As another new Manic Street Preachers album looms on the horizon (Postcards From A Young Man is out in September) and I find myself yet again having to defend this once so vital and fiercely intelligent band to haters, I thought I might as well just get it out here once and for all.

So below are just a few reasons why I followed MSP obsessively around the country as a teenager and tracked down every b-side, why I thought it was wise to scrawl 'Repeat After Me Fuck Queen and Country' on the back of my green army jacket and walk around Manchester town centre on a Saturday afternoon and why they could make a million more new records, all deathly bad, and I would still love them forever for what they once were.

1. It wasn't Just 17, a gal pal or even my mum that did it, MSP taught me how to put on eyeliner:

'Stay Beautiful'

2. My peers spent hours getting wasted, laid and then blathering on about it. I was a dweeb and preferred a good book. MSP taught me the power of words, to gain strength from knowledge and along the way introduced me to some of the world's most influential writers:

'Faster'

3. MSP showed me that provoking people could be loads of fun:

'You Love Us'

'Love's Sweet Exile'

4. In the nineties it felt to me like thugs with guitars ruled British mainstream music. MSP were a safe haven from all of that:

'Little Baby Nothing'

5. Confused and angsty? MSP said it was ok to be sad, they even sang about it:

'La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)' (embedding disabled)

6. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I was heavily into politics at school, much to the derision of my classmates. I didn't really care though, MSP showed me that it was ok to be a geek:

'Revol'