More proclaiming, please

The Proclaimers

Life With You (Decca/W14)

ESSENTIAL "S-O-R-RY"

Few names are as fitting as the Proclaimers' handle. Comprising 45-year-old twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid, the Scottish pop duo is best remembered for the '80s hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," as strident a declaration of love ever mustered in the pop-music canon. In 2007, the song was reprised for the UK charity Comic Relief, recharging the Reids' careers and landing them a major-label deal for this, their seventh album. There's no doubt about it, though, as in-your-face as some of these songs are, the Proclaimers are at their best when, well, proclaiming and protesting vehemently over simple melodies and a stomping march of a beat. The ballad "S-O-R-RY" is a prickly political standout that bristles and burns. Oddly, the Proclaimers soften up Wreckless Eric's lovelorn "Whole Wide World," and, even stranger, "I'm Gonna Be" isn't included on the bonus disc of acoustic and live cuts. But then, the album's pointed pop needs no such props.

The Proclaimers perform at the Middle East Downstairs tonight, with Jeremy Fisher opening at 9. Tickets are $20.