Manchester Starsailor wannabes, Barfly, present another well produced record, which is very poppy and melancholy and like the release from Valve, is trampling towards familiar territory – ie. the indie-guitar, balladly, pop charts. Which, in my humble view, is no bad thing.

"Shelter" is a more of an acoustic affair, but this doesn't detract from the power delivered within the song. This tracks sounds most definitely like Del Amitri (on a very, very good day, may I add …). It also weighs in at a hefty 4 minutes plus, which despite the pleasing guitar solo is a little long given the overall feel of the song.

"Talking With The Middleman" sounds a bit more like it, whatever "it" is, with plenty of strumming and a bit more of an exercising of the vocals, which, although no James Walsh, pays off handsomely. In this case the sound is quite original and the song, with a laid back ambience, doesn't actually sound too much like any of their Top 30 peers.

"Don't Make Me Wait" mixes a crumbling overdriven guitar with acoustic strums, over which the vocals shimmer and then descend into a reasonably OK chorus. The verse is great, but does disappoint a little, as it doesn't fully deliver what it fully promises.

Regardless of the fact that the above offering has been examined with a red hot poker, there are some very promising and commercial ideas, which do earn Barfly a recommendation. Another, it would appear, to add to the pile of wonderful, emotionally drivem new British bands ready to wipe away the dead wood of Nu-Metal and Britpop. Can't be bad.