Album Stream: The Vaselines - Sex with an X (Sub Pop, 2010)

Scottish twee-pop-pioneers the Vaselines return with their second album Sex with an X, their first album since 1990's Dum Dum. Due September 14 via Sub Pop Records, Sex with an X is streaming in full for two more days at the Guardian.co.uk.

Expectedly, in the twenty years since the Vaselines' first and only album, the band has made some pretty significant strides away from its innocent twee-pop days. Such is obvious right away with the snarling opening track "Ruined," with its twisted guitar-noise-feedback, and "The Devil's Inside Me," which features the same hazy, languid, pseudo-psych riff that you might hear on an early Dandy Warhols' album (although the Vaselines' riff is more brooding than psychedelic). The Vaselines also let their guitar-chops show perhaps more than ever, delving into classic rock with the plodding riff of "Overweight But Over You" and the essentially country rocker "My God's Bigger Than Your God."

But don't get the wrong idea: The Vaselines haven't totally "grown up"; the simple, sunny tunes are still here. The title-track features their typically straightforward lyrics ("It feels so good, it must be bad for me / Let's do it, let's do it again," frontman Eugene Kelly sings). The Vaselines also retain their playfulness with their humourous, Duran Duran-"name-dropping" dig at the 80s, obtusely titled "I Hate the 80s" (ironically, the Sex with an X track "Mouth to Mouth" sounds very 80s).

If you're new to the Vaselines, Sex with an X is actually a good starting point, regardless of the fact that your choices are limited. They play a bit more technically now (by which I mean they play more than just a few chords), but never do they sound like they've abandoned their original sound in order to stay relevant. Sex with an X is a great album in its own right, but it's even more impressive as a come-back album after twenty years away from the studio.