The Homegrown boys are back, carried along and bolstered by the Britpop tide, with new hairstyles and a new LP full of characteristically catchy indie pop tunes. Just in time for another long hot summer...(we wish).

Most of the tracks on this LP either run into each other, or are separated by small instrumental pieces; this fact, together with the scene-setting sub-minute opening "Intro" instrumental, gives the record the feeling of a film soundtrack. To run with that idea, the headline star billing goes to recent single "In A Room", a suitably upbeat opener. The Beatles-like "Trust In Time" follows, taking a simple and effective melody and making it into a joyous stomp of guitar and drums.

Straight into the next track, "You've Gotta Look Up", and the tempo continues at the same pace. This track reminds me very much of stuff The La's were putting out in the late 80s - it has the same grasp of melody, song structure and that special magic ingredient that makes a great track. One of the highlights, this one.

After this trio of fast-paced and immediate songs, the mood then shifts with an almost trip-hop instrumental interlude that takes us into the mellow ballad "If You're Thinking Of Me", which strays perilously close to being a forgettable Oasis song wannabe. "Good Enough" sees the LP back on track again, being an almost MOR track, similar in style to Ben Folds Five. Simple but effective. "Ain't No Longer Asking", the next song here, has an Eastern psychedelic vibe to it, such as the Beatles were playing around with in their latter years: it's a bit overlong, however.

The rather mundane "Found You" is followed by another slow ballad - "One of Those Rivers". Once again, this goes on for too long and has you wishing for the poppier 3-minute songs again. Luckily, these arrive in the shape of the excellent singalong pop of "Prey For Drinking" and the indie rock Kinks-like "Jack The Lad". "Long Life" is less meandering than the other slower-paced songs on offer here and all the better for it.

"U.K.R.I.P", a lament for the state of the nation, is a nice piece of indie dub-tinged rock, and LP closer "Homegrown" again calls to mind the Kinks in a skiffle-ish number.

In conclusion, if this had indeed been a film soundtrack, that movie would have had a storming opening sequence; then lost the plot a little in the middle; rallied towards the end but been a little overlong and a bit patchy. A good LP - great in places - but no classic.