Mull Historical Society is the moniker that writer, performer and producer Colin MacIntyre has chosen to call his one-man-band. Pretty much the same kind of approach that Damon Gough has taken with Badly Drawn Boy. This comparison is also apt in terms of the music he makes. If you stay up on your British singer songwriters MHS is also similar in many ways to Matthew Jay (whom along with Elliot Smith have recently committed suicide--goodness)

Us is certainly high among the best albums so far this year. A cycle of songs that prove MacIntyre as a rapidly maturing talent now on the same plane as his aforementioned peers. Listening to this record finds you playing "spot the influence" --you can point all over the map from Weezer to Ben Folds to the Beach Boys. In fact, a fellow fan also made the comparison to Fleetwood Mac's Lindsay Buckingham, which is particularly true of his high-on-the-register vocal range.

But all derivatives aside, MacIntyre is a talent to be reckoned with. Not only is he a fine tunesmith in the tradition of the best jangly Brits, he is also no slouch as a lyricist. These 14 tunes cover a wide range of styles and tempos and he proves himself equally adept at writing for the piano as he does the guitar.

My only complaint with this record is that I think it would have been stronger if he had pared the tracks down to 12. The gorgeous opener "The Final Arrears," is followed by two tracks that I would have deleted if I were in charge--after that, however, Us is pure gold.