Sometimes, what you are presented with on the surface is a million miles away from what you actually get. Call it the power of deception, if you will - where nice surprises and bitter disappointments collide, argue and slug it out 'til the bitter end.

This can be applied in bundles to Tiny Dancers and their 'Lions And Tigers And Lions' EP.

One glance at the childlike drawing of a cuddly, cap-wearing lion shooting through space would give most people the impression that some Super Furries-type psychedelic pop fest is about to induce itself fervently on one's ears. Before pressing 'play', a second glance, this time at the accompanying press release and biography, informs me that they come from Sheffield, so maybe a slight sarcastic overview on life in a northern town is to be expected.

So far so good then, but remember: not a single note of music has passed through my CD player yet...

Perhaps the fact the band have named themselves after an Elton John track says more than a hundred pretty pictures and a thousand self-congratulatory words ever could. Sadly, these Dancers sound like little more than a down-to-earth version of The Feeling.

Of the five songs on this EP, nothing particularly stands out. That said, lead track '20 To 9' and the slightly twee, mostly whimsical 'Hemsworth Hallway' do manage to steer Tiny Dancers just above the parapet marked out for anodyne, nondescript, MOR dross. Only just, mind.

Disappointing then, to say the least, and as good a reason as any why in future I'll listen to the CD before examining its cover or any of the blurb that comes with it.