SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

WHAT do you get if you take The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd, then mix them up with Deap Vally duo Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards? You get a hybrid of bluesy garage rock and psychedelic electro rock.

Deap Lips is a multi-layered audio experience, sweeping you along in a soporific haze.

After opener, Home Thru Hell and the sublime soundscape that is One Thousand Sisters With Aluminium Foil Calculators, there is a startling awakening of rage in Motherf***ers Got To Go.

Two tracks have been out in the ether before, Ke ha’s Love Is Mind Control (written by Coyne) and Steppenwolf’s The Pusher.

The only issue with this album, is that it’s over far too soon.

RICKY MUSIC is Aaron Maine’s fourth album as synth-pop outfit Porches. The strong live reputation isn’t reflected here in downbeat music for headphones, with 11 short tracks lasting only around 26 minutes.

Wrote Some Songs, he croons mournfully on the track of the same name – this is fragments of songs in the case of the 33-second PFB – but this is more Autotune than banging tunes.

There are hints in some lyrics that this is a break-up album. The album rewards repeated listening, but too many of the one-paced tracks pass without leaving much impression.

SINCE their formation in 1985, this Glasgow group has had a rollercoaster career, with line-up changes and even a total split, but now they are back.

The 11 songs here are radiofriendly, adult pop, with an occasional raw edge to keep things interesting.

Ricky Ross’s lyrics, he’s still the main songwriter, tend toward mature reflections on life and relationships.

This is a solid, well-produced album, with big choruses where they are needed and more subtle contemplation when not.

It will please fans and may gain them some more.