The problem with Prime Circle is that it's easy to not like them. For some people, the urge to hand out a klap or two was almost too much to bear.

They have, however, done some growing up and fortunately this shines through on their latest album, 'All or Nothing'.

Their best album by far, it's better written, better produced, and most certainly easier to listen to.

"Working with Theo (Crous)... he brought a lot to the party in the sense of making the guitar sound like a huge wall of guitars, and feeling more relaxed around him. It was a nice process," lead singer Ross Learmonth told us recently.

And he's not making any of this up, because you can clearly hear the guys having a lot of fun, with the band sounding like Matchbox 20 and Learmonth like Gavin Rossdale in voice. And that's no criticism.

'All or Nothing' starts of with a 46-second intro, which builds up menacingly for the truck that slams into you with the opening riffs of 'Out of This Place'.

The album then heads to the schoolyard with the playful 'Could You Ever', followed by the initially grating 'Consider Me', which ? two minutes and two seconds in (time it) ? moves into stadium anthem territory for what turns out to be an awesome song.

'She Always Gets What She Wants' is a solid sing-along song, followed by the Avril Lavigne 'Sk8ter Boi' wannabe 'All I Need', before the album's second best song, 'Hey Now', storms the stage. Slowing the pace and grabbing the spotlight, the latter entertains in a slow, comfortable, and perfectly balanced fashion.

'What I've Become' nags its way through a strained performance, followed by 'Be Like That' which tries a little too hard to be intelligent. The folky 'Find a Way' doesn't do much better, but it at least gets the feet tapping again.

The highway-cruisin'-with-engines-gunnin' 'This Time' gets you excited, but only to see you slump into the overt balladry of 'All For the Birds'.

And then... then the last track comes forward ? and what a treat. 'Tear It Down' is an easygoing rock song that should be played at top volume while you jump up and down and do that ridiculously fun little jig of yours in your living room.

"The message we want people to take home is... it's time not to be so negative about everything in life. It's time to just rock 'n roll ? and sometimes things are good," Learmonth also told us.

Exactly.

But make sure you've got the curtains drawn, because the neighbours might get concerned.

See the 'Out Of This Place' video