So Long John Fante Bird Dog Recordings****

Oisin Leech and Mark McCausland have been beavering away on the sidelines for a few years. On the one hand, they haven't been bothering the tastemakers; yet on the other they have been impressing the likes of Richard Hawley and Brendan Benson more than enough to make that pair of snappy tunesmiths sit up and take notice. Pitching their stylistic tent somewhere between Buddy Holly and The Everly Brothers (with a hint of Simon Garfunkel), Leech and McCausland bring sheer delight with their songcraft: songs such as The Goodbye Kid, Only By Light of the Moon, Those Ancient Eyes, Killing Heartand Bells They Won't Ringhark back to a gentler time when all you needed were good, wistful harmonies to get on the radio. Busy boys, they have another album lined up for 2012, but in the meantime this will do nicely. See thelostbrothersband.com

Download tracks: The Goodbye Kid, Only By Light of the Moon, Killing Heart