BEST OF THE REST

Other new releases out this month.

Alien Airforce

Give Pigeons The Right Of Way EASY ACTION

There are very few instantly recognisable guit-artists, but ex-Daisy Chainsaw Crispin Gray (with his agelessly diabolic, soul-searing sonic scalpel) is one of them. AA’s debut is a six-string-centred tour de force, but Gray’s voice and hooks invariably play second fiddle. 7/10

James Baker & The Groundbreakers IN THE RED

Born To Rock

Septugenarian ex-Hoodoo Gurus/Beasts Of Bourbon/Scientists drummer Baker was most certainly born to rock. Though sadly he wasn’t born to sing. That said, anything he lacks in technique he more than makes up for in heart. 6/10

Rick Monroe & The Hitman Six Gun Soul TLG/VIRGIN

Positively dripping with the sort of down-home, yee-haw, Southernfriendly, mainstream genre-straddling, blue-jean country-rock populism that’s little short of ear-worm catnip to middle-America’s streaming community, RM&TH surprise few while satisfying plenty. 7/10

Les Savy Fav Oui, LSF FRENCHKISS

Pretty much post-everything, those Tim Harrington-fronted Favs return after a release-free decade with 14 satisfying shots of NYC punk-informed, Beasties-esque, quintessentially Brooklyn loft art-rock. Snotty, minimal, sparky; so much more than worth the wait. 8/10

Pat Todd & The Rank Outsiders Keepin’ Chaos At Bay HOUND GAWD!

Ex-Lazy Cowgirls vocalist Todd, is so wholly entrenched in full-tilt unhinged Stones/Saints/Heartbreakers rock’n’roll that his press blurb boasts testimonials from Eddie Spaghetti and Blaine Cartwright, so you really don’t need me to tell you how unreconstructedly ace this is. 8/10

Vanderwolf

The Great Bewilderment ANOTHER RECORD LABEL

Another self-exploratory dystopian zeitgeist-precis born of lockdown, this time from ex-Last Man Standing vocalist Max Vanderwolf, built on ambitious lush soundscapes, but weirdly lacking in the vocal department. Channelling David Bowie: not as easy as it looks. 7/10

Furlined

Kill Devil Hill CONCAVE

Satisfyingly equidistant to Richard Hawley’s rich baritone fragility and the American gothic tones of Violent Femmes, Furlined (fronted by formerly Visconti championed, Edwyn Collins-toned Neil Crossley) particularly score with a subtly evocative He Drives A Hillman. 7/10

Upploppet Road Runner THE SIGN

In the late 70s, a certain Swedish demographic fell simultaneously in love with both Kiss and the Sex Pistols, and as a consequence no one does punk-infected sleaze-rock quite like the Swedes. Take Gothenburg’s Upploppet: hard, fast, furious, flash. Fabulous. 8/10

Talk Show Effigy MISSING PIECE

There’s an awful lot going on here. Deploying a deliciously random music-library-shuffle’s-worth of influences to dizzying seamless effect, London’s Talk Show coolly entrance while always sounding appealingly and uniquely ahead of the post-rock-electro-pop game. 8/10

Drahla

Angeltape CAPTURED TRACKS

Leeds-based art-rock experimentalists Drahla, possibly the ultimate exponents of tight-but-loose extant, make strictly disciplined, saxedup fractured funk squonk-honk rackets sound instinctive, effortless. Luciel Brown’s deadpan helps fuel the no-wave madness. 7/10

Loyal Cheaters

And All Hell Broke Loose GO DOWN

Lip-curling Runaways/Scandosleaze/‘DC-indebted action-rockers Loyal Cheaters may self-identify as an Italo-German turbo punk’n’ roll band, a blah marriage between evil forces of yadda-yadda… You get the picture? What they actually are is this year’s NY Loose. Ace. 7/10