Mixtape, anyone? Dum Dum Girls and the Slumberland alumni have reignited the legacy of C86 beyond the underground, and this wonderful record uses that well-scuffed template to craft creepy pop magic. Veronica Falls have an impressive pedigree, too (various members having previously served time in The Royal We and Sexy Kids) and this pedigree shines throughout, from ‘Found Love In A Graveyard’’s sweetly-macabre post-punk to the softas- snowfall outro to ‘Come On Over’. Roxanne Clifford’s voice – never over-powering, always arresting – meshes perfectly with her bandmates’ gorgeous harmonies, while the foursome’s way with a hook is sweetly scintillating. Granted, there are unassailable fl ashes of The Wedding Present and other indie veterans, but crucially nothing feels retro or dated. One of the more surprising influences seems to be the Pixies, apparent in ‘The Box’’s dizzy surf and when ‘Stephen’ gleefully nabs a hook from ‘Debaser’ before riding it into the sunset. With the indie landscape dominated by generic landfill-fodder and studio gimmickery it’s refreshing to hear a great album crafted with little more than guitars and nifty tunes. But let’s not belittle Veronica Falls; this debut rules precisely because it is so effortlessly brilliant, in spite of (not because of) what surrounds it.

Will Fitzpatrick