The Wants, Chemikal Underground ****

The Scottish band's Checkmate Savagedebut last year provided invigorating proof that traditional rock could still find new avenues without replacing decent tunes with chinstroking experimentation. The Wantsis even better. While it does its best to keep to the debut's guiding principles, tracks skip ahead and beyond the previous parameters time and time again. The sheer inventiveness of the sounds is the most striking aspect this time out. Most acts who pursue the big music end up as victims of their more bombastic tendencies, but The Phantom Bandmarshal their folky notions, Krautronicablurs and thrilling flights of fancy into a clutch of ambitious, thrilling tunes. On the basis of the pulsating A Glamourand, especially, The None of One, this is a rare, commendable record.

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Download tracks: The None of One, A Glamour