Scooters pushing ahead

The band, which is split between Cardiff and Los Angeles, launch the album, on South Wales label FFVinyl, on Saturday June 8.

I Can See Your House From Here, which is the follow-up to the band's debut, Peep Show, will be available the preceeding Monday, although is already on sale in the States.

The band started playing in the back room of The Royal Oak Pub on Newport Road in Cardiff but a meeting with the landlord's son took them overseas. The publican's son had business in LA and saw an opportunity to make a few quid if he took The Scooters with him.

Gigs at movie stars' pads followed, including Jeff 'The Fly' Goldblum's. In October 2001 they played the CMJ Music conference in New York, and this year they returned to LA to record I Can See Your House From Here.

And the results? Peepshow was a truly dire record. While the band did show some musicality and sang three and four part harmonies (well done) it was difficult to remember any particular song after listening to the album in one sitting. I Can See Your house From Here is a vast improvement.

Although, still very much the same band as heard on Peep Show, whether it s the sonically improved production or greater variations in style, I Can See Your House From Here is a far more memorable recording.

Openers, This is How it Ends and 5 O'Clock, lack the empty pomposity that hindered Peepshow, although there is plenty of that later, and have a more an eclectic sound hampered less by Wonderstuff like strummed exuberance.

Much of the albums middle is composed of more 'Size of a Cow' material but by The Hardest Thing the band finds some new sounds to back the relentless harmonised vocal lines. The shimmering guitar and delicate piano make for a classic, if unoriginal, close. l Catch The Scooters in Barfly, Cardiff on Saturday June 8 and find I Can See Your House From Here in all good record shops from Monday June 10. Dial 029 2069 550 or surf to www.ffvinyl.co.uk for more information.