Pop has become a pretty widely cast net these days. It's the miscellaneous bin of the musical genre. I know thry're only labels and all, but there's no excusable reason to find Bruce Springsteen sharing space with Britney Spears. That's just lazy and hurtful.

That's why one has to be careful when labelling Mark Christopher Donovan the Jeff Buckley of Pop, or Brendon Benson's Pop-protege partner - it deosn't do him the justice he deserves. It's Pop music, but Pop for the thinking man; Buckley's yearning voice with a twinge of hope in "I Won't Leave You Alone", Benson's brilliant wordplay and eclectic instrumentation in "One Better Than Descartes". I mean, you won't catch Brit Cross-referencing French philosophers in a love song anytime soon.

It's Donovan's ability to make completely accessable and flawlessly mature songs that makes Petty Cash a Pop keepsake - when others are padding with filler, Petty Cash is a tasteful 6 tracks of all killer. From the bright telecaster riffs and catchy hooks of the title track through to the pensive acoustic swing of closer "Come Back and Talk", complete with Italian Marinucci organ.

Check out the vocal work in "Send Me Out a Line" - harmonies layer upon strum-along guitars, glockenspiel lines and superbly shuffling bass lines; as if Brian Wilson met Richard Swift round a campfire. Petty Cash is Pop music perfectly crafted to precision, the way it should be; classy, clever and well delivered.