Some near-dub sounds start off Mr Grieves with Francis sounding just a little more manic than normal then we go a little psychobilly for the rest of this one, in a most agreeable way. Now that we have a taste for speed, we go all the way up to a hundred with Crackity Jones which is a full-on rock-out that gets everyone jumping around (not a track for in-city driving by the way). Some fine drumming starts off the unique La La Love You which probably isn’t the most lyrically challenging on this album but contains some fine whistling. This is what happens when you let the drummer do the lead vocals – hasn’t anyone heard of the curse of Genesis in America?

Francis takes up the mic again for No 13 Baby where his preference for brown eyes is quite forcefully put, alongside some excellent guitar playing by Joey Santiago. As this one fades away, along comes the high pitched note leading us to There Goes My Gun, with Kim Deal doing another super job on the bass. Another chance to slow things down comes with Hey and once again the chugging bass line is to the fore in the opening phrases and we’re all agreed by the end that “we’re chained”. On Silver, Kim Deal takes up the slide guitar and this quite funereal tune drags a little in comparison to what has gone before. But the finale is certainly worth the wait. Gouge Away contains some of those image ridden lyrics that Black Francis produced with alacrity in those halcyon years – “chained to the pillars, a 3 day party, I break the walls, and kill us all, with holy fingers”. All this, of course, delivered with that near manic shout that adds to the sense of the lyrics in some bizarre way.

And there ends one of the all time great albums. If you haven’t already got this album then I suggest you rectify this situation immediately so that in the words of the old-timer from The Big Lebowski, you can die with a smile on your face without feeling that the good Lord gypped you.