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4FT FINGERS: “New Beginnings Of Old Stories” (Not On Your Radio)
RELEASED? 7^th April
SOUNDS LIKE? Lamey, samey, under-powered pop rock. You know, thinks it’s Green Day, but is struggling to keep up with the worst of Blink 182.
IS IT ANY GOOD? No. Crisp, tight and neat it may be, but so is painting by numbers.
WHERE IS IT? www.4ftfingers.com

LANGHORNE SLIM: “Langhorne Slim” (Kemado Records)
RELEASED? 28^th April
SOUNDS LIKE? Bob Dylan stumbling into the arms of The Broken Family Band.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Very much so. This is where alt-country gets
                                        soul and attitude. The use of brass and
                                        keyboards is as subtle as it’s commanding
                                        and there are some beautiful echoes of
                                        sixties soul-pop, notably on the Small
                                        Faces kind of grooves on “Rebel Side Of
                                        Heaven” and “The Honeymoon”. Mind
                                        you, “The Tipping Point” is a whack of
                                        speed country genius that sounds like
                                        Bob Dylan is going to break out into yodel
                                        country at any second.
WHERE IS IT? www.langhorneslim.com

YOUNG HEART ATTACK: “Rock And Awe” (Not On Your Radio)
RELEASED? 24^th March
SOUNDS LIKE? A very cross Joan Jett invading old Stooges territory for the opening, title track, or Nina Hagen remaking The Partridge Family on a porno set with Lenny Kravitz, if you’re listening to “Jackboot Goons” or, best yet, a screecho rawk-slaggette scaring the crap out of ye olde Sex Pistols on the anthem cum feedback corrupted sturm of “Good Love”.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes it is. Young Heart Attack sound like they’re making the music they want to, not music with fame as the aim. I think that means that they’re sincere.
WHERE IS IT? www.youngheartattack.co.uk

DRIVE BY ARGUMENT: "Drive By Argument" (Lizard King)
RELEASED? 12th May
SOUNDS LIKE? A gang of pop psychopaths driving a synth

through the art-punk pop book. So, it's the Boomtown Rats versus Art Brut with Steve Strange getting excited about holding the coats, again. Duran Duran are in there somewhere, should be worrying, but isn't. Drive By Argument spit anthemic pop riffs at twice the speed and four times the violence of any 80's prance-stadium chancers (yah boo Annie Lennox) but still keep the grit n shit n real deal feel of angry folk-punkers, see under "There's Nothing As Epic As Golden Age", a track that spins their elements into representative rope, or sums them up.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Shit yeah. It's like someone gave the Kaiser Chiefs a brain and a live socket.
WHERE IS IT? www.drivebyargument.co.uk

GRAND NATIONAL: "A Drink & A Quick Decision" (Sunday Best Recordings)
RELEASED? 3rd March
SOUNDS LIKE? A classy and classic synthesis of brit-euro-dance-pop. All sleaze, no cheese, a kind of My Life Story without the histrionics. It's predominantly electro-based, but we're much closer to Death In Vegas than Steve Strange with this one.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes. We find that "Cut By The Brakes" is the best of breed and best taster for Grand National, all light synth throbbery sliding alongside real wood percussion and subliminal guitar growls.
WHERE IS IT? www.grand-national.net

THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE “My Bloody Underground” (A Recordings)
RELEASED? 31^st March

SOUNDS LIKE? A more reflective, calmer and altogether more together, frightening and commercial incarnation of The Brian Jonestown Massacre so far. Let us, because we’re so loopily off the wall, start at the beginning, “Bring Me The Head Of Paul McCartney On Heather Mill’s Wooden Peg”, a catchy enough title and enough in itself for most bands, but not this lot, because the track is also a spiffy lil’ sub-stones sneering at Maharashi Beatles thing, all drone tones, half dropped chords and the brilliant kind of percussion that shambles tightly, because it can and you know, you know this is going to be a lovely album. It is as well.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Too right, “My Bloody Underground” is a superb synthesis of sixties underbelly growling, prepped, propped and revved with sympathetic and precise 21^st century production, that this is slapped on and wrapped around dirty, cool, strutting, thoughtful, adult rock is almost a treat too far. The innovative (polite way of saying “It’s insane, but it just might work”) line-up for the current incarnation exceeds success by light years as swishing space noises, dancey bits and all sorts of new noises are incorporated, subverted and exploited, the opening drum sounds of “Who Fucking Pissed In My Well?” being a case in point, as well as an obvious contender for soundtracking an advert full of bouncy balls and latte-stunned metrosexuals. You will be wanting to know that “Just Like Kicking Jesus” is our favourite, partly because it’s Happy Mondays in Church with Death In Vegas shuffle choir joyfulness is frankly holy and because the guitar actually comes in storms of acid hail and because Jesus would love it too, really. So, buy this album or go to hell.
WHERE IS IT? www.brianjonestownmassacre.com

