretty (or so say all those screaming girls) inside the American Billboard Top 40 after 59 weeks (count them!), the Jonas Brothers land here at last. This eponymous effort is actually their third - if you consider their out-of-print debut It's About Time, currently doing the rounds on the tween market for Dh700 a pop, and their career-making Camp Rock recording for Disney. Quite the overachievement for a pumpkin-pie wholesome band of teenage brothers.
For Jonas Brothers is nothing if not a zeitgeist record. Though zeitgeist isn't always an explicable thing, and this is more of an 'if Busted had collaborated with Max Martin to soundtrack a precocious Nickelodeon soap during their questionable Air Hostess period' kind of record. Lead single S.O.S. may succeed on its punk-pop élan. Games bops along to a ska beat that just about skims the right side of rhythmic integrity. But the critique is moot when one emo-flavoured cotton-candy chorus dissolves into another.
Skip this and amazon.com their follow-up, A Little Bit Longer. That it is - and much better too. Word from the playground is that it's buzzing with fuzzed-up guitars, as assured as any rock record released this year.
afeshareki@thenational.ae
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
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