Honestly, it’s enough to make grown men weep. The long-promised indie revival looks as if it will fizzle out in a hail of skinny jeans and skinny riffs. God, the scenesters are even wearing NEON! It leaves you eager to hear something, anything, that’s different, that stands out from the crowd, and that’s exactly what the Rumble Strips do. One part Motown Revue, one part Dexy’s trill and one part Freddy Mercury-sized lust for life, ‘Girls and Weather’ doesn’t just stand out from the crowd but leaps full-pelt down side-streets. From the bitterness of ‘Girls And Boys In Love’ to the surreal lyricism of ‘Alarm Clock’ the Rumble Strips prove that life in Britain today can – and should – be expressed with more wit and soul than the average nu-rave record. Music to pin your soul to.