Fickle Public – Greatest Hits EP

Fans of this much missed Elgin-via-Glasgow quartet’s debut Bucko can finally breathe a sigh of relief with the release of the cheekily titled Greatest Hits EP, comprising five tracks that would have most likely made up half of Bucko’s ill-fated successor. Adam Hocing and Revel Revel bite and growl in a scathingly brutal fashion, the latter a masterclass in disjointed pop, unapologetically heavy with spat out vocals and ping-pong guitar duelling.

Non-Stop Hot is the most swaggeringly cool the band has ever sounded, and San Diego Hair is effortlessly refined, hypnotic post-punk. A bittersweet slab of the art these boys had mastered, plus a most fitting send off for a band that could’ve, should’ve and most certainly would’ve on the strength of this. [Alan Souter]