CAST are Britpop’s forgotten band. Cluttering attic space as history peers through rose-tinted spectacles at Oasis, Blur and Pulp, John Power’s effort to recapture the magic of The La’s is a footnote.

Noel Gallagher once compared watching Cast to a “religious experience” and when their 1995 debut, All Change, produced some of the era’s most memorable tunes –think Alright and Walk Away – chart domination seemed to await.

But the music industry is a fickle beast and, despite some glorious highpoints in Mother Nature Calls, Magic Hour and Beetroot, Cast eventually disappeared into obscurity.

It was a slow death.

That was a crying shame because, as the reissue of their first four albums in deluxe CD and DVDs shows, their sound should be among the most enduring. It merely takes the first chord of Sandstorm to send me spinning back to a time of packed festivals, terrible haircuts and too much alcohol.

All Change was one of the most underrated albums of the mid 1990s – retrospectively standing up exceptionally well alongside the likes of Different Class and Urban Hymns – while Power’s instinctive ability to craft a catchy riff produced the brilliant Free Me and Guiding Star (Mother Nature Calls) and the rocky Beat Mama (Magic Hour).

Nostalgia is one reason to splash out again but where these reissues really shine is in the extra content.

Bonus tracks bring the B-sides from the album singles while, on a second disc, acoustic versions, live sessions and remixes form a definitive collection.

Add in a DVD to boot, featuring promo vidoes and Top Of The Pops performances, and wallowing in the past no longer seems to be such a pointless experience.

Now is the time for Cast to get the recognition their music has always deserved.