Apple Orchard - Leafy Lanes (Haymarket Recordings)

Yeah, indiepop, right - it's all fey pricks with Sarah Records badges and Hello Kitty slides, innit? Yeah. Twee fuckers.

Nonsense, says I! It's a massive, fat fact that not many of the current crop of indiepop darlings sound anything like the stuff that Sarah Records used to put out (I'm ready to be shot down on this one, of course). But Apple Orchard do, and they do it ever so nicely.

On 'Hit or Miss' they sound like Brighter, and there's no-one around at the moment who can sound like Brighter quite as nicely. On 'Fall Fast' they sound like Trembling Blue Stars, with added synth. Tick those boxes.

But don't worry - Apple Orchard aren't some kind of tribute act. 'That Sleepy Side of Town' is upbeat, perky, and almost groovy. And sort of indiepopdance song that you could only just shimmy along to, of course, but it top-tapping all the same.

We revert to type with 'Near Perfect', but that's okay, because in the absence of Harper Lee, I need some lush introspection every now and again.

That Apple Orchard carry on letting go of these little pop gems after the best part of a decade is a wonderful thing, and if you'd like to share this particular one, you best hurry up, because there are only 100 of them to order.