Album: The Soundcarriers, Celeste (Melodic)

They claim not to be retro-modernist, in which case one can only admire them for their postmodernist attitude towards retrospection.

Yet it remains the case that were it not for San Francisco in 1965/6, Krautrock in the 1970s and the pick'n'mix aesthetic which has governed clever pop for the past 15 years, then the Soundcarriers would probably sound quite different. Though not heavy metal. Whether you approve their deliberate, fey, drifting, cinematic songcraft is entirely up to you and your monkey, of course.