A sense of nostalgia and passing time pervades this album, even in the artwork, which shows a battered toy tape player and defunct brands of cassette. Fittingly, the songs have a child-like and innocent feel, but never descend into twee. The title track and ‘Electronique Bee 101’ are reminiscent of latter-period Beatles, particularly in the harmonies, with touches of XTC-style quirkiness. The beautiful ‘Jenny #1’ has a more American feel, its yearning melody and softly driving rhythm sounding not too dissimilar to Grandaddy. Elsewhere there are haunting acoustic tracks and squelching electronica, yet a pleasing consistency is maintained. The band manage to inventively combine multi-layered experimentalism with pure pop.

Needless to say, there are lots of trebly guitars and tinny keyboards, with occasional tambourines and xylophones. In fact, Fonda 500 sometimes sound as if they are playing solely on toy instruments, which only adds to the sweet and slightly strange reverie they create.

Chris Taylor