The Super Furry Animals release their eighth album and some worthy tenor-sax from Harry Allen in this week's top CDs.

POP
Super Furry Animals
Hey Venus! (Rough Trade)
***
Hey Venus! is the eighth album from Super Furry Animals and the good news for those of us this side of the Welsh border is that it's in English. Furthermore, it sees the group return to the serious business of making decent pop music, rather than mucking about with strange noises. Singer Gruff Rhys and his mates are clearly inspired by the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Songs such as Runaway and Carbon Dating have a timeless feel for melody and the stately rhythms of a bygone age. The problem for the group is that, at this stage in their career, they are only just the right side of pastiche. Even worse, a song such as Baby Ate My Eight Ball sounds like ELO doing Europop. PETE CLARK

The Polyphonic Spree
The Fragile Army (TVT Records)
***
Three albums in and the Polyphonic Spree still sound like no other band. The problem, of course, is that they are starting to sound too much like themselves. They've dumped the quasi-religious robes in favour of dressing like blackshirts but little else has changed for the 16 instrumentalists and eight-strong choir and their sound remains one of sweeping, relentless uplift. At its best, as on The Championship, the choir sings with abandon, the melodies crash into each other and, at the end, the brass arrives like Prussian cavalry. Trouble is this trick seems to be the only arrow in leader Tim DeLaughter's quiver. The DVD for early buyers shows that making music this joyful is a surprisingly joyless experience. JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Superthriller
Superthriller 2 (Mint Music)
***
Having started out making music for the performance artists based in the Shunt Vaults below London Bridge station, London trio Superthriller branched out into slick electro funk with such success that their first gig was as support for Beck. Their second album proper contains a few more inspired moments than its title, especially danceable opener Hairdresser and the sultry funk of Pop Goes the Captain, essentially a list of other people's song titles set to smooth keyboards and Space Invader noises. However, they are let down by a fondness for cramming swearwords into otherwise radio-friendly tunes that's not as funny as they think it is, and the overriding feeling that this is mere pastiche, not the real thing. The band, like their early collaborators, are just acting. DAVID SMYTH

JAZZ
Harry Allen
Hits by Brits (Challenge)
****
Two worthy tenor-sax albums hit the racks on Monday. The first finds Harry Allen, America's leading swing-era revivalist, making nimble work of Britain's best songwriters, including Ray Noble (Cherokee, The Very Thought of You) and Eric Maschwitz (A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square). Limehouse Blues, by Phil Braham, and Just in Time, whose composer Jule Styne reached New York at eight but was born in London, inspire Harry's most fluent solos. Guest trombonist John Allred also sparkles and guitarist Joe Cohn (son of tenor legend Al) marshals an impeccable rhythm section. The second album, Young and Foolish, is a Von Freeman rarity of 1981, when that neglected Chicago giant was surging from postbop to free. JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Live at Couleur Cafe
Konono No.1 (Crammed Discs)
***
From the Democratic Republic of Congo, Konono No. 1 have become a cult act, although they've been around for 25 years. Their music played on thumb pianos (likembes) amplified by microphones created from recycled car parts seems both ancient and avant garde. The makeshift percussion uses pots, pans and more car parts. You won't find the swinging melodies and virtuoso guitar playing that typifies most Congolese bands - Konono get into hypnotic grooves which go round and round as the band sing and whistle over the top. It's an acquired taste but you get an idea of what it must have been like at this crazy Brussels performance. SIMON BROUGHTON