Singles

The Victorian English Gentlemens Club - Bored in Belgium

Miss Fliss 20/01/2010

Rating: 4/5

The art rock band that actually went to art school, the Vic Gents have always made a keen and pleasant racket. Their trademark unpredictability and scissor kick angles are in the mix, as is off-kilter pop nuance. The girls' shiny, boppy 'la la la' backing vocals set up against Adam Taylor's deep-toned wandering mind monolgue is a great arrangement. All the while, Pixies bass mania breaks loose and guitars cavort around to art-rock perfection.

Bored in Belgium may be about suicidal europeans but it sounds so cheerily winning. This is bop-happy alt pop redolent of The Fall's 80s quirks. Speaking of Mr Smith and co; the B-side here, The Woodsmen, kicks off with a near-perfect bass steal from the thunderous Reformation theme by The Fall and is brilliant for it.