Sounds familiar

Remember around the New Year, when I was trying, with very little success, to purge some CDs from my collection? Well, I came across a number of magazine cover-mounted CDs, and a whole load of subscriber-only discs from when I was joined at the hip with Q magazine. These were always a mixed bag, but nearly always had one or two gems on. Anyway, on listening again to these CDs (for the first time in 10+ years, in some cases), one or two tracks stood out enough for me to research them online. Here's one such: Naked in the City Again was side 1, track 1 on Hot Hot Heat's 2002 debut album Make Up the Breakdown. And it's alright, listen:

Now I don't know much about Hot Hot Heat other than that: (a) they came from Vancouver; and (b) they had a not-so-good name. But something about this track stuck with me - not that it's life-changingly brilliant, but that is sort of reminded me of something else... something I couldn't immediately put my finger on. It came to me eventually though: Burning with Optimism's Flames is a track from my favourite XTC album, Black Sea. And whilst not exactly a template for Naked in the City Again, there's certainly something in the tempo, the rhythms and the vocal delivery, especially during the verses and middle eight. See what you think...