BRAKES
TouchdownFat Cat Records ****

Not many bands are as deliberately concise as this one, but Brakes have flirted with peculiarity since their inception. Not only has the Brighton supergroup arguably eclipsed the combined successes of their member’s previous outfits (The Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power and The Tenderfoot), but Touchdown marks the first time a long-player of theirs has broken the half-hour mark.

2005's Give Blood set out the quartet's stall as purveyors of short, sharp songs that slap you in the face then shake you by the hand. Tracks such as Heard About Your Bandbest epitomised their breezy, rambunctious disposition.

In that respect, it came as something of a surprise that its follow-up, The Beatific Visions, displayed a band that were capable of more than musical slapstick. Their trademark minute-long whimsicalities were overpowered by songs steeped in glorious Nashville colour – yet they retained a fun, punky pop edge that ensured things never became too serious.

Touchdowncontinues Brakes' development. Incorporating both style and substance, the quartet have finally found the balance that should see them shirk their "niche band" tag. True, these songs are basic in their structure, but Eamon Hamilton's lyrical dexterity – simultaneously providing food for thought and inducing ear-to-ear grins – gives them a waggish potency.

Musically, they're top-drawer as well, encompassing indie, punk, pop and slacker rock with a beautiful succinctness. Their range is perhaps most obvious in the catchy jangle pop of Worry About It Laterand the sweet clatter of Crush on You, while Oh! Forever(the only track to cross the four-minute mark), treads new territory with its bass-heavy shoegaze ambience.

This sort of album is the antithesis to modern musical self-indulgence: it's not experimental, it's not wacky and it's not particularly innovative. But whether it's meant in the American Football sense or the alien spaceship sense, Touchdownis another emphatic conquest for Brakes. www.brakesbrakesbrakes.com

Download tracks: Worry About it Later, Oh! Forever