Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) (Legacy)

Scottish singer Sandi Thom is a product of Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts, and I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker has become a more or less permanent fixture on BBC Radio 2 in recent weeks.

This is one of those songs that you'll either love or hate - the lyrics seem hopelessly idealistic, harking back to an era where "anarchy was not a dream" and where "not everybody drove a car". Not to mention the fact that no punk rocker worth his or her salt would wear flowers in their hair. Yet it's the winning combination of Thom's strong vocal and the unusual, stripped-down backing that make the song stick in the mind. B-side Little Remedy is actually a better, if less attention-grabbing, song so the future bodes well for her.

The last female Scottish singer/songwriter with a folkily commercial edge to appear was a certain KT Tunstall, and there's some definite similarities to Black Horse And The Cherry Tree here. An impressive debut, but expect to be irritated beyond belief by the main track within a couple of months.