Athlete: Joel Pott (vocals, guitar); Carey Willets (bass instrument); Steve Roberts (drums).

Additional personnel: Matt Frost, Adam Mills (programming).

Athlete updates the amiable, melodic Britpop sound of Coldplay, Travis, et al slightly by discreetly coloring its debut album, VEHICLES & ANIMALS, with synthesizers and loops. It's not exactly Kraftwerk; the arrangements still revolve around guitars and drums, but they're given extra texture by the subtly employed electronics. Lyrically, Athlete's not as straightforward as its aforementioned predecessors; there's more self-referential irony and deadpan humor in the band's songs. But the simple pop hooks around which the melodies are crafted shouldn't be jarring to anyone who spent the early 2000s replaying PARACHUTES or THE MAN WHO. The US version of VEHICLES & ANIMALS (which came out a year after its UK counterpart) contains a bonus video track, as well as an extra song, "A Few Differences," a brief tune whose electronic elements are a bit more pronounced, bearing a closer resemblance to British synth-mongers Simian, and suggesting at least one possible direction for future Athlete releases.