After their 2004 cult hit No Cities Left, the Dears frontman Murray Lightburn introduced ill-fitting prog-rock influences when the Montreal sextet last played live in the UK. But their third album is right back on track.

Gang of Losers maintains a deep admiration for solo Morrissey, from the mixture of self-deprecating lacerations and fighting talk over a muscular, occasionally stodgy backing, but Lightburn’s bristling hooks stand in their own light. OK, Whites Only Party (Lightburn is black and p***ed off rather than a skinhead activist) and Bandwagoneers are right royal rip-offs, but they’re nevertheless superb, and on the torchy Fear Made the World Go ‘Round and the 1960s-influenced melodrama I Fell Deep, the Dears border on the sensational.

MARTIN ASTON