SARAH Blackwood, the kitchen-sink drama queen with the Dusty Springfield eye shadow, had it right when she said: "We're from the Burt Bacharach school of songwriting: lovely tunes and honest stories that aren't patronising".

At their early peak on 1995's Disgraceful album and the singles Stars and Not So Manic Now, the Halifax interior-design student Blackwood and Newcastle computer programmer Steve Hillier and guitarist Chris Wilkie span suburban soap operas of endless tea and tower blocks that made for a haunting northern answer to Saint Etienne.

The club beats never deserted them, nor did the bittersweet lyrics but the crystalline pop hooks fell away, and this 15-track compendium closes with the prophetic Swansong from their third and final album, 2000's Make It Better. Too much whine, not enough roses.

Updated: 09:08 Thursday, May 27, 2004