THIS WEEK’S CD RELEASES

Sucker

CharliXCX

(Atlantic/Asylum)

Charli XCX is only 22 but she knows her pop-punk bands. She describes her sound as ‘shouty… (like) Bow Wow Wow.’ You could add the names Transvision Vamp and Republica, and if you are reminded of Icona Pop’s I Love It that’s because she cowrote and sang some of the vocals. She would also bear comparison to Pink, especially on the tracks Sucker and Break The Rules. It comes as a disappointment when she coughs up the twee Need Ur Luv. Stay a pop-punk ‘rebel’ Charli, even if feels like only a designer flag of convenience.