There is probably no genre I am more of a sucker for than 60's inspired 90's Britpop. You know the good stuff that was overshadowed by the massively overrated Oasis. Bands that pulled the heart of the Beatles into the 90's. Bands who crafted elegant pop songs, with divine harmonies and innocent guitar hooks. There were hordes of them, most did no business in the US at all, but like I said I fall for it every time, I even used to play variations of it in a late, great band called Pants (wonder where those guys are now? Hey Jay, hey Ger, hope you are still rocking).

Cloud Eleven is a perfect example of this, except for two minor things. It is a solo project rather than a band, Rick Gallego, wrote, produced and played every instrument bar drums on this self titled release and rather than London, South Wales or Manchester, Rick is from Los Angeles. Britpop from California! Whatever next.

Irrespective of geography this is an album of fragile beauty, an album that slides around your mind like good Cognac down a cold mans throat. Or maybe something sweeter, like Grand Marnier. The Beatles references are impossible to avoid, we are talking more about Paul McCartney's pop sensibilities rather than Lennon's more twisted genius. Quite how one man manages to create such sweet harmonies is just one of the many mysteries of this debut.

Other artists that spring to mind include The Byrds, Lovin' Spoonful (whose song "Didn't wanna have to do it" is covered) and Crowded House. The lyrics float between light surrealism and veiled sexuality, his voice is a dream, this is one of the easiest to listen to albums I have encountered in a long while. In fact it is one of the best albums I have received, ever, period. It is that rarest of things, an album that is over well before you want it to, there are 12 songs, and it weighs in at a little over 40 minutes, but it slips past before you can even begin to appreciate it. You can not help but want to immediately hit that repeat button, certainly I can't see many lovers of genuine pop music listening to this album just once.

Opener 'Tokyo Aquarium" is a perfect taster for the overall sound of Cloud Eleven, fuzzy guitars, excellent rhythm work holding it together, superb harmonies and interesting lyrics. All building to a solid chorus, a song that hints at sex "I wanna crawl inside you" and in a literal way makes about as much sense as Strawberry Fields. Other standouts include 'Take Control', 'Rainbow Station' and 'Wish I'. Not that there are any weak tracks, this is a pretty near perfectly balanced album, one of my constant criticisms of new bands is their insistence on putting every song plus the kitchen sink into that debut, when a little restraint would have cleaned it up enormously. This is not one of those albums, each and every song is the result of crafting, and the album fits together as snuggly as two balding bears in Alaska.

Of course a lot of people don't appreciate the simple things in life, like damn good pop music, they want grand theatre in their music, or constant innovations or angry lyrics. They should avoid this album, for the rest of us, for those who understand why The Beatles were so important, who miss Lennon, who like to lie on unmade beds as joyful music pours forth from a second rate hi-fi, for we band of happy few this is a must own album. An absolute joy from start to finish.

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