TEN years ago, the Boswell of Bristol, Gerard Langley, took a sabbatical from The Blue Aeroplanes after his band refused en masse to perform a cover of Status Quo’s hoary old rocker Paper Plane.

They were right, Gerard, but thankfully the Aeroplanes regrouped and have been flying once more, first on 2006’s Altitude and now on Anti-Gravity, the reborn art rock veterans’ best collection since the peak days of Swagger.

In the band’s 30th year, Langley’s spoken vocals – a kind of walking version of singing – stroll as wittily and sinuously as ever through such new highs as the swaggering Sulphur and the urgent thrills of 25 Kinds Of Love.

Folk still plays its part in their chemistry, especially on Oak-Apple Day, while Langley’s predilection for a multitude of guitars continues unabated, Massive Attack’s Angelo Bruschini and Witness’s Gerard Starkie both caught up in the metallic mesh.

Eddie Argos, lippy leader of London’s Art Brut, is a non-singing singer in the vein of both Langley and The Fall’s Mark E Smith, his chanting vocals surrounded by growling, angry guitars that are no prettier than his smart-alec voice.

He even sends up that up in Sexy Sometimes, where he hopes somewhat forlornly that one day he might accompany a couple’s canoodling. His Ian Dury school of wit wins out, and so does the Brut force of his band’s zestful tunes, although they need to discover a couple more tricks for variety.

Nevertheless, you are advised to check out this Argos catalogue.