BEST OF THE REST

Other new releases out this month.

Peter Bibby’s Dog Act

Marge

SPINNING TOP

Skewed, grungy, outwardly unhinged and quintessentially Australian, cult figure Bibby beefs-up his profanity-laden stock-in-trade yarns with the loose-assed two-piece Dog Act rhythm section. Ripper. 7/10

Ramos

My Many Sides

FRONTIERS

Journeyman guitarist Josh Ramos (Storm, Two Fires, Hardline) goes ‘solo’ in style with vocal assistance from such notable melodic rock emotivators as Eric Martin, Harry Hess and Danny Vaughan. 7/10

The Cheats

Cussin, Crying N’ Carrying On

SCREAMING CROW

An all-guns-blazing blurt of sneer-lipped action rock belligerence, generic as all hell, but boasting a crucial opinion-dividing ingredient in the far-from dulcet tones of testosterone-pumped Todd Porter. 6/10

Barringtone

ONOMATAPEOIA

Bonanza Plan

With an experimental Wire vibe skewed through an early-XTC wilful complexity filter, the stop-start would have surely challenged 1978. 2020? Cerebral, but rarely cryptic. 6/10

Brimstone Coven

The Woes Of A Mortal Earth

RIPPLE MUSIC

They know their way around a dawn-of-the-70s riff and their cowbell’s never shy, but while there are hints of Sab/Purp/Zep in midfield, they lack an Ozzy/Gillan/Plant striker up front to hoof home a winner. 6/10

Jerry Joseph

The Beautiful Madness

DÉCOR

Jealously guarded secret no longer, veteran singer-songwriter Joseph (backed here by the Drive-By Truckers) delivers assurance, class and a timely, powerful study in historically ingrained racist ideology. 7/10

Psychlona

Venus Skytrip

RIPPLE

Swaggering bullishly with all necessary space rock tropes in place, Bradford’s Psychlona like to call their groove-driven riff-storms “kebab’n’roll desert rock”. And they sound exactly as you’d expect. 7/10

Volcanova

Radical Waves

THE SIGN

Following Welcome’s Sleep-alike sludge, Icelandic stoners Volcanova crash through Super Duper Van’s gears like a desert-rocking Sabbath with Alice Cooper gang vocals, to Lights’ closing titanic complexity. Surf’s up. 7/10

Clt Drp

Without The Eyes

SMALL POND

Mashing crisp electro-clash tropes with a lo-fi garage punk ethic, Clt Drp come across like an irresitibly edgy, post-Peaches Grrrl Prodigy. (And don’t play the innocent, you know exactly how it’s pronounced.) 8/10

Phoxjaw

Static-X

Royal Swan

HASSLE

A Welsh quartet with signifcant ambition, Phoxjaw employ diverse elements (squalls of sax, vintage keyboards) across Manson-via-Bowie soundscapes. Rich in post-millennial tension. A startling debut. 8/10

Project Regeneration Vol. 1

OTSEGO

The first S-X album in 11 years (and the first since Wayne Static’s tragic passing in ‘14) features the industrial nu-metallers’ original five-piece line-up sounding sharp, concise and vital. An unlikely triumph. 8/10

Mother Vulture

Doing It Live

SELF-RELEASED

Impatient to get their eagerly awaited, covid-halted debut off the grid, Bristol’s hotly tipped Mother Vulture have rush-released this no-frills, live-in-the-studio set. It’s positively bursting with post-GN’R promise, but… they should have waited. 7/10

Bonanza Plan