Somewhere in a country mansion, looking out over his acres of plush green land, stands a dejected Richard Ashcroft. He looks out of the window, then looks down at his feet, and thinks 'shit' to himself. He realises that it would, after this, be pointless to release anymore half arsed wasteful acoustic based solo albums. Richard Ashcroft is listening to The Shining.

Yep, dear old Dickie's former Verve bandmates, Simon Jones and Simon Tong have formed one of the best northern balls-out rock 'n' roll bands for a long time. But the 'Shining' (geddit?) star of The Shining is 22 year old lead singer, Duncan Baxter. It's his nasal, bittersweet tones that grace this fantastic debut single, the frantic, gritty 'Quicksilver'.

From it's deep, down, and indeed dirty intro riff, it's as a weighty and punchy a northern rock anthem as a debut single has any right to be. Elements of The Stooges and Jane's Addiction are clear but (Warning: Frightenly Obvious Comparison Coming Up) a distinct air of Oasis hangs over the single. And that's proper Oasis, of course.

Because they, like The Shining do now, made exciting northern rock and roll records. Shine on, as I believe The House Of Love once said.