Their name may not suggest it but Leicester's Copperpot Journals are a rare example of a young group who inject some life into British indie rock. 'Pilots' - their second album - reveals an outlook that stretches beyond the formulaic. Interesting influences are abound, particularly so on 'Glass & Chrome' which owes much to the Chameleons' chiming guitar signatures from twenty years previously. Though some of the lyrical content can become unwieldy (the opening line to 'The Future Is A Dare' is "I'd imagine in a plane crash the most cynical of non-believers pray") the music is delivered with a nous for emphasising atmosphere via space as much as noise, none more so than on the glacial 'Black Snow'. Nevertheless the mighty riffs that propel the title track make it a worthy anthemic highlight. In fact only the overblown finale 'We Are A Black Box Recorders' fails to hit the mark. Yet one misfire cannot mask this fine band's achievement in combining subtlety with strength.