Republic of Wolves – “His Old Branches”

Cheeky five-piece Republic of Wolves hit sudden fame when it was unearthed that the melodious sounds gleamed as Brand New demos for Daisy were in fact another bunch of Long Island natives. And, after everyone wiped themselves down and got their first taste in terms of His Old Branches opinion of natural successors to the cult alt rockers grew stronger. The seven-track EP plays out as what Jesse Lacey and co would have come up with had they taken the soft and gut-wrenching route rather than the punch-you-in-the-face experimental that followed The Devil and God...

Standout Track: The Clouds. It will rock you gently to sleep if you let it build. Like a lego crib.

Rating: 4/5. Oodles of potential and not just because oodles is a fun word to say. A full-length is anticipated like one of them Twilight films all the girlies bum.

If it was a bait-and-switch, what would it be?: Turning up at a Hulk Hogan book signing to find Mr T arm-wrestling Chuck Norris. Fuck damn. 

Fleet Foxes - 'Fleet Foxes'

Better late than never it seems to get into this Seattle set-up that have become folk darlings quicker than you can say 'Jarvis Cocker recommends'*. Majestic sounding debut from the band formerly known as Pineapple, which takes in a range of strings and seasonal afflictions to create an atmospheric little record that manages to avoid sounding like the same song 11 times. Assured and accomplished, Fleet Foxes are as swift and smooth as their name sounds.

Standout Track: Your Protector. Building a slow harmonic mood that isn't anywhere near as smug as the title would lead you to believe.

Rating: 4/5. Seems to be the staple rating for something that is excellent but not going to be accepted by absolutely everyone - although it fucking should be.

If it was a stereotypical seasonal postcard it would be: A little snow-covered, log cabin set against a sea of trees, maybe with a glimpse of a fire burning away through a snow-flecked window.

 *To my knowledge Jarvis Cocker did not recommend this. I don't know, might bloody love it.

Brand New - 'Daisy'

Emo/alternative/rock types best kept secret return with an art-riff experimental whackjob that couldn't be further removed from their pop punk debut Your Favourite Weapon than if they had put 'Somewhere the fuck else' into a Tom-Tom and then decided to ignore that and drive screaming off a cliff. What comes after the epic yet increasingly biblical The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is a divisive but quietly (although ironically filled with shouting) brilliant record. Songs diverge and loop back on themselves synched with bizarre vocal samplings, eccentric guitarist Vin Accardi's influence is greater but the driving pain of Jesse Lacey's voice keeps Daisy as a hard-but-lovable effort for long-term fans.

Standout Track: Sink. Plenty of tracks smash your mouth in and some like You Stole secretly steal you away like Jesus Christ did. Where Sink gets the nod is with its driving drumbeat and crescendo-building blockbuster with lifts this to new heights.

Rating: 4/5. Some efforts fall wide of the mark but others have potential to grain a hole in your heart with another reinvention from the Long Islands foursome.

If it was a takeaway meal it would be: All-you-can-eat Thai food covered in jalapenos. You recognise it, you like it and some of it is excruciating but you are going away happy.

Bombay Bicycle Club - 'I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose'

Only a fool takes a gimmick name and attempts to play it straight but that's what BBC (hey wait...) have decided to do. In essence, the North London quartet could be any of the horridly named 'landfill indie' bands currently marauding through the charts that have as much akin with the indie ethos as Mr Motivator has with hardcore rave simply by wearing bright colours. However, Jack Steadman's Interpol-esque crisp croak and the simplistic, driven numbers push BBC from the 'meh' to somebody worth seeing.

Standout Track: Always Like This. Despite flirting with vomit-inducing, Penate-esque skiffle, the bouncy little number actually manages to make you want to do this odd, odd thing for indie - dance.

Rating: 3/5. A competent first effort but it is hardly going to act as a cure for manic depression as the title implies...yes, that may be a pushing it a little.

If it was a curry it would be: A jalfrezi. Not the most exciting of dishes but also won't leave you shitting blood.

