BEST OF THE REST

Other new releases out this month.

Bodega

Our Brand Could Be Yr Life CHRYSALIS

Brooklyn’s Bodega previously released a hugely ambitious lower-fi first draft of OBCBYL in ‘15. This lusher Mk II is a culturally conscious opus, equally dripping with classic 90s alt.US indie ambition (think Weezer, Neutral Milk Hotel). Well worth seeking out. A cracker. 8/10

Shambolics

Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams SCRUFF OF THE NECK

Scotland’s Shambolics spice swaggering Arctic Monkeys spikes with an Ash-alike ear for the commercial. As exuberant as prime-time Terrorvision, crossover/radio friendly. What’s not to like? That’s what’s not to like. Surely anything this likeable’s got to be suspect. 7/10

Marc Valentine

Basement Sparks WICKED COOL

Former Last Great Dreamers frontman Marc Valentine’s second solo album is an engaging power-pop confection matching starburst glam dynamics with perky, eager-to-please choruses. Assured songwriting, popcore craftsmanship. We’re clearly in safe hands here. 7/10

The Chisel

What A Fucking Nightmare PURE NOISE

Stomping a fine line between vintage Oi and prime Ruts, The Chisel’s watertight brand of pure aggression seems almost laser-guided when it comes to hitting the spot. While much hardcore’s become anodyne and formulaic, this is proper, balls-out anger as an energy. 8/10

Drunk Mums LEGLESS

Beer Baby

As long as terminally adolescent louts are bored and have access to leather jackets and no real idea what to do with their hair, the sound of ’77 UK punk will endure. Even if it’s from Australia and it’s 2024. This, meanwhile, is great. Like educationally subnormal early Wire. 7/10

Them Moose Rush

Zepaxia DOSTAVA ZVUKA/DIRTY OLD LABEL

Deliciously disconcerting Croatian prog deftly and rockily psychedelicised for the sort of punter who’s not expecting a four-tothe-floor boogie any time soon. Tempos squonk and upper-register vocals insist while you wonder where you are and how you got there. Aces. 8/10

Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard

Skinwalker COMMUNION

Welsh trio B3’s lead oracle Tom Rees apparently reached a point where he lost his ‘damn mind’ during glam-psych-prog bouillabaisse Skinwalker’s birthing process. There’s a song on here called My Star Sign Is A Basset Hound, which, ultimately, is all you need to know. 8/10

Lair

Ngélar GUGURUGU BRAIN

Lair are a psych-soul/funk band from West Java who lace trad Panturan Tarling tropes through their slightly Bow Wow Wow-ish, eminently danceable grooves. Which they play on instruments made of terra cotta. We’re not on the Sunset Strip now, Toto. 7/10

Ancient Teeth

Humanizer DEBT OFFENSIVE

Combining grunge and shoegaze in a lushly vocaled woozy wash of sound they like to call ‘dream noise’, Canada’s AT efficiently employ anthemic post-punk velocity (Sacrifice), but as Humanizer unfolds, a refreshingly light, more reflective side reveals itself to fine effect. 7/10

Stephen EvEns

Here Come The Lights ONOMATAPOEIA

With knowing bedsit eccentricity set somewhere between Syd and Animals That Swim and lyrics that occasionally dip their toe into the discipline formerly known as poetry (JCC, Ivor Cutler), EvEns and chums have delivered a pangeneric minor masterpiece. 7/10

Royal Tusk Altrusitic MNRK

This punchy, confident third from the Alberta trio confirms them as an alt.rock force to be reckoned with. Post Tusk II breakthrough and a tough lockdown that saw vocalist Daniel Carriere stricken with severe long covid, it’s nothing short of a career-affirming triumph. 8/10