Plumb’s skittish, schizophrenic structure may aim to reflect the lack of attention we pay to anything any more, but through that it ends up demanding even more from the listener.

Like a horror film that reveals its most gruesome moment in the first ten minutes, In the Pit’s ten tracks continually blow their load way too early. We Were Promised Jetpacks catch a case of ‘difficult second album’ syndrome.

At their best, Twin Sister sound like one of the freshest bands around, despite unashamedly parading their influences across all ten tracks here. Even at their worst, Twin Sister sound like the best Cocteau Twins tribute act you’ve ever heard.

With hook-laden, sunshine-drenched pop music as pure as this, there is a great joy to be taken in its concentrated form. Stairs To Korea has crammed enough hooks and invention for a whole record into just four tracks.

An impressively consistent debut in terms of the quality of each song, demonstrating in its lead songwriter a willingness to grow and to learn from past mistakes. Let’s hope this growth continues.

While the songs here come out of the isolation in which they were written, the album functions better when allowed to simply exist on musical terms alone, when attempts toward biographical validation are forgotten.

Although rewarding in its complexity, some moments only become denser with time; revealing themselves through the swirls of sonic mist, like mirages in the California desert, as hazy, sun-stroked works of genius from a man whose talent may eventually match his ambition.