Johnny And The Poorboys -- The Girl In The Cowboy Hat

Twelve tracks of toe-tapping Celtic Rock 'n' Roll each with the John Gow mark of quality assurance and the Poorboys sounding anything but poor.

Album opener Mary, Mary is a real foot stomper with lots of hey, hey, hey's and an impressive piano solo from Ken Gilroy. The accordion playing of Aiden Williams dominates much of the albums sound, never more so than on the instrumental Johnny Liquorice.

Hills Of Conemara is very much in Pogues territory with Phil Wilson's fiddle to the fore. The Pogues are the obvious comparison but you can also hear elements of The Waterboys and The Clash throughout.

Judas Kiss is the real cherry atop the veritable cream cake, lyrically very strong and there are laudable covers here also.

The album's weakest song is Marie's Wedding, sounding like the type of song Andy Stewart would sing on those terrible old New Year's Eve television broadcasts.

This album should be the soundtrack to a hundred Christmas parties, what a shame they didn't include a cover of Fairytale Of New York.

Graham Scaife

Chemical Brothers -- Singles 93-03

From the superb Song To The Siren through to the rich new release The Golden Path, this collection of singles takes you on a chronological tour of some of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons finest work.

All the duo's favourites are here including Block Rockin' Beats, Hey Boy Hey Girl and Out Of Control as well as indie-influenced Let Forever Be, featuring Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher.

The ten-year anniversary compilation is the perfect example of the Chemical Brothers' dance-rock-rap fusion. The double album does not offer much fresh material for the faithful Chemical Brothers fan, but is a starter for the less initiated.

Paul Cook