Album: The Futureheads, This Is Not the World (Nul)

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Dropped by 679 Recordings after poor sales of their second album, Mackem quartet the Futureheads came close to splitting up, but instead applied their work ethic, regrouped, and formed their own label for album number three.

The title track may namecheck avant-gardists Einsturzende Neubauten (in a roundabout way), but this is the Futureheads' most straight-ahead record yet, which is probably what happens when an "angular" band has visited all the angles. In new wave terms, they've moved from XTC/Wire to the Vapors/the Ruts. A dozen bright blasts of agitated, uptight urgency.

Pick of the Album: AM, FM, all that jazz: 'Girl with a Radio Heart'