The Great Unwanted - Lucky Soul

Sometimes you're there at the "beginning". You hear a name on the grapevine or stumble onto a Myspace page and hear of a band months in advance of anything being given an official release. Other times you somehow miss out, not hearing anything until the release has hit the shops and you just sit there with a "how the hell did I miss this until now."

As you might have gathered, putting this album in the player led to the second of those two responses. It's so good it makes me wonder where I've been all their life.

The rich seam of pop influences that Lucky Soul mine are clear for all to see; a little bit of soul, a dash of brit-rock, a healthy dollop of Phil Spector and a nice dressing of Mowtown. And yes, at times it might all seem a little too familiar, but the band seems to be having so much fun with their sound that it's almost impossible not to share it.

Add Your Light to Mine, Baby starts the album off on a particularly high note, and it has plenty of company with the likes of One Kiss Don't Make a Summer, My Darling Anything and the title track The Great Unwanted. All may have to bow down to Get Outta Town though; I don't think I've heard a better pop record than that all year.

As I alluded to earlier, it's not the most original album you'll ever hear and some critics have gone as far as to label it a mere "pastiche" record. But if it is pastiche, at least its a knowing and mischievous one, bringing in some senses comparison to those other favourites of mine The Pipettes. And if We Are The Pipettes was the album of last summer, The Great Unwanted may well have just laid it's claim to being the album of Summer 2007...and we're not even out of Spring yet!