The Maccabees: 'Toothpaste Kisses'

The Maccabees' debut LP Colour It In was the word-of-mouth success story of 2007. Their understated, twitchy guitar anthems didn't bowl you over, choosing to stroke your hair, cradle your head and nibble at your ears until you submitted instead. 'Toothpaste Kisses' is one of the album's best tracks and should woo its way to the top of the charts if there's any sense left in the music-buying public. (The success of The X Factor's Rhydian perhaps suggests otherwise).

Built around a muffled and scratchy acoustic guitar strum, its charm lies in its simplicity. It could quite easily have been recorded in a shed on a chunky '80s tape recorder, with just a rationed packet of hob-nobs as inspiration and brain-fuel. Orlando Weeks' coy and vulnerable vocals, which sound like Ed Harcourt after a romantic weekend in Paris, are so endearing that you'll want to wrap him up in bubble wrap and stick him under your bed for safe-keeping. Unassuming and warm-hearted, 'Toothpaste Kisses' is a sheer delight.