One of the great things about doing reviews for The Line of Best Fit is getting to hear music by bands that otherwise would almost definitely have passed underneath one’s musical radar. This great little album is a prime example. The Wave Pictures have seemingly been touring and self-releasing for five or so years, but until now I had not heard or read anything about them. Hopefully this release will get them the publicity and increase in acclaim that they deserve.This is definitely a band for those of you who enjoy great lyric writing. In 'Strange Fruit for David', the singer talks of a time when he was “trying to be a writer”, and this literary bias is very clear throughout. Track after track features unique, yet spot-on imagery, perfectly capturing everyday, kitchen-sink-drama events and emotions. Opening track 'Leave the Scene Behind' starts as it means to go on, with the devastating kiss-off: “She said ‘David, you’ll always be a baby brother / And you’ll always be a mother’s son / And you’ll always be somebody’s favourite pupil / But you’ll never be the man that I want”. The next few tracks are all corkers ”“ it's tempting to just transcribe the lyrics from 'I Love You Like a Madman' in their totality, so perfectly do they capture the fraught nature of Christmas spent at your partner’s house (“If I made it through Christmas / Without smoking / Till your parents went to bed”).Often it is the small, unexpected, detail that really makes these lyrics work, as in 'We Come Alive' where the singer admits to not only “Writing letters to other girls”, but doing so “In shaky, shaky handwriting”. This track is also noteable for its Jonathan Richman-esque exclamations, mid-track, of “Tell them about it on the bass guitar!” and “Chorus, again!”.The album features two more highly recommended stand-out tracks. The title track, 'Instant Coffee Baby', is a touching and often hilarious lyrical picture of a relationship, featuring an ex-boyfriend’s coffee machine that has quite possibly been cursed, and one of the few references that you are likely to find in modern day pop to cystitis. Perhaps my favourite track of all is 'Friday Night in Loughborough', which highlights your typical weekend night out in small-town binge-drinking Britain in all its grubby and entertaining glory. From the moment when the heroine “Threw up outside The Curzon”, with “The girl from Baker’s Oven holding back your hair”; through having “Picked a fight I couldn’t finish”; staggering home with “A head like the waltzers, bruises and ashtray clothes” to “Slap makeup on the makeup / That you slapped on the skin the night before”, bells will be ringing resoundingly with anyone who has ever passed an evening in this way. Just brilliant.Lyrics aside, the other U.S.P. of this band is their vocalist. With a singing voice somewhere between The Fire Engines’ Davey Henderson and The Veils’ Finn Andrews, this is a voice that is hard to ignore. It is, I’d say, well suited to the songs that it delivers, belting out the heartfelt words in a sincere or emotional or jokey fashion, as appropriate. 'January and December' sees the addition of a sweet female vocal, which works well, and reminded me of some of the Broken Family Band songs where they draft in a similar guest vocalist. This is all presented, musically, in an unshowy C86-ish indie setting which, once again, works effectively with the band’s “ethos”.The album undoubtedly tails off a little after the half-way mark, but this is unsurprising since the bar had been initially set so high. This album has pretty much become my mental soundtrack since I first listened to it last November ”“ and is strongly recommended to anyone who values clever yet realistic words, delivered in an authentic and sincere way. This band is a one-off, a marvellous unique English gem, that deserves elevation to national treasure status. 90%mp3:> The Wave Pictures: 'Now You Are Pregnant'Links The Wave Pictures [official site] [myspace] [20 questions]