Clor

Kicking off with the excellent "Good Stuff", singer-guitarist Barry Dobbin immediately nails his eccentric colours to the mast, singing about sucking up poison "though a curly straw" over metronomic beats and neat stabs of guitar. Interestingly, Clor seldom turn to that old chestnut of rock, the distortion pedal: "Love + Pain" is so clean the melody veritably sparkles, while "Dangerzone" slows things down and spaces out, like a 21st Century remake of Kraftwerk's spartan "Radioactivity". Meanwhile, on "Hearts On Fire", they pull that trick that few but the Super Furry Animals can successfully pull off, morphing from rock song to techno workout with such eminent skill you can barely see the join. A remarkable debut. --Louis Patterson