"Ble mae Mr. Jones? Mae Mr. Jones yn yr cwpwrdd". Having left the land of song just before S4C really took off and the subsequent urban resurgence of the Welsh language, that's about as far as my Welsh goes. With my school books in an attic somewhere, I'll resist the temptation to do this review in Welsh then, but will just throw out the facts that our Welsh teacher spent his weekends vandalising English only road signs and had us chanting the names of the days of the week to the chorus of Gary Glitter's 'Come On, Come On' while slamming the desk lids up and down (try it - it scans). I've a feeling that the track had a different name, but I don't really want to Google 'Gary Glitter' for confirmation, if you know what I mean. So, all in all I'm positively predisposed to, if not particularly conversant with, this Welsh-only second album release from Hywel 'Howl' Griff and his band. And at least I can pronounce the track names. As for the rest of you: since when did anyone have a clue what Michael Stipe was on about during the first few REM albums anyway? Griff's three bandmates will know how you feel - they're not Welsh either.And talking of early REM, there's jangly 12-string guitar a-plenty here: plus harmonies to give a warm West coast pop veneer to this punchy indie attack - that's Cardigan Bay not California. Aberystwyth-based Griff is indeed a surfer, whilst appearing more craggy bear than beach boy. And from the 'interesting fact' department: his other passion is beekeeping and his blood contains enough venom to kill a normal person after apparently building up immunity over the years. A dead man walking then. It does mean you get a chance of free honey at gigs though. Sweet.The first three tracks are crisp winners with an upbeat Byrds backing underpinning the vocals especially prominent on 'Grisial Clir'. You'll also learn that the Welsh for cardio-vascular is cardio-vascular by the way. The fourth 'Chwalu Mur Berlin' is a more lumbering affair and hence sags for those lacking an understanding of its lyrics. 'Cred Fi' has Griff sounding like a Welsh Shins, but best of all is infectious power pop gem 'Pwy Yn Y Byd Wyl Ti?'. A further couple of songs are more reflective in feel whilst passing pleasantly, but 'AOR' teeters into the trap of becoming what it parodies - but at least there is some cowbell. The sparkle returns for final acronym-chocked cut 'DNA'. Overall there's nice work from producer Owen Powell (ex-Catatonia) and keyboards/engineer Tim Lewis (ex-Spiritualized) to keep the ear engaged when the brain might not be - not to mention Griff's obvious talent for a tune. That's the challenge here, and the rich sunshine sound with an echo of Britpop just about carries the day. Oggy oggy oggy, as we say in Wales. 66% Links Howl Griff [myspace ]