Originally released back in the giddy days of 2000, Hefner’s third album is mainman Darren Hayman’s favourite.
Nine years on, it’s been given the re-release treatment, with twenty-seven extra tracks being added over two discs. Those twelve, clearly rooted in the promise of a new millennium (and a Labour party yet to properly disappoint), still stand the test of time. ‘Painting And Kissing’ is one of the best Britpop songs that never was, while ‘The Day Thatcher Dies’ is cheeky, jubilant hypothetical schadenfreude at its very best.
And while all those extra tracks will delight fanatics most, Hayman’s incisive lyrics and his ability to capture the zeitgeist have been bettered by few other British bands.
8/10
Words by Mischa Pearlman