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Saddle up partners, as this week's most eagerly awaited account of what is worth stuffing in your ears like flavoursome cotton buds is here. That's right. That is how important this is.

Ben Gibbard and Feist - 'Train Song'

From the annals of contemporary folk's behemoth of a charity record Dark Was the Night, the Death Cab frontman and Canadian chanteuse combine to bring a measured cover of Vashti Bunyan's classic. The duo work soulfully to build momentum in this stripped away number.

 

 

Noisettes - 'Don't Upset the Rhythm'

Imposing frontwoman Shingai Shoniwa plays it sexy with this club friendly, head-bop-along number. Is it infectious? Yes but in a good way. However, there is a fearsome 'ringtone-for-hipsters' feel to it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gnXo-ipXHI

 

White Lies - 'From the Stars'

It was a toss-up between this and the ubiquitous Airborne Toxic Event with 'Sometime Around Midnight'. Both are painfully raw, crescendo-clatterers but the agony in this one never outdoes the driving rhythm propelling it forward.

Lonely Island ft. T-Pain - 'I'm On A Boat'

Annoyingly endeared by fratboys, the Lonely Island comedy tour de force unite with hip-hop honcho T-Pain to bring a crunk feel to the act of...well...being on a boat. Andy Samberg once again at his lambasting best.

Okervill River - The Stand Ins

There is something exceptionally fluid about this cadre - the music doesn't so much as accompany frontman Will Sheff's voice as build a cavalry charge behind it with the melody building to steady ascent like the hurtling of nearing horses. Luckily for the River, Sheff is something of an accomplished vocalist rides the rise rather than succumbs to it.

Personalised tales of love and loss may sound like the kind of longing sentiments scribbled in a thirteen year old's diary but the mini-epic feel that is imbibed into each effort means that no track is outshone by the next, even if that can make for quite heavy listening.

Standout Track: Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on Top of the Chelsea Hotel 1979. Overly long title, appropriately length crescendo buster.

Rating: 3/5. The over-powering nature of it makes it an emotional punch in the throat at parts.

If it was a religious holiday it would be: Easter. Symbolic to some but with as much drama and ceremony as all the others. Unfortunately the album doesn't shift about with lunar patterns like a supposed real event does! Ha take that organised religious. Unread internet music reviewer 1 Everyone else 0.

 

Wolf Parade - Apologies to Queen Mary

Quebecois alternative rock act Wolf Parade sound like The Shins woke up horribly drunk, stumbled into the mixing room and decided to recut their album replete with haunting melodies and stop-start vocals.

Produced by Modest Mouse's Ivan Brock, this offbeat debut album from 2005 is oddly entertaining with the Brock's markings all over it. The eleven-track critic-baiting brilliance segues from laments on leader singer Dan Boeckner's position in his family to his harrowing drawl on seven minute epic Dinner Bells. Enduring and engaging but worth it.

Standout track: You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son. Start as you mean to go on the band sound brimming with potential, while Boeckner's voice drives the track.

Rating: 4/5. Still somewhat alienating but if you fancy a nightdrive, jam this on and fugedabboutit.

If this was a kid's TV show it would be: Yo Gabba Gabba. While Sesame Street is great and traditional - i.e. The Shins, this is an innovative competitor.

 

 

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

 Saltry frontwoman of indie darlings Rilo Kiley, Lewis has forged a noteworthy career in her own right, which is only furthered by the neo-country stylings of Acid Tongue. The spirited Californian's previous pop-friendly outing as the chanteuse helming Kiley led to catcalls of the ban turning mainstream, however, the intricate nature of her follow-up to 2006's Rabbit Fur Coat sounds like June Carter Cash for the NME era.

 

The former child star offers a dark and haunting look at trailer park life, adding a touch of glamour with her sexy drawl, but never really lifting it to the point of making it essential listening. Unlike Laura Marling, for example, Lewis' voice never grabs you by the throat but soothes you to sleep without forcing you to drop off.

 

Standout Track: Pretty Bird. Psychedelic musings dropped by Lewis' sugary voice.

