Fact #128977

For sheer unadulterated heart-on-sleeve jangly-guitar romanticism, you'll go a long way to find a better bet than Glasgow's Cosmic Rough Riders. Anyone who can stop a track dead and, in all seriousness, launch into a soaring a capella vocal harmony statement that "Sunshine brings love" gets my vote every time. If you accept that we become what we believe, Rough Riders' mainman Daniel Wylie has a philosophy that could make us all happier bunnies. Even if you don't accept it, he's writing music that would put a smile on the face of a gargoyle. This is, he admits, a shamelessly retro outing, drawing on such unfashionable influences as The Eagles, Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, but it's also a way of clearing out the ghosts of the past so he can concentrate more fully on his own vision, as he did on the band's killer debut album last year. 'You've Got Me' is a classic statement of undying love; 'The Pain Inside' is a powerful exploration of the conflict between life and art; 'I Call Her Name' is a Beach Boys/Byrds hymn of yearning. This is one great album.