With Busted busted, this vigorously promoted boy quartet could have a profitable 2005, provided they're not too sweaty for the fans Busted left behind. Bearing in mind that Rooster are nominally "rock" dudes, sweat is a certainty, but there's no hiding their aptitude for girl-friendly melodies.

Everything clicks into place from the opening stomper Joy Ride, and they rarely miscalculate the ratio of raucous guitars to deft tunefulness. Come Get Some and Platinum Blind are in the Brit-blues tradition of Free (speaking of whom, frontman Nick Atkinson does a decent homage to Paul Rodgers' pebble-dashed gargle here), and it's fitting that at least one song be devoted to "the road" - though they could have called it something other than On the Road. The album only loses momentum on the small complement of American-style ballads like Angels Calling - which, sadly, will probably be immensely popular if released as singles.

Rooster may be the training bra of rock acts, but no less welcome for that.