IT’S not often you hear the mid-Nineties girlie punk band Kenickie mentioned as a modern band’s influences, but Taffy are quite happy to wear that influence on their sleeve.

The Japanese four-piece, with the sweet vocals of Iris and relentless pop guitar rhythms of acts like Sleeper or Elastica, echo that kind of driving, enthusiastic tempo that blossomed in the heyday of Britpop. Opening with the Stone Roses-esque intro of Sweet Violet and segueing into Tumbling, the album rarely lets up, while Snowberry could easily be a Letters From Cleo B-side from the soundtrack of a painfully hip teen movie.

Most interesting is the cover of The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry. Replacing Robert Smith’s tortured vocals with the breathy, Louise Wener-esque Iris, and giving the instruments a more industrial but jangly vibe, works wonders. In fairness, it’s already a great song, but it’s a nice twist. Not so throwaway to be labelled bubblegum pop, but not unique or different enough to register as a great album, the only real problem with the thoroughly enjoyable Lixiviate is that it’s mostly been done before.