Even after I�ve decided that a particular album is not going to be joining the permanent collection, that doesn�t mean I�m done with it. Even a disc that seems at first like it�s wholly without merit will be given a spin or two more to see if there are any hidden gems. And finding them is always a thrill, no matter how likely the source.

Take for example, Oasis� execrable Heathen Chemistry; my copy was not a promo, but I cannot recall buying it (nor why I would), and only hope I fished it out of the $2 pile from idle curiosity and not a little pity. Most of it is pretty much what you�d expect (more so, in places) but there are exactly two bright spots: the just-grandiose-enough ballad �Stop Crying Your Eyes Out� and the Noel-sung “Little By Little”. The lyrics are even worse than most of their famous howlers, yes (�true perfection has to be imperfect� makes me die a little inside, every time) but the melody is decent and the chorus gets me every time. There�s just something crazily affecting about the way Noel bellows �Little by little, the wheels of your life they�re slowly falling off�, and for that instant it actually makes sense (although don�t expect me to explain it now). I know I should hate it, I did at first, but I find myself humming the chorus under my breath (�My God woke up on the wrong side of his bed� and all) at the oddest times.

Caesars� Paper Tigers album isn�t nearly as bad as Oasis� last couple of efforts, but what it lacks in train-wreck fascination it unfortunately makes up for with inessentiality. Interestingly enough the song I find myself returning to isn�t �Jerk It Out� but instead opener “Spirit,” wherein Caesars background the gimmicky (albeit wonderful) organ for what sounds like fake horns and get all epically angsty for a good five minutes. Again, it shouldn�t work, but along with a few other songs it suggests that the band actually gets better as it gets more earnest. �Spirit� is one long uphill struggle dotted with surprisingly powerful crescendos, and it wouldn�t be that hard to mistake it for the work of an entirely different band than the one performing the one hit wonderrific �Jerk It Out�.

Lastly and best is Client�s City, a record I was going to review for Stylus until I noticed Derek Miller had reviewed it elsewhere. I assumed that he would then write it up here, which doesn�t make sense at all now that I think about it, and when I eventually noticed it in one of the CD piles that dot the futon in my computer room it was sufficiently out of date that nothing was to be done. Which is a bit of a pity; while it�s not consistent enough to wholeheartedly recommend is sees Clients A and B moving beyond the rather� limited emotional palette of their earlier work into some quite interesting territory, including two collaborations with erstwhile Libertines that are surprisingly successful. One of the best of the bunch and most out of character to boot is “One Day At A Time,” where Client A (or is it B? The one who was in Dubstar, in any case) sounds mysteriously like the great Debbie Harry during the chorus. But beyond even that it�s the kind of calmly reflective pop tune you�d expect from, well, latter-day Blondie (as long as they don�t mind the synth-pop touches) rather than Client. At this rate their third album may well be a keeper.