Miles Kane / Colour of the Trap

Miles Kane
Colour Of The Trap
(Columbia)
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"Jeezus," the Gods of Music must be saying. "What are we going to do with Miles?!" What indeed. The Rascals frontman and Shadow Puppet is a gifted melodicist with a dramatic and soulful edge - but he's also mysteriously annoying, like sand in your swimming trunks.

Perhaps we should install some good news here. Miles' debut solo LP is full of catchy tunes that slot in atmospherically with Orbison and Costello while adding a dose of B-movie psychedelia, garage pop and 007 film soundtrack. Which sounds great in theory and indeed, on record. So hang on, I'm basically saying this album's great aren't I?!

Well, almost: because for every swooning anthem ('Take The Night From Me') and addictive acid soul boogie ('Rearrange'), you also get sweaty 70s porno themes ('Inhaler') and Les Dennis-esque gameshow jingles ('Quicksand').
Miles is at his best when he relaxes into a sense of humour about the thing: 'Kingcrawler' feels like the singer's being chased through the jungle by voodoo spirits, and he appropriately howls along like a grizzled Tom Jones, to thrilling effect.