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They can seem too smart for their own good, and with their ‘connections’ – mainman Robert Schwartzman is the brother of actor Jason Schwartzman and a nephew of movie director Francis Ford Coppola – there’s a vague air of too-good-to-be-true contrivance.

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That does them an injustice, though. Or rather, him: this is Schwartzman’s show – he wrote, produced and performed all of the songs himself. That’s probably why, in the video to the single My Heart Beats 4 U – an I Love Rock’n’Roll/We Will Rock You-style anthemic stormer – he’s shown playing all the instruments and twiddling all the studio knobs. Still, if shiny, groovy, melodic, finger-snapping, guitar-led pop-rock is your tipple, you’ll want to guzzle down Washed Away in one.

LA alt.rockers Rooney return with new album Washed Away

Paul Lester is the editor of Record Collector. He began freelancing for Melody Maker in the late 80s, and was later made Features Editor. He was a member of the team that launched Uncut Magazine, where he became Deputy Editor. In 2006 he went freelance again and has written for The Guardian, The Times, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph, Classic Rock, Q and the Jewish Chronicle. He has also written books on Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Bjork, The Verve, Gang Of Four, Wire, Lady Gaga, Robbie Williams, the Spice Girls, and Pink.