It's easy to say in hindsight but much about the Britpop scene was incredibly naff. This music phenonemon was synonymous with the advent of "lad mags", a belief that British teams excelled at soccer and the over-inflated egos of frontmen which tried to mask the fact that the music created was simply old tunes recycled for a bored generation. Thankfully this fad passed but it did bestow some gems on the world; not least the John Peel-endorsed work of Pulp and The Bluetones. Granted, The Bluetones had their faults; they certainly weren't technical innovators and included a rather unspectacular frontman in Mark Morriss. They did boast a terrific guitarist in Adam Devlin, though, and their debut album was a rare example of ambition allied with memorable songwriting. The three singles lifted from 'Expecting To Fly' prove this; the angsty, Smiths-like jangle of 'Bluetonic', the beautifully harmonic 'Slight Return' and the rockier 'Cut Some Rug'. Further albums fared less well but each single yielded its own rewards and what is more, three of their most recent efforts show there's still plenty of mileage in their material yet; the cute 'Autophilia' is like a 90's update of Madness' 'Driving In My Car' and with imaginatively-constructed records of the calibre of 'After Hours' and 'The Bluetones Big Score' they prove themselves correct in distancing themselves from the Britpop movement in the first place. An enduring compilation of fine, tuneful songs.