However, after sitting through a totally inappropriate 4-minute drone intro on opener 'Magdalen Bridge' such concerns are instantly forgotten. Admirably, the band have held onto their sound and their integrity - even if now and then they dip their cap to their Oxford brothers Foals by slipping into dance-rock hi-hats, what 'Good Nature' brings to the table is pretty special.

Ideas flow, songs stretch and time-signatures effortlessly contort around perhaps the most instant aspect of the band - Andrew Mears' flawless 'could probably steal your girlfriend if he wanted to' voice and needlessly intelligent lyrics. It doesn't feel out of place though, it feels right when put among the heroically sharp music that his band mates create.

On first listen, I wasn't surprised to be enjoying the album as much as I was. They're a band to believe in. They side-step pretentiousness and instead are as assured as their math-prog luminaries that inspire this racket; they were never going to let me down. Perhaps they've not been as inventive or playful in past outings such as the a capella breakdown in 'A Little Late He Staggered Through The Door And Into Her Eyes' from mini-album, 'Hurrah...' or the moments of unexplainable awesomeness such as when the band suddenly start clapping like retards on their 2005 single, 'Ores'... but the band play a fair card on their debut by taking a more lively and less-post rock stance than said earlier efforts.

The melodies and vocals are now as brave and as strong as the instrumental side of the band, even though now and then I feel almost guilty for what could essentially be the sounds of an "emo band" with great ideas, pissing on their supposed "peers". But sorry, it's not a fair criticism to level at them when even the laziest of critics can't ignore that the band do not fit comfortably in that genre. What critics CAN understandably throw at them however is their proggy styles can ruin songs that seemed to really be going to special places. This total inability to know when to stop (most notably in the latter half of 'If You'd Seen A Battlefield' and the whole middle section of 'Something For The Ghosts') falls fault to this all-too-regular shortcoming. Where in other places the band can strip down their songs to tender moments (the middle of 'Shh! You'll Wake It') you can't help but feel that the band might just be exploiting their abilities just for the pure sake of seeming as clever as they think they are.

Despite this though, I have a feeling that Youthmovies would still be showing off their skills even if they were the last band on earth. Unhinged, unrestrained and, like throwing confetti at total strangers in the street, Youthmovies can be pointless yet startlingly impressive - and with this, their debut album proper, they've given British rock music a confusing jewel to celebrate.