 

Rating: 3/5. Points for doing something different, but struggles to know what it wants to be.

 

If it were a kid's film: It would be Alice in Wonderland. Kooky in its own way but still with a heartfelt message. And, not just the American Kate Nash.

 

ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP

 

All aboard. More musical treats for you to feast upon, we go way back when and bring it back home again. Enjoy

 

The Beatles - "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

 

A late-bloomer in The Beatles camp, this evolving tale has been touted as being about heroin addiction, digital love or even a revenge fantasy. All I know is it is very good and will have you humming the titular line until those around agree that maybe happiness can be found in a warm gun - pressed firmly against your face.

 

The Magic Wands - "Black Magic"

 

Far from the name of a dance act backing up a poor kids' party performer these mysterious musicians rock a riff that Edwyn Collins would happily take to bed and name is lady wife. Funky and freaky in equal measure, whatever you call it it's good.

http://www.myspace.com/themagicwands

 

RZA - "You Can't Stop Me Now"

 

Wu-Tang mainstay and sometimes thespian, RZA/Bobby Digital/nickname #3 not found laces this grimey tale with a bit of motown sampling and a defiant air that will make even the staunchest critic commend the record collection that the skilled producer can call upon.

 

The Whip - "Trash"

 

So 'now' that they've already been and gone, Manchester-mixmasters The Whip have created a dance song devoid of disco whistles and unlikely to be pumped out of the Nova revving next to you outside Hollywood Bowl. Think New Order with the sexual growl of The Kills.

 

Bashy - "Kidulthood to Adulthood"

 

Oh my days two hip hop/rap/grime singles in one round up? Anyone living within sixty miles of our beloved capital would have seen the myriad of hoodie-baiting posters for UK underbelly crime saga Adulthood and this lead single from the much vaunted official soundtrack doesn't let down. Fast, fiery and  intense - expect Bashy to challenge the top of grime and its subgenres in the coming months.

 

 

 

 

ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP

 

Another day another dollar. Here's some more of what I have been listening, also expect a review of Jon Phonics new album in the coming days.

 

The Young Knives - 'Turn Tail'

When they first hit the scene, this oddly dressed trio frankly pissed me off. Oh aren't they funny looking with their glasses and oh-so-not rock star ways? Well the emergence of Superabundance changed my perceptions and Turn Tail is a rhythmic, foot-stomper of the highest order. 

 

 

The Flight of the Conchords - 'The Humans Are Dead'

Soon the Kiwi duo will be everyone, first their TV show catapulted into the company of The Wire and The Sopranos and then their CD became the highest placed comedy CD in American history or some shizzle. Funny lyrics and good music in equal portions and below is an early rendition of a song which seems so much better with the live audience interaction.

 

 

Bon Iver - 'Skinny Love'

Isolated crooner Bon Iver has been clasped to 6 Music's bosom like a lost son. This makeshift Christopher McCandless (read a book), has a soft, heart-broken voice that quivers on the air and pierces your soul. A bit aggrandizing but give it a listen and you will soon be reaching for the Kleenex...not in that way...pervert.

 

 

The Roots - '75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)'

Main stays of the offbeat hip-hop/rock collective (like Run DMC with bigger hair), The Roots return with 'Rising Down' and some really friendly radio hits. Anybody who has bopped to ?uestlove's infectious skin-smashing on 'The Seed 2.0' would be expecting a similar fare. For the most part it is but '75 Bars...' is The Roots at their rawest with overtly macho lyrics over simplistic beats.

 

 

Death Cab For Cutie - 'I Will Possess Your Heart'

Stalkers of the world used to unite under 'Every Move You Make' but now they have this eight minute odyssey to hum as the watch their quarry from the bushes. God, that was quite a dark sentence in the end. Ben Gibbard is, as always, mesmerizing and the crescendo, though slow in coming, is well worth the wait. The musical equivalent of a National Express coach to Paris.

