Thanks to repeated live and recorded coverage of "Killing Moon" by a popular rock band, Ocean Rain has enjoyed a well-deserved dusting off. Here, singer Ian McCulloch hits his stride, swaggering from heavy-hearted croon to energetic stutter, all the while backed by soaring string arrangements and Will Sergeant's agile guitarwork. The band's debut collection, 1980's Crocodiles, is a fine prologue to Ocean Rain's climactic glory, but sadly the four albums that follow are little more than a drawn-out denouement.

Harold Check