Davey Lane has been honing his knack for crafting rough pop gems for a decade or so, whether in his own outfit The Pictures or with You Am I. Lane has never shied away from his musical taste – after all, he was the 18-year-old kid hand-plucked by You Am I after tabbing out their guitar parts and posting them online – andAtonally Youngdefinitely wears its influences proudly.

Psychedelic opener ‘Komarov’ sets the tone by melding lush layering with heady riffs and appropriately spacey vocals. ‘She’s A Timebomb’ harpers back to The Pictures’ days of scruffy garage rock, amped up with a proggy breakdown and naff jabs of synthesiser.

Clean-cut post-punk guitar cuts through the disco vibes of ‘Witch In My Mind’, while the moody ‘The Undergrowth’ feels like wading through fog. The brazen ‘The Last Of The Freakazoids’ is campy and glam, and the knowingly bratty ‘Smash Yer Head In’ is the scrappy missing track from Graham Coxon’s Love Travels At Illegal Speeds, coupled with a sweet chorus and a loopy descent.

Branching out on his own, Atonally Young is exactly the album you want andexpect Lane to make, full of excellently executed hooks underpinning big tunes and Nuggets-y headspins.

4/5.

Atonally Youngis out now through Field Recordings /MGM.

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