Though pop rather than rock came to dominate the landscape in the two years since Ocean Colour Scene's previous album, Mechanical Wonder is a stirring reaffirmation of the band's core strengths. Frontman Simon Fowler's wistful blue-eyed soul vocals ensure the album's mood of plaintive despair is honestly rather than hysterically expressed. But the group's expansive and crafted musicality provides the perfect counterbalance to the disappointments related in the title track and "Biggest Thing". The summery guitar chords and swaggering rhythm of "Up the Downside", the rich dreamy string arrangement on "We Made It More" and the cucumber-cool blues swagger of "Give Me a Letter" are all examples of traditional rock that thrives on healthy vibrancy rather than cautious conservatism. --Gavin Martin