For a while there it looked as if James Bourne was going to end up as the Gary Barlow of Busted - looking on in frustration as his supposedly less talented bandmate Charlie Simpson grabbed all the solo glory. With this new band, however, the little guy who actually wrote all of Busted's hits has signalled that he's not going down without a fight. Son of Dork ploughs the same teenage power pop furrow of his old outfit, but there's a sarcastically bitter tone to the lyrics here that often makes for compelling listening and raises the quality control above the likes of, say, Wheatus or Blink 182. As juvenile as he can be, Bourne still has a certain geeky charm - and on the evidence of this surprisingly entertaining album, he's not such a loser after all.

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