Good prog these days is hard to find – the best prog, the outstanding kind. For every band that genuinely does something worth hearing, there are ten that just regurgitate the classics, and whilst that can be fun, it’s not ultimately what we listen to the genre for. Taking the best parts of Radiohead, Porcupine Tree and recent Rush, English four-piece The Pineapple Thief may have a funny name but more than make up for it with their brand of modern prog. Although you can hear influences from the above-named bands here, this doesn’t actually sound like them – the music here is very much of the band’s own creation, incorporating various rock and electronic influences to create a malleable, experimental yet utterly engaging and listenable mixture. That’s what really did it for me, the sheer enjoyment which Someone Here Is Missing offers, covering a deep and impressively complex listen with a sheen of accessibility which will appeal to all – opening track Nothing At Best’s danceable mixture of rock and electronics is a great example, falling somewhere between Foo Fighters’ radio-friendliness and Porcupine Tree in its subtle keyboard-created melodies, finishing in a wonderful percussive flourish.

Of course, the band have much more than that to offer. Wake Up The Dead opens with Nine Inch Nails-esque beats before turning back to Alt-Prog land and launching into a glorious stomping riff that instantly outdoes Muse’s best work. Shorter track The State We’re In is great, a depressive singalong that develops into a strangely modern pastoral mini-symphony, yet it’s the longer tracks like the seven minute Preparation For Meltdown that really impress, melodic with gentle dips into ambience before launching into surprisingly heavy Space Rock walls of noise. It’s a wonderful exploration of alternate rock, breaking down and reassembling towards the end to create a wildly rocking summoning of spirits that reacts well with the following acoustica of Barely Breathing. You could really listen to the whole album as a single song, as the natural rise and fall flows well, although all songs are well-written and individual, especially the electronic and guitar weavings of Show A Little Love.

Hands-down the best track has to be 3000 Days, an intense blast of guitars both electric and acoustic with the catchiest vocal performance on the whole album, which is saying something. It’s like something between The Manic Street Preachers and Sonic Youth, a drum interlude and almost heavy metal guitars grooving and funking all over the place, and could easily have gone on for another six minutes. Final eight-minuter So We Row is a good consolation, however, relying on guitars and vocals before fading into an uneasy pool of electronic ambience, ending in an almost Toolish burst of orchestral-backed riffage. The album’s nicely paced and timed – you’ll be left wanting more, and although Someone Here Is Missing isn’t quite perfect, it’s still a brilliant album that proves that modern prog doesn’t have to rely on over-the-top instrumental performances to be worthy of your ears. This will appeal to fans of Coheed & Cambria, Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, as well as any devotee of modern rock who appreciates something different.