We seem to be getting spoilt for choice these days in Swindon with the variety of bands that come to our parish. Forget the current fads for earnest, streetwise rappers or Radio One dictated fashionista bands, for me some of the best acts passing through seem to come from some of the most unlikely and distant shores. San Francisco septet, Or the Whale, is the epitome of this ideal.

Their eponymous second album is a wonderful blend of high gloss west coast folk-pop and grass roots alt-country, the result being a warm, harmonious and brilliantly listenable set of songs. At one extreme, such as on Never Coming Out, it is awash with Summer of Love hippy pop vibes, at the other it plants a foot firmly in The Carter Family’s hallowed ground. Between those poles it tips its hat to the likes of The Band or The Jayhawks and easily fits in with the current wave of indie bands that are exploring their parents’ and even grandparents’ record collections to reinvent and reinvigorate the folk and country genres.

Aiming more at the general listener than the purist, it brims with infectious lilts, finger-clicking grooves, honest narratives and glorious ripples of peddle steel guitar and I for one can’t fault it. My only worry is will they all fit into the compact and bijou confines of The Beehive, which they play on Wednesday, March 2.

DAVE FRANKLIN