If you've seen Otway perform with his Big Band over the past few years, you'll know who Murray Torkildsen is. In case you haven't, I'll explain: After his last "reunion tour" with Wild Willy Barrett, Otway decided to tour once more with a full band. He gathered together a selection of session musicians, and formed "Otway's Big Band"

If you've seen them live, you'll know that the Big Band sound is Otway at his very best, however things don't last forever, and the Big Band members have gone on to other things, with just the occasional gig together. Two of the band members, Murray Torkildsen and Adam Batterbee, have gone on to form two thirds of a three piece band called "The Sweeney".

Many of you will also know Murray as the support act for the Big Band dates, and he has gained a reasonable following, which culminated in the release of a solo album, "Sex, Lies & Videogames". He is, unsurprisingly, the lead singer and guitarist in the band - and also, apparently, the lyricist. Adam continues with the blistering drumming that he demonstrated so ably in the Big Band, and the third third, so to speak, is a bassist called Sid.

The first time I saw Murray (or, indeed, the Big Band) was at a pub called "The Buckingham Arms" in Aylesbury. This is a fine pub for Otway (comparing only to the now defunct "King's Head" in Aylesbury) since it has some of ye olde oakene beames, which John delights in hanging from. In fact during one song he dropped his microphone as he hung, bat-like, from one of the wooden lintels. Being the kind person I am, I picked it up and handed it to him, only for him to fail to take it, instead using me as a microhpone stand for the rest of the song!

Anyway, in a rather fitting coincidence, "The Buckingham Arms" was the venue in which I first got to see "the Sweeney" live, last Saturday, so here are a few brief thoughts...

They started, unfortunately, with what I felt to be one of their weakest songs. Looking round the audience, it was clear that quite a proportion of people felt the same, and the result was that they lost a lot of the potential impact that can be gained from a powerful or shocking first song. The second song, however, soon changed all that.

The song in question was their first single, "Shut Up!" and despite owning a copy of the wee vinyl spinny thing I was not really prepared for the sheer power of hearing it live. This should have been their first song.

The rest of the set continued with a selection of songs which, whilst I hate to categorise things, could be broadly described as a mixture of indie-pop and indie-rock (and probably anything else with "indie" in). I already had some idea what to expect, since I had their first single, and had been fortunate enough to have heard the Big Band playing a couple of Murray's songs at an Otway gig in Tring once. I was, however, still very impressed and would recommend anyone to go and see them.

On the downside, however, anyone expecting to hear much of Murray's older songs will be disappointed. Although he performed a couple, we were only treated to a verse of each, which is a shame because some of the songs on his solo album would sound great with a whole band. If you do want to hear what they sound like, they have a two albums, called "Pop Gun" and "Bingo!&quo; For more information, you could try the Rotator pages.

Well, I finally managed to find enough coppers on the floor to create a pile which was tall enough for the owner of Aylesbury's foremost independent record shop to want to swap it for a copy of The Sweeny's debut album, "Pop Gun"

What can I say about it that sufficiently describes it? How about "GO AND BUY IT!" It definitely ranks as one of the best albums that I posess, and if you liked Murray's solo recordings then you'll be blown away by this. Even if you didn't like Murray's solo stuff, you might find this just different enough to enjoy, so try to listen to it and see what you think.

The album starts superbly with "Shut Up!" - a great beginning to an album, starting with a funky bassline, then bursting into a rippingly toe-tapping tune (with an excellent example of what can be done with a stylophone!). Superb.

Just when you expected the tone of the music to drop off a little for the second track, you find yourself bombarded with an up tempo guitary piece called "This & That" which really helps to explain why the album is called Pop Gun. Another storming foot-tapper.

Well, you knew it couldn't last without a drop in tempo, and this is it. The third track, "England" is slightly slower and more mellow, but makes interesting listening, and a perfect leader to the next track, "Ticket Void If Scratched": This is brilliant - if you've heard Murray's solo version of this then you know a little of what to expect, but the additional instruments, together with the slightly distorted vocals combine to make this track one of the highlights of the CD.

The fifth track, "Big Red" is an instrumental, but a wonderful one at that. It's hard to describe, sounding a little like The Shadows on steroids, but is very good and makes you wonder what these three could do if let loose on the theme tune from "The Munsters."

Halfway down the track list is "You Belong To Me," another slightly subdued track, but again none the worse for it. It's a bit of a romantic one (like you hadn't guessed) but makes a pleasant interlude before the second single from the album, "Why?"

This marks a return to the faster tempo, and also the addition of a mandolin, giving the whole track a slightly lighter edge than many of the others. Once again it's a bit of a toe-tapper (or head bobber, if you prefer) and was probably a wise choice for a single (it's just a shame it never charted).

Track eight, "Easy," isn't exactly up-tempo, but it's not slow either. Perhaps laid back would be the best description, although the rhythmic changes definitely give the impression of movement throughout the piece. It also has a superb harmonica solo - but I'm biased by the sound of lamellaphones on anything.

The next track is definitely down-tempo, being a stalwart of Murray's solo set, "On Stilts With Feathers In Your Hair." I like this one, and it makes a very pleasant track - the sort that induces lesser beings to go "aaaahhh..." (that's the sighing variety, rather than the screaming sort).

Track ten is another from Murray's solo career, "Venus In Fake Furs," but is a completely different beast from the previous song. Like "Ticket Void..." this is vastly improved by the addition of the other members of the band - and it was a good song to start with! It begins with a few bars of just vocals and guitars, but soon bursts in with drums, bass and backing vocals, making it far more exciting than the guitar only version. The multi-tracked vocals at the end also add to it no end.

The penultimate track, "Husbands & Wives" is one of my least favourite tracks - although it's by no means bad. It's another mid-tempo song, with a rhythm which changes a few bars in. The introductory one is Phil Spector style, which I have to admit is not exactly my cup of tea at the best of times and puts me off the song as a whole - the rest of you may well find it more palatable.

Finally the CD finishes with "Honey Forever" which I would put as my least favourite track. It's a slow romantic piece which is nice enough and with very good lyrics, but I can't help feeling that it somehow lessens the impact of the rest of the album. My own choice would have been to use "Venus In Fake Furs" as the final track, and when I play the CD I have a tendency to stop it after track ten (but then usually to start it at the beginning immediately afterwards!)

All in all this is a brilliant CD, with only a couple of tracks that I feel let it down - mind you I can think of few CDs which don't have any duds. I would recommend anyone who likes Murray's songs to buy it, and anyone else to have a listen to it before deciding (although the first few songs should hook most people). If you want to order it, it's published by Rotator with a catalogue number of RRAD 107 and it's distributed by Vital.