Apparently the swansong for the group, Dubstar's 'Make It Better' signalled the demise of a band whose time was clearly up. In the middle of the 90's there seemed to be an obsession with having 'female-fronted' indie bands where the vocalist didn't have to sing particularly well but looked good in videos whilst the backing players remained in the background; Sleeper and Republica being amongst the most successful exponents of this phenomenon. In fairness Dubstar had a few decent tunes as back-up but it's been a case of diminishing returns since their bright debut 'Disgraceful'. 'Make It Better' sees a move away from their 60's flavoured pop to a peculiar guitar heavy, electronic sound and much of the album sees songs merely clunk when they should be angry and determined. Sarah Blackwood's bland, public schoolgirl vocals sit uneasily on the heavy instrumentation; the crass lyrics of 'Conscious Of Myself' is a definite career nadir for the band. Furthermore, The ballads 'When The World Knows Your Name' and 'Another Word' sound cliched and dated. Yet a few tracks survive the devastation; 'Arc Of Fire' and 'Believe In Me' are both quality examples of indie pop which have memorable choruses and at least the closing 'Swansong' is a defiant send-off that recaptures some much-needed dignity.