The Bangles' original recruiting advertisement in California back in 1981 called for musicians who were "into the Beatles, Byrds and Buffalo Springfield", and the reformed quartet still sticks closely to that blueprint. In fact everything you might have said about The Bangles during their hit-making streak in the 1980s pretty much holds true today. They're still capable of following a sublime moment with a forgettable chunk of musical doggerel, and sometimes the ensemble threatens to fall apart altogether in time-honoured garage band style. And, try as she might, guitarist Vicki Peterson has never got the hang of how to be the band's front-person, despite having borrowed her hair from Sheryl Crow.

The Bangles function best when they pool their resources, especially in their four-part harmonies. Lead vocals are shared between all four, but the chemistry is most potent when the other three drop in behind Susanna Hoffs. This worked a treat on the Prince-penned Manic Monday, and lent stature to a final encore of Eternal Flame, a hymn-like ballad constructed from four voices and a piano.

During Walk Like An Egyptian, souped up by some electronic backing, the combo peeled off into a brief excerpt from Paul Simon's Mrs Robinson, to which their voices were so miraculously well suited that you could almost imagine Paul Simon must have written it for them in some weird pop premonition.

A band making a comeback needs a comeback album, and the Bangles have obliged with Doll Revolution, named after Elvis Costello's waspish title track. The disc doesn't mark any giant creative leaps forward, and some of the songs, such as Single By Choice, should never have been given house-room. But Ride the Ride is a prime specimen of tingling Banglehood, fit to hold its head up alongside previous benchmarks such as Going Down to Liverpool or Hero Takes a Fall. If you liked them back then, you'll still like them now.