"Roses", taken from the "In A Bar Under The Sea" LP, is a creeping and malevolent song. "Thank you for the roses", spit the vocals, over a pulsing and brooding bassline punctuated by weird discordant guitar noises and bursts of second-long distortion, constantly building until it has filled your head completely. A paranoid, claustrophobic and wonderful experience.

"I Suffer Rock" sees the band in mellower mood, with a blues-tinged slow-burner that flares up memorably every now and again. "Nine Threads (demo version)" is an acoustic, almost folky ballad and the single closes with "Difficult Day", a weird jolly pop song with hyperspeed vocals.

Those crazy foreigners...

Rating: 10/10

"Bicycle Thief Ultra" on the b-side is a slower, lumbering thing; again invoking the spirit of New Order, but valid on its own with its deep, ponderous bass and female backing vocals. The last extra track is an instrumental of "What Do You Want..."

Rating: 8/10

A couple of remixes follow. The snappily-named "Tony de Vit Club Mix Edit" is an in-yer-face dance choon, heavy on the keyboard. The "Sonar Race Mix" (mixed by Steve Lamacq) is an ambient take on the song, all whalesong and Clangers, with Ant & Dec singing whilst in a big tin box. Both decent enough mixes.

"Today" is the other track on the CD, and is the boys doing their best Monkees impression over a drum-oriented 90s track. Not bad, but not special.

Rating: 8/10

The unstoppable Spice machine piles ever onwards with this surefire number one (a single called "Mama" in time for Mother's Day; plus all proceeds going to Comic Relief). Not many charity singles are actually worth buying for the music, but this one is. "Mama" is a great ballad, well-produced but with sadly cringe-inducing lyrics. "Who Do You Think You Are" is a "Wannabe" wannabe, with its cheerful singalong chorus, colourful brass sounds and dance beat. The only criticism of this is that it sounds a little dated - close your eyes and one of your ears and it could be The Communards.

"Baby Come Round" is the new song on offer here (both a-sides are on the LP), and is an Eternal-like torch song, not as immediate and barrier-breaking as some of their other material but not bad by any means. "No-one wants to be a one-hit wonder" they sing. As if.

This CD - there is another with the order of the a-sides reversed and a couple of other tracks - closes with "Mama (Biffco Mix)", turning the a-side into a dancier thing altogether. Not bad.

At the moment, Spice Girls seem unable to do any wrong. New material is badly needed now, however, and it will be interesting to see how strong this is.

Rating: 7/10

Trip-hoppers for beginners, Sneaker Pimps nevertheless produce immediate and impressive material, and "Spin Spin Sugar" is no exception. Although it desperately wants to be a black and evil cobra, the song is about as menacing as your little sister armed with a pillow: when you compare this to some of the truly frightening and unsettling things that Tricky and Portishead have done, it just doesn't cut it. That aside, "Spin Spin Sugar" passes the minutes well enough and features enough guitar and slinky vocals to give Garbage a run for their money.

B-sides are a mix of "Spin Spin Sugar", a little bit more spaced and ambient, with some hilariously out-of-place crying in the middle; "Walk The Rain", an overlong and self-indulgent slowie; and "How Do", the band's take on a song from one of the best films ever made. This is the song that the naked Britt Eckland sings on the other side of Edward Woodward's door in "The Wicker Man". For covering that alone, Sneaker Pimps deserve credit and they do it justice, thankfully keeping the pounding heartbeat rhythm that is the main point of the song. I'm going off to watch the movie again now...

Rating: 7/10

Is it just me or are snowboarders some of the smuggest people you've ever come across? Or maybe it's just cos I can't do it. Never mind. "Found You", taken from last year's "Free Peace Sweet" LP, is a stompalong big pop song, not as catchy as "Good Enough" or "In A Room", but pleasant enough. Ultimately it's just a bit...bland.

On the b-side is "I Can't Make It", a Small Faces cover recorded in what sounds like one track. Nothing a good few dozen pub bands up and down the country aren't doing already. "Stand By Yourself" is a rather dull live track, and the single finishes with a techno remix of "Found You" that never seems to get into gear.

Dodgy indeed.

Rating: 5/10