Diesel Park West – Do Come In Excuse The Mess

Despite a string of impressive UK chart singles in the late eighties/early nineties, Diesel Park West remain banished to relative obscurity, which is odd given their knack for infectious power pop hooks. The group haven't changed on their eighth album, but their songwriting – though conventional – often matches the strengths of similarly minded groups like Hoodoo Gurus and The Waterboys.

 

They can hardly be accused of phoning it in, either: frontman John Butler oozes with exultation on tracks like Lover's Voice and I Can't Remember it, whose melody nods towards Edwyn Collins' 1994 hit A Girl Like You. OK, so it's not entirely modern , and it does come off as overblown at times (the vocal harmonies on I'm Not Broken and the Northern Soul of closer You Brought Out the Good in Me edge close to adult contemporary territory), but Do Come in Excuse the Mess is nevertheless a solid addition to DPW's underrated oeuvre.