West Country trio Blackbud have set out on their path to glory in a familiar fashion, matching the footsteps of the likes of Coldplay and Keane in having a debut single out on Fierce Panda before moving on to "bigger things".

Believe it, bigger things surely beckon for this lot, with an excellent album that burns its way into your consciousness the more you listen to it and which draws on influences ranging from Neil Young and Crazy Horse - the wonderful 158 and Switch could so be from Young's Seventies heyday - to others closer to home, such as Diesel Park West and Radiohead. Hell, TexMex - of a sort - even gets a look in on Forever.

This is not to suggest the band does not have its own sound. It does. Singer/guitarist Joe Taylor has a sublimely unique voice, and melodies abound. Alone is a haunting classic in the making, while Steal Away will reverberate in your head for weeks after you've heard it a couple of times. The cyclicality of music - and the way that influences get condensed and take on formulas of their own - means that a band like Blackbud can appeal to those who heard this sort of thing the first time round, and be appreciated - adored even - by newcomers to the sounds some of us grew up with.

Blackbud are going to be very big. Catch them before they become too big.

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Released: 31st July 2006
Label: Independiente