Holloways + Wombats, Portsmouth Pyramids

THE gig circuit swings into life again and these two bands can feel pretty satisfied with their summer's work at the festivals.

Scouse trio The Wombats are casting their greedy eye on the pop Premier League, peddling the same night-on-the-tiles mini-dramas that did the trick for the Arctics and with a barrage of solid gold singles to play with, expect to see them further up festival bills next year.

Oh, and as opening lines to songs go, Kill The Director's I've Met Someone Who Makes Me Feel Seasick takes some beating.

Mind you, if it's witty and cutting lyrics you're after, The Holloways must have notebooks stuffed with them. Dismissed too easily as a cut-price Levellers, their dissections of the darker side of 21st century Britain offer far more.

"This is Great Britain, so let's raise a jar - just look at Georgie Best and how it got him so far," they taunt on the rollicking This is Great Britain.

And while they do rollicking best, they also do heartbreaking pretty well too on the delicate Most Lonely Face.

Summer anthem Generator inevitably provokes a mass singalong and suddenly Britain doesn't seem like such a bad place to live.