As part of The Auteurs he was on the pig's back in the heyday of Britpop, but for the past 15 years or so Luke Haines has swapped videos and theatre halls for fringe success. For all of that, Haines is a prolific chap, and Rock n Roll Animals arrives quickly after a couple of other albums in the past 18 months. The concept (the connections between UK rock acts Gene Vincent, Jimmy Pursey and Nick Lowe, and Haines's hometown of Walton on Thames) threatens to detract from the music, but Haines once again pulls more than a few rabbits out of the hat. The album is arranged as a kind of Wind in the Willows for psychologically derailed adults, and tune after tune of odd delight is delivered with a what's-it-to-you? attitude. Wonderful.
Download: A Badger Called Nick Lowe, Angel of the North, Rock n Roll Animals in Space