Fonda 500 Spectrumatronicalogical Sounds

Spectrumatronicalogical Sounds, hereafter referred to as SS (for obvious reasons), is the fourth album from indie-pop favourites Fonda 500, arguably the best thing to come out of Hull since the A63. [Insert inappropriate canned laughter here]. Saying that, the city that spawned one hit wonders Everything But The Girl, indie also-rans Kingmaker, and The Beautiful South (a musical guise for Satan if ever there was one), has never been renowned for it's musical heritage. But we can let that pass. For now.

For the uninitiated, Fonda 500 are one of those frustratingly gifted indie acts, who either don't take themselves seriously enough, or record 72 minutes of self-indulgence and call it an album. As they have done here, with unsurprisingly mixed results.

The major problem here is that far too many of SS's thirty tracks could have been happily scrapped, their absence causing no detrimental effect to the album whatsoever. The Sound of Mathematiques, Hey Hey It's All New Cuco Clientos Show, Le Jeu De Poche Has Great L.E.D.S, At The Shallow End Of The Zoo, Insectual Keyboard Dweller . . . oh, you get the point; at least a third of this record is completely superfluous.

Which leaves two-thirds of good, clean fun, it would seem. And a handful of absolute gems for those with the patience to go digging. My personal favourite has to be La Mariposa Del Noche, a beautifully sparse number recalling both Stereolab and the Velvet Underground (when they let Maureen Tucker sing lead, such as on the excellent After Hours). All of the songbirds love you and the Flaming Lips style instrumental The boy who made a girl out of his xylophone are also wholeheartedly recommended. At the very least, try downloading them.

But ultimately, 'frustrating' is the buzz word here. There's simply no other way of describing a band who scale the lofty heights of La Mariposa... one minute, before plunging to the torturous depths of Spectrumized Smile the next. Admirers of Fonda 500 may have dubbed them "the best band on Earth", but until someone teaches them the art of quality control, this prolific quintet will remain but a mere blip on the radar.