Great, epic, simultaneously self-important and self-loathing pop music is hard to come by, and Wave Machines do a great job of providing it. They put some fey/wry singing (with good diction) over some unreconstructed disco, soul, new romantic, pop guff and I find myself wanting to be watching them from the studio audience of Top Of The Pops circa 1984. Basically, Wave Machines are a band who realise that synthetic strings generally sound better than a 50-piece orchestra, that guitars are a mere rhythm instrument, and that Prefab Sprout were much better than U2.

Key Track: ‘I Go I Go I Go’