TISSO LAKE “Song Of The Black Dog” (Mathilde Records)
RELEASED? 10^th April.
SOUNDS LIKE? A begging letter, “We are a tiny label with tiny funds…” says the handwritten note. They shouldn’t worry overmuch, Tisso Lake,

being a 21 year old bloke won’t cost much to support and the drawling, beguiling authority of his vocals (think young Roger Whittaker from the crypt) lend a masculinity and substance to the largely pastoral and humanist themes of a melanchony nature. The music is kind of forceful folk that’s been plugged in where appropriate and effects are used as well, so no luddites here, but it’s powerful stuff. We can’t tell you the names of any of these tracks because they thoughtfully sent us a colour picture of a battle scene instead of a tracklist, but one of them was about a black dog, I suppose and another mixed stadium guitars with a towering bassoon and it was lovely.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Put it this way, nothing from “Song Of The Black Dog” will ever, ever, ever, trouble MTV, NME or PVC and you’ll play this album four, maybe five times a year, forever, but when someone steals it, you’ll feel the loss and turn tricks to find another copy. So, get two.
WHERE IS IT? www.mathilderecs.com

THE HEART STRINGS: “Try Fly Blue Sky” (Grandpa Stan Records)
RELEASED? 29^th June
SOUNDS LIKE? Everything that’s good about pop music, whatever that means to you, and please note that The Heart Strings paint from a massive palette that includes plenty of black. Know also that

these are songs that are fresh, immediate and timeless, evoke zillions of extraneous musical memories while being maddeningly and gloriously difficult to pigeonhole.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It’s one of the best records you will own, you will own it, obviously.
WHERE IS IT? www.theheartstrings.com

NOZZLE “Empires” (Flower Mountain Records)
RELEASED? 5^th May
SOUNDS LIKE? A slightly funky and lightly American take on late sixties, early seventies pop. So, Three Dog Night it is then. The weird thing is that “Empires” sounds and feels more like a debut than a third album, a lot of obvious and paint-by-numbers kind of pleasant pop rock and a third album is when you’d be expecting some bite, some bile and some jaundice.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Er, not really, but “Choices” is excellent though, very REM, very much the way forward?
WHERE IS IT? www.flowermountain.co.uk

KINZLI: “Just Going To Be Going” (Polkadot Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Many people and genres are plundered, notably smooth swinging jazz and that’s the one that seems to suit her strong, but vibrato vocals best. As albums go, this one that grows rather than grabs. Favourite here, at the moment, is the indie-scuffle jazzed up mish mash of “Casey And Me”, a kind of mid seventies Joni Mitchell thing going on and that’s always good.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Glad you asked. Yes it is.
WHERE IS IT? www.kinzli.com

RUSSIAN CIRCLES “Station” (Suicide Squeeze Records)
RELEASED? 9^th June
SOUNDS LIKE? An album real musicians music. The quality of the recording and the precision of the production make the average Yes album sound like an old Vibrators demo. On the other hand, the songs don’t sound much like anyone else at all. Alright, the opener, “Campaign” could be a divinely inspired Moody Blues instrumental, but “Youngblood” with it’s fractured and nagging keyboard noodle being roughed up with chug guitars could be a grown up Ten Benson flexing some muscle.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes.
WHERE IS IT? www.suicidesqueeze.net

PELICAN: “After The Ceiling Cracked” (Hydra Head Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Shoe gazing goes metal. A user friendly, more diffuse and less obtuse take on early Mogwai. Stoner math rock for people who can still think, are we there yet?

IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes indeedy, we have been too long deprived of ten minute guitar epics, too long saturated with itty-bitty-shitty and unformed three minute embryo style tracks. Pelican flesh out and allow their material to develop, sometimes this is a good thing, this time it is a good thing, especially when you come to the late seventies excess all areas pomp and triumph of “Sirius”.
WHERE IS IT? www.hydrahead.com