Phew, what a relief. Radiohead have left the country, so we can now stop sucking our thumbs and feeling sorry for ourselves and instead lighten up and have fun again. So it's off to the record shop and, what's this here sharing a listening post with The Strokes? Something called The Pattern? Anything allowed in such close proximity to the godlike Strokes -- and the jackets were almost touching -- is definitely worth checking out, so The Pattern is taken home and slapped in the stereo.
Two weeks later, and there it remains, volume now permanently fixed at max, a seemingly never-ending party in full swing, and with my landlady kindly adding some live percussion and backing vocals by banging on the door with a broom and screaming blue murder. This is what rock 'n' roll should be all about. So, if you're bored with New York's The Strokes, having played "Is This It" to death for the last few months, then Oakland, California's The Pattern is the natural heir.