The Futureheads - This Is Not The World

It may seem exaggerated to call this a comeback, given that The Futureheads only crashed on to the scene with their self-titled debut some four years ago, but when the Sunderland punk-popsters were dumped by their label after a second album that certainly was 'difficult', their musical stock price took a nose-dive worthy of Northern Rock. So to hit back with a self-released record of such unadulterated, unperturbed vigour is a real two-finger salute to the doomsayers. Their appeal always lay in their amphetamine energy and wry pop charm, and it all comes flooding back in tracks like Think Tonight, Work Is Never Done and The Beginning of the Twist. There's little shelter from the gale of staccato guitars and punchy beats, but this is their forte and all to the good. With their third album The Futureheads show there's plenty of life left in their own form of northern rock. [Nick Mitchell]