 

 

 

ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP - ROUND UP

 

Well, it would seem lately that my musical updates have become somewhat lax. I would personally go round to every single people who reads this website wearing a suit and give you a big tin of Roses as way of apology but I am sure the eight of you would willingly take a round-up of the singles that have been blowing out my speakers like sonic bombastic motherfuckers this week. My apologies for the cussing I just got a bit excited.

 

 

Paramore - "Misery Business"

There's something annoyingly infectious about this like the bubonic plague on a pop-punk riff. Having had this knock around the inside of my skull like a Vaseline-dipped hockey puck I had to lead off with it. The orange-mopped songstress Hayley Williams has an Avril-esque vengeance to her tone but the pace saves this from falling into mediocrity. Simple story of love, loss and bragging in the ex's face - not very nice is it? Songs good though.

 

 

 

The Bookhouse Boys - "Dead"

ARGH! This macabre collective possess a haunting mariachi style bent, which could easily be laid over the next Robert Rodriguez film when the pesky Mexicano hero is shot to shit and swallows a trunk load of blood but still manages to get the final shot away. Brilliantly booming effort building on the riveting "Tonight".

 

http://www.myspace.com/thebookhouseboys

 

The Last Shadow Puppets - "Calm Like You"

'Oh Alex Turner can you do no wrong?' screams a throng of drainpipe clad cretins. Shamefully, I have to admit that he has something of a Midas touch a ce moment and this is testament to that. Alongside boyhood chum Miles Kane, the erstwhile Monkey has already set tongues awagging with 'the album that sounds like Scott Walker' as ever single bloody review highlights but this song is a slower effort than the lead single; infused with Turner's usual poetic craft and a moving canter.

Cajun Dance Party - "The Race"

The leader singer looks oddly like Kook's fop frontman Luke Pritchard but don't let that put you off. Having muddled around on the fringes of the NME collective for a while, the youngsters Cajun Dance Party seem intent to let rip with this footloose and fancy free tale. To be fair, it seems fairly by the numbers until a guitar is somewhat shredded through the second chorus and then the pulse of the finale with leave you murmuring 'The minute that I saw your face/I forgot about the race' at bemused looking elderly folk on the bus. 

The Subways - "Girls and Boys"

Staying young we come up to the Young for Eternity set The Subways. After taking something of a hiatus after becoming Rimmel soundtrack contributors the boy-girl-boy collective are back and packing heat. A hard and heavy guitar drives the track and removes any notion of the head bopping their debut album put forward. This seems like a diversion from their pop infused predilections but that is in no way a bad thing.

 

 

 

Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim

 

Waif-like Marling is sitting among a bevy of competition at the moment in the female, singer/writer ranks. What sets her apart from Mss Duffy et al isn't her presence, honed talents or reckless wandering around shady parts of London at the crack of dawn but...her music. Funny that.

 

The 18-year-old has some sort of hopeless brilliance to her. Even when songs run together - the only drawback of the album - rather than making one stream of background noise they make a gripping tome of loss. Perforated by Celtic drumming or rousing chorus, Marling can command your attention with a rye key change or increased intensity that some of her more manufactured rivals can only admire.

 

Standout Track: Night Terror. Rising like a battle march from a smoky opening.

 

Rating: 4/5. Some tracks bleed into others but Marling's voice never waivers.

 

If it were a house on Grand Designs it would be: A renovated Edwardian castle standing proud above a valley of model homes.

 

 

 Devendra Banhart - 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon'

 

[Former Band of the Moment] The irreverent (best to get the cliches out the way early on) and oft fantastical Devendra Banhart emerges with what can only be described as well...fantastical.

 

Beardy, impresiao Devendra Banhart comes across like a Spanish lounge singer covering all the greatest hits of yester-year and that is by no means as bad as it sounds. There is something so organic and classy about the Spanish language that makes it lyrical sex compared to the Middle England grumblings of The Enemy and the like. Devendra has such a smooth voice you feel like you could roll up in it on a cold Sunday morning as you thumb idyly through The Observer. There is a familiar feel to it but its also fresh and fulfilling. Hang on while I dismiss that contradiction. Its like a friend who used to be very funny not telling a joke for a long time and then cracking out a corker with such spot on timing you forget that they ever left. Got it? Get it. Good.

