My Little Cheap Dictaphone – The Tragic Tale Of A Genius

My Little Cheap Dictaphone might rank among the naffest band names you'll hear all year, but thankfully their music fares better. The group is the brainchild of Belgian artist Redboy and his associates, while the album itself is a 'mini pop-opera' based loosely on the life of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, which should give a clue to the sort of themes explored here: success, mental breakdown and wasted talent feature prominently.

The songs mostly follow traditional rock structures, while moments like the sprawling ballad No Self Esteem, Piano Waltz and the Tom Waits-esque title track are closer to film soundtrack or musical pieces. Mercury Rev founder and sometime Flaming Lips guitarist Jonathan Donahue lends his vocals to the emotive What Are You Waiting For, and helps pull off one of the album's best moments. In all this is a solid piece of rock theatre, with plenty of sustenance throughout. [Martin Skivington]