Album: 1990s

Cookies, Rough Trade

With plaudits from the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, The Long Blondes and The Gossip, Glasgow power-pop trio 1990s are tipped to follow Arctic Monkeys into the nation's hearts and download charts. The range and appeal of the dozen songs on this debut show why. Back in the Nineties, singer-guitarist Jackie McKeown played with Alex Kapranos in Yummy Fur, and Cookies wields the same kind of crisp, trebly guitars and indie swagger Kapranos later brought to Franz Ferdinand, allied on songs such as "Arcade Precinct", "Enjoying Myself" and the lazy-student quandary "Thinking of Not Going" to a dry wit and hip delivery. It lets McKeown get away with cheeky sentiments such as "Why don't you try taking drugs again/ You were always funnier back then" and "Get out to a bar/ Get out like a blonde gets out of a car", without slipping into sleaze or drawing PC fire. He's aided by the band's gift for catchy melodies that help daft lyrics such as "Ladytron, Lady Di, how'd you make your baby cry?" slip by almost unnoticed. Stardom surely awaits.