Ambulance Ltd

Biz Markie once wrote a song about taking a shit. Ambulance Ltd., I sense, have similar musical powers — not lyrically, but tunefully, their range seems interminable; melodies are spilling out of their trousers. The New English EP isn’t compulsory, but makes a nice bookend to the band’s self-titled, and grossly underrated, 2004 debut, even presenting the demos of "Heavy Lifting” (essentially a perfect song) and "Sugar Pill.” But it’s the breadth of their pop sensibility that staggers, lurching from country rock to AM Gold schmaltzy pop, augmenting their previously demonstrated mastery of post-punk; they even manage to make Pink Floyd’s "Fearless” listenable.