Inspired at times by early Creation Records, Television Personalities and mod culture, drawing from the same ideals as Dexys, The Style Council and Vic Godard and from the lineage of The Velvet Underground, The Byrds and the 13th Floor Elevators, Comet Gain’s mystic anarchist principles blend French New Wave with English kitchen-sink heart. For years they have drifted through scenes picking up people and emotional ties – from Riot Grrrl to acid punks, C86 to lo-fi – yet somehow outliving their peers and in turn inspiring a younger generation of DIY musicians like The Cribs, Love Is All, Veronica Falls, and Crystal Stilts.

Taken from the forthcoming album Paperback Ghosts, their new single Sad Love and Other Short Stories is a classic upbeat indiepop tune, brimming with melody and slathered in chiming Byrdsian guitars.

Over yearning harmonies and keening strings songwriter David Feck muses on a love left behind and what might have been, on a life haunted by memories of unrequited romance.

Have a listen.