THE FUTUREHEADS

With their jerky, post-modern reworking of Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love, Sunderland quartet The Futureheads introduced the nation to frenetic power pop and regional accents well before The Arctic Monkeys. In line with their claim to make music "As precise as robots", last year's eponymously titled debut album, produced by ex-Gang Of Four man Andy Gill, was a sparkly, art-rock delight, melding the ghosts of Devo and XTC on single Decent Days And Decent Nights. New album News And Tributes features witty lyrics juxtaposed with abrasive guitars and sweet melodies, like a Wearside Beach Boys. Already festy stalwarts, the Futureheads have rattled into the indie A-league without pausing to take breath.