Silver Sun @ The Garage

I went to see Silver Sun at The Garage last night which turned out to be a most happy reacquaintance. For the uninitiated, Silver Sun are purveyors of a rare breed of perfectly polished power pop who dipped briefly into the mainstream in the mid-late '90s with minor hits such as 'Lava', 'Julia' and 'Golden Skin', before disappearing into obscurity soon after the release of their second album, 'Neo Wave'. As is often the way of these things, the only track of theirs which troubled the top 20 was a cover version - a gloriously overblown reworking of the 1978 Johnny Mathis classic 'Too Much, Too Little, Too Late'.

Seven years later and the boys (now very much men) are back with a new album, Disappear Here and, according to singer James Broad, "there's loads more where that came from". Which is distinctly good news, as they appear to have lost none of their songwriting verve. 'Lies' is as headily harmonious as anything they've written, whilst 'You Can't Kill Rock & Roll' recalls The Beach Boys at their best.

Whilst the album is unlikely to win many new converts and sniffy musos will no doubt continue to sniff, Silver Sun have delighted their patient fanbase by delivering another great pop record. Surely this is how pop music is meant to be: melodic, infectious, disposable and most of all, fun.

Playing to a half-full 250-capacity venue on a grey Tuesday night in May is not the easiest gig in town and the boys (sorry, men) gave it their all. After a blistering hour of high-octane guitar riffs and faultless vocal harmonies they closed the set with 'I'll See You Around'. I certainly hope so. And next time, don't leave it so long...