 

 What makes the unique concoction all the stronger is that Zeppelin-esque Seahorse isn't the strongest track on the album. Despite having previously bummed the living daylights out of this eight minute journey it sits happily in its surroundings and merely emits a 'oh...it's Seahorse' rather than 'Thank God, something to break this monotony'. And monotony it is definitely not, sixteen tracks ranging from Spanish poetry to crusie-liner gold this is a marker by which to measure all other pretenders to the weirdo-beardo, Spanish crooning king.

 

Standout Track: Saved, Lover and of bloody course, Seahorse

 

Rating: 4/5. Engrossing enough to sit in the background but strong enough to take centre stage. [Thank you Skip].

 

If it were a member of the Shadow Government it would be: Boris Johnson. Definitely its own person and not afraid to make its own way in this busy world.

 

Black Kids - 'Wizard of Ahhhs'

 

'Who?' you wearily belch into your morning coffee. These coiffant-bouffed Jacksonville rockers have topped more 'Look Out For' lists than pictures of Amy Winehouse with a 'mystery' white powder speckled around her nasal passages.

 

Bopping along like some sort of electro-Shins, the afro-topped Reggie Youngblood leaves a trail of broken hearts across a psychedelic dancefloor on this four-track giveaway. Already being bummed over by Kate Nash - last year's haute cuisine - and now destined to take over cyber space before ram-raiding your ear lobes from the cackling ivory tower of Jo Whiley.

 

Standout Track: Hit the Heartbrakes

 

Rating: 4/5. This gnawing feeling that four tracks maybe this limit sinks in but otherwise this is fantasmolicious...is that word hip enough?

 

If it was a Xmas present it would be?: An unwanted jumper from your Auntie that turns out to be a designer piece sported by Kayne West...or...P Diddy...or Morgan Freeman...at the next big shindig.

 

 
Iron and Wine - 'The Shepherd's Dog'

Mention anything 'indie' at the moment and the scenster in front of you is most likely to grumble something about Flordia native Sam Beam. Which is far enough because he features in music magazine as prominently as X-Factor 'exclusives' in Closer magazine.

Having existed on the cusp of what is cool for damn near eons, Iron and Wine benefitted from what idiots call the Braff-effect and others call the Garden State soundtrack. With a soft, willowing vocal under the bed of a diverse guitar style, Iron and Wine are the musical equivalent of reading the paper on a Sunday morning. Sure it's nice and relaxing but it's not getting much done is it?

Beam's raspy vocals sometimes sound like he has been locked in a cupboard for misbeahviour but continues to croon through the splintered wood. The lyrics are rich like some sort of of sugar-drenched poetry but Beam doesn't have the voice to convince even if the music is highly inoffensive.

Standout Track: White Tooth Man


Rating: 3/5. Perfect background noise but false to deliver when brought to the fore.

If it was a holiday hotspot it would be: The  Island of Jersey. You feel like you're on holiday and its relaxing but it's not hugely different from home.

 

Broken Family Band - 'Hello Love'


Cambridge: home to prestigious higher education and, in honesty, the best folk rock band this side of the vast pond we call The Atlantic. Riffing like a rough-edged version of The Shins, BFB return with their fourth studio album instilled with wit and focus that so much homegrown pop lacks and sees Coldplay replicons churned out with increasing alarm.

From the foot-stompingly impassioned 'Love Your Ma, Love Your Woman' to the beautifully tinged heart-wilting 'Give and Take', there is more substance here than in the linings of Amy Winehouse's pockets. Crooner Steve Adams has vulnerable harsh edge akin to Shane McGowan or sobering drunk full of remorse (well just McGowan then) and imbibes every song with a forlorn brilliance. A few tracks drift away in the melee while there is enough for BFB to hang their respective hats on. 



Standout Track: Give and Take


Rating: 4/5. Mature softrock without the words 'You Are Beautiful' strangled across it.

If it was a year it would be: 1960. The harsh reality of the 50s began to lift and consumerism put a bounce in everyone step without letting them forget their hardship.





Cold War Kids - 'Robbers & Cowards'

Bursting onto the scene with all the vigour a Christian rock band can muster, it seemed that the quartet's glimmering NME-led moment in the sun may have faded due to their religious overtones. However, maybe it isn't the onset of Christian values that makes them more 'Christ' than 'chic' but the plain simple fact that this album...isn't brilliant. Hinging on it's polished, radio friendly efforts (We Used to Vacation, Hang Me Out Dry) the record spins promisingly but descends into a White Stripes parody mid-session (Saint John par example) without the abject quirkiness to pull it off. Hospital Beds reminds you of what can be achieved when they focus their efforts to craft a good piece but as a whole eleven tracks seems to stretch their creative minds beyond breaking and that is a sad statement of a debut record.


Standout Track: Hang Me Out To Dry


Rating: 2/5. Plays like an EP mixed with B-Sides not good enough to complete the record.

If it was an item of clothing it would be: A poncho. Good at first but in the wrong climate it would just irritate you.





 Bat For Lashes - 'Fur & Gold'

An effort in itself to preclude 'haunting' from the review of this Mercury Nominated debut effort from former Band of the Moment, and believe me this is some sort of moody romance at a funeral. Like stepping on a fairground ride; you are enchanted by the lights and colours but you know it won't last. The Brighton three-piece has scribed a number of whimsical melodies but not enough to really leave a mark. What's A Girl to Do and Prescilla stand out but little else does. The clatter of Horse and I builds hope but it's a bit more fur than gold.


Standout Track: What's A Girl To Do



Rating: 3/5. Very good background music but nothing to focus on.


If it was a holiday destination it would be: Transylvania. Very much off the beaten track but with some substance to it.





Interpol - 'Our Love to Admire'

There's something dreaily beautiful about Interpol, like a crossword on a rainy day. The New York quadret have taken such much time off early retirement seemed to have been silently optioned but that hasn't stopped them. Yes the album is more radio friendly! Yes the lead single is hook heavy! But dammit this is a good CD. A real grower not a shower but the half-assed drawl of Paul Banks holds as much weight as ever and there's something believable about his crooing of 'I'll take you on, I'll take you on' (All Fired Up) and his lazy tales of hotel concubines. The guitar work is polished and the band is given more time than on Antics but it doesn't disappoint. Guess it's four years for the next one hey?


Standout Track: All Fired Up


Rating: 4/5. Let it warm up before you dip in.

If it was Italian cuisine it would be: Lasange. Like a pizza for the man with time.

 Angus and Julia Stone - 'Chocolate and Cigarettes'

 [Band of the Moment] A six track spin from the Aussie duet that is more Johnson than Carpenter but the sibling Antipodeans show a unique range that is often over-looked in a bland radio market...but enough rants. Private Lawns is hauntingly beautiful, Paper Aeroplane is simply love-r-ly and Mango Tree is destined to be crooned behind the glossy veneer of a cider advert in time to come. The duo are polished, well rounded and under appreciated. Swapping vocals from track to track without losing sight of their own sound, Julia has a bluesy drone akin to Winehouse or Joplin, while Angus is compentant if not enthralling. You get a stomper, a swooner, a ballad and a lament all in one despite the passable Babylon.

 

Standout Track: Mango Tree.

 

Rating: 4/5. Upmost promise from what is essentially a sampler of their talents.

If it was an antiquated phrase: 'Round the houses'. Multiple styles all leading to the same destination.

 

 

 

 

  Manchester Orchestra - 'Like a Virgin Losing a Child'

 Disregarding the obscure title, this is one of the most promising soft-rock/emo/rock/alternative/genre/bunny bands to have appeared in god knows when. Playing buddy-buddy with Brand New hasn't hurt the Atlantan troupe and 'Like a Virgin...' is a delicate unification of a head-bopping rock stylings and tear-jerking ballad-types. From the moment 'Wolves at Night' kicks in you know this isn't going to be one of those albums that you stick on in your car and end up trying to make words out of the licence plate in front. Eleven tracks doesn't seem enough somehow and there is the daunting feeling that this is just the tip of a creative iceberg but it is definitely worth a listen. iTunes is your safest bet as it seems that not even their own mothers would recognize this lot going on the searching it took to get some background.

 

Standout Track: I Can Barely Breathe

 

Rating: 4/5.

What kind of animal would it be: A laconic goat. Most would choose the sheep but there's something sturdy and unnerving about a goat as it chews, never breaking eye contact.

 

 

 

Modest Mouse - 'We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank'

 

Calling Modest Mouse 'unique' is too obvious - they are delicately quirky and exceptionally gifted. Jarring vocals rest neatly atop weird and inventive sounds and all this thrust them firmly into the limelight with Good News for People Who Like Bad News. Throw into the mix famed Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and you've got the ingredients for some sort of wonderful musical cake. Marr brings a a sensibility to the music that has been lacking and lead single Dashboard is more a statement of intent than a money-spinner; choruses crash in and out of a toe-tapping frenetic pace and some how works. The album does have it down sides; much with Good News... a number of tracks fall by the wayside but ultimately it is a meeting of the minds that can only lead to bigger and better things.

 

Standout Track: Fire It Up

 

Rating: 4/5

If it was a football team it would be: Bolton Wanderers. Never going to hit the heady heights of its rivals but will almost certainly earn a spot in your heart for its mix of offbeat characters and humour.

 

 

 

 

The Shins - 'Wincing the Night Away'

 

A breath-taking and whimsical account of inoffensive pop rock at its finest. Having managed to flatter to deceive with Chutes Too Narrow the eagerly awaited release is a solid foundation of irreverant and engaging tracks. Each song is like being kissed by a summer's day and is a perfect background track for any social gathering. Gap adverts aside, the band have branched out and become somewhat more inventive and daring with their choices but they all manage to be pulled off with a quirky charm. No need for Zach Braff to lead you to this one, if you want something good and easy going this will almost definitely land in your lap as the summer sun rises higher into the cloudless sky.

 

Standout Track(s): Any: Turn on Me, Australia, Sea Legs.

 

Rating: 4/5.

If it was a drink it would be: Lemonade. Refreshing and unchallenging but unlikely anyone would turn it down if offered.

 

 

 

Mumm-Ra - 'These Things Come in Threes'

 

I desperately wanted this to be average and despite one lucid experience it is. Having heard them bring all the fire of a student band to a live set on Steve Lamacq or Zane Lowe or whoever fucks over Radio One at night there was some hope that maybe they would progress before unleashing an LP but its more of the same. The vocals are sung with the passion of a kitten but the music is technically sound. Comparable to a summer thunder storm in that they can move from extremely passive to crashing riffs and rivetting pulsating drumwork. However, it isn't sustained. Passion = praise and maybe there's somewhere to go.

 

Standout Track: The Sick Deal.

 

Rating: 3/5.

If it was a fast food meal it would be: A burger and chips. You aren't exactly going to turn it down but it ain't exactly anything new.

 

 

1990s - 'Cookies'

Who? Damn straight. This Glaswegien three-piece are on the up-and-up and come bounding onto the scene with the listenable Cookies. Now its not going to set your hair alight but the album is a fun-filled glimpse into a young Scots drug-addled life that echos the modern obession with presenting modern Britain warts and alls as acts like Jamie T and Bromheads Jacket have done to a T...geddit? To a 'T' and Jamie T. I'm wasted on you. At times it sounds as if they are trying to show off and don't quite have The Strokes lacrhymose machsimo to pull it off but thats not to say its bad but its not exactly going to make any waves. myspace:com/1990sband

 

Standout Track: See You At The Lights

 

Rating:3/5.

If it was a school report it would say: 1990s do well in class but spend long periods looking out the window and not contributing.