I don't think The Hussy's will ever feature in The Wire magazine or even be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, but you know what.… I don't think they care about such things. For this is a band who aren't fussed about pushing the musical envelope but care more about charming us with tunes and lyrics.

Japanese Graffiti, the band's third album packs nine tunes into a short, sharp thirty minutes. Like Ladyhawke, the Hussy's seem to want to take us back to the days when new wave power pop ruled the airwaves, and every keyboard sounds as if it could fit snugly into a Cars record. 'Life's a Cow' reaches for the heady heights of Blondie with it's Eighties-meets-Sixties melodrama, while the title track is a winningly upbeat, catchy and melancholy combo.

Like CSS, The Hussys seem determined to have a good time and I'm sure there's plenty of teen flick party scenes that could make use of the tunes here (the band have already been featured on The Hills and Paris Hitlon's My New BFF). Lyrically there are some sweet stories here: 'Bryan Ferry Lookalike' tells of a lonely art teacher with a resemblance to the Roxy Music singer; 'Pick a Loveheart' charts a disappointing date and twee pop stomper 'Library Lovers' follows two mature readers who meet for trysts 'at the non-fiction counter'.

There's something bright, shiny and fun about The Hussy's, if they were a record it would most definitely be a picture disc.
Helen Skinner