Former Goodshirt keyboardist Gareth Thomas is known as the co-writer of that band’s prevalent NZ #1 song Sophie in 2001, and for his lovely, delicate 2010 album ‘Lady Alien’. This second solo album brings with it the incredibly catchy All Eyes In The Room – an effervescent and quirky ode to seeing a former partner again for the first time. ‘Fizzy Milk’ is a glorious pop album, packed with intelligent, hook-filled, infectious songs. Some started life as potential Goodshirt tracks while others were written solely for this, but all creep into the brain. Particularly guilty of this is second track I’d Like with its seductive Bowie-esque vocal melody and simple, but memorable, guitar riff, and Girlfriend On My Hofner (co-written with Amelia Murray, aka Fazerdaze), a bluesy garage-rock (true) story of Thomas’s partner becoming attached to his new guitar. While the underlying style here is pop in all its guises, traces of spaghetti western guitars, funky beats, electronica and reggae are woven within the overarching sound to create something unified, diverse and arresting. A mix of sincere, often playful lyrics and inventive melodic hooks sung with warmth and charm. ‘Fizzy Milk’ is a gem.