The Charlatans Ambassador, Dublin: It's taken The Charlatans 13 years to find Wonderland, 13 years of mixed fortunes to finally reach their own musical nirvana. And it's been well worth the wait.

The Brit band have always hinted at greatness. While Oasis were lazily scooping up accolades for simply keeping the status quo, Tim Burgess and his band were delivering real rock 'n' roll passion on songs like One To Another, How High and Tellin' Stories. And while most of the Madchester bunch have long since fallen off the groovy train, The Charlatans survived and - more importantly - evolved into something bigger and better.

How high they've come is apparent when they take to the stage at The Ambassador, and rip into Love Is The Key, from their brilliant new album, Wonderland. The punchy guitars, the swaggering bass, and the strutting falsetto of Tim Burgess are a million miles away from The Only One I Know, the band's big, baggy hit from way back when. They've been maturing steadily through albums like Up To Our Hips and Us & Us Only, but on Wonderland, The Charlatans seem to have finally found their groove, and a blistering one it is too.

Singer Tim Burgess has been spending a lot of time in L.A., and it's done him the world of good. He's changed from a diffident, nasal-voiced shambler into a formidable frontman with an impressive falsetto borrowed from Mick Jagger (circa Some Girls). It works beautifully on new tunes like Judas and A Man Needs To Be Told, while older songs like Weirdo, Impossible and Forever are sung in a stronger, more focused rock sneer.

It helps that guitarist Mark Collins, organist Tony Rogers, bassist Martin Blunt and drummer Jon Brookes are also on top of their form, as was proven by a wildly exuberant finale of Sproston Green.

Charlatans? These guys are 4 real. Kevin Courtney