Recorded in Los Angeles with acclaimed Supergrass, Air & Beck producer Tony Hoffer "So Much for the City" tells a tale of endless sunsets, west coast life and sun-drenched heartbreak. For a band that hails from Dublin their sycophantic obsession with the US could be construed as phony. But in this day and age what isn't?

The Strokes are a re-hash of '79 New York. The Music amount to little more than "Led-Zepplin light". The White Stripes are the bastard twins of Jimmy Hendrix & Captain Beefheart and Coldplay are just simply yet to really prove themselves. To say "I've heard this somewhere before" these days - doesn't really hold much water.

Mixing influences from The Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach & Neil Young even the album cover has an authentic '60s feel.

What sets this record a cut above is their masterful touch. The songs are catchy and instant, recorded beautifully and arranged to perfection.

From the first line of opening track "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" - dolefully exhaled by vocalist Conor Deasy "Well tell me where it all went wrong" backed with a crashing piano chord. The bleak essence of the band is in evidence. The bridge then climbs to a glorious altitude for a classic sing-a-long chorus. The dark/light approach works well. The instrumentation is fantastic. Banjo's jig in the background, close harmonies sweep around & fill the track with warmth, Hammond organ scrapes and subtle brass fills in the gaps. It's pretty powerful stuff.

Other Picks from the album are the single 'One Horse Town', the soothingly melancholy 'Deckchairs And Cigarettes' and 'Say It Ain't So', but from beginning to end this is a charming musical picture of small-town life, this lot deserve to go far……..and they will.

8 out of 10