The Young Knives, Voices of Animals and Men

Voices of Animals and Men is the debut album from The Young Knives, a 3-man band consisting of 2 brothers on bass and guitar and a drummer. They play spiky guitar-pop in a similar vein to the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Dirty Pretty Things and The Futureheads, influenced by that great early '80's sound. The songs are a commentary on the day-to-day, and are both comical and angry, and melodic enough to make you want to dance.

Highlights on the album are "Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)" - about wanting to bunk off work during nice weather, "Loughborough Suicide" - about their hometown, and "She's Attracted To" - about meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time and discovering they are a pair of yobs. The latter contains the oddly singalong-inducing refrain of "You were screaming at your mum and I was punching your dad!"

These guys look like insurance salesmen, but they are funny and charismatic, and they write simple songs, which have their tongue firmly in cheek and are designed to get the dance floors hopping in indie discos across the land.

Very, very highly recommended.