To many, White Town AKA Jyoti Mishra will forever be known as a one-hit wonder after the confusingly-titled 'Your Woman' topped the charts back in 1997. That single's attendant album was a hotch-potch of musical styles which, despite some good moments, struggled to establish an identity for itself. 'Peek & Poke' is a far more cohesive affair. It borrows from 80s mainstays such as early Depeche Mode ('Every Second Counts'), Paul Hardcastle ('Duplicate') and has a lot in common with Momus in terms of the DIY sound and ability to produce wistful English electro-pop. 'Why I Hate Drugs', 'She Left For Paris' and 'In My Head' are all fabulous pop ditties which could yet bring further chart success for Mr. Mishra. Somehow the near-fourteen minutes of Stephen Hawking-aping vocal effects deriding hip-hop culture featured on 'Excerpts From An Essay' are made oddly beautiful by introducing a Kraftwerk pastiche synth break at regular intervals throughout the track. The self-effacing sleeve notes portray author as a thoroughly good egg too.