British Sea Power : The Spirit Of St Louis

Hats resolutely off to British Sea Power, the great white hopes of quirksome indie rockery, for writing lyrics about historic aviation exploits and colonic irrigation. But thumbs down for sounding like skanky old goth-punks on the title tune, which is little more than a ramshackle bollock-up masquerading as splenetic garage-rock. The extra tracks show a slight improvement, windswept clatters not unlike post-punk vampire croakers Psychedlic Furs trapped in an ambient wind tunnel with epic rumble-rockers, Doves. Some promising touches then, but these half-arsed amateurs clearly need a spell in the army to sharpen up their ideas. Points are also deducted for living in Brighton, a hackneyed pop hangout and rubbish halfway-house version of London. With a crap beach.

Stephen Dalton