Buying an album on the strength of having liked just one single from it (Books From Boxes) is always a risk. It doesn't always pay off, but Our Earthly Pleasures is even better and more consistent than the quality of that single suggested. Having not heard the band's first album, I came to this one with no preconceptions or prejudices about what I was going to hear. The first two tracks, Girls Who Play Guitars and Our Velocity are full-on pop-rock, entertaining and energetic. They are followed by Books From Boxes, which is a gem of a track - but in many ways it is what happens from here on that makes this such a great album. Each successive track has either a great melodic hook, fantastic rhythmic interplay between the instruments or genuinely affecting lyrics, and often all three in combination. Standout tracks are hard to identify as the standard is so high, but By The Monument and Parisian Skies are good places to start. Overall, though, this is one of those rare records that you can just put on and play all the way through without a single duff track, where nothing outstays its welcome and you are left wanting more. Its also great to hear intelligent lyrics sung with honesty and directness in the singer's native Geordie accent - no pretending to have come from California here. I could recommend this album to just about anyone.