Like toddlers let loose with a tub of Play-Doh, The Mighty Roars have a lot of fun mucking about on this, their debut album. Take opener ‘Sellotape’, for example, which combines the cut and thrust of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ with the sonic urgency of Elastica’s ‘Line Up’. Their music is a mess, alright, but like nursery-school children’s best putty-inspired efforts, it’s a very colourful one at that.

The power-rock trio have certainly taken the live circuit by storm. Although that could have a lot to do with lead singer/bassist Lara Granqvist’s wardrobe. On-stage costumes to date have included skimpy hot pants and see-through mini-skirts.

Despite being so obviously Britpop-influenced, The Mighty Roars sound so very now. Which is not necessarily a good thing. With titles such as ‘Whale!’, about the marine mammal which got stranded in the Thames whilst the band were recording Swine and Cockerel, and ‘Jude and Sienna’, the band risk being so much of the zeitgeist they’re already an anachronism.

The Mighty Roars split critical opinion. Whilst the venerable Music Week commented upon the news they’d signed to One Little Indian: “Finally one of London's finest bands find a home at a label that suits them”, Drowned in Sound dismiss them as “frivolous puppies barking up the wrong tree.”

Then there are those who damn them with faint praise. Comparing them to such forgettable outfits as Blink 182 and Bowling For Soup? The Pixies reared on a E-number-heavy diet more like.

(3¾/5)