does anyone know the pooh sticks and Half Man Half Biscuit

so does anyone know the pooh sticks and Half Man Half Biscuit?

are they good?

Various Artists

The Kids at the Club

Cargo, £8·99

I'm From Barcelona

Let Me Introduce My Friends

Mute, £10·99

Twenty years ago, the NME compiled a giveaway cassette called C86, which chronicled the emergence of a pop movement it christened "indie". With band names like the Pooh Sticks and Half Man Half Biscuit, the scene soon became stereotyped and derided as twee, jangly guitar music for fey boys and girls with cardigans and bowl haircuts.

The nostalgia train for the anniversary is already in full motion, but the underlying simplicity and DIY philosophy of indie pop continues to be hugely influential on new bands, as reflected on The Kids at the Club. The sound hasn't moved on massively, and the ghosts of Morrissey and the Velvet Underground still loom large. But the names are inspired - Salty Pirates; Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - and the unsneering enthusiasm is endearing.

The compilation's standout track comes from the Swedish collective I'm From Barcelona, and their own debut album is full of more relentlessly sunny anthems. Made up of 29 friends and with a name inspired by Manuel from Fawlty Towers, they manage to create odes to building tree-houses, oversleeping and suffering from chicken pox that feature exuberant, singalong tunes, and have nothing twee about them. Enough to make you want to join their gang. Bernadette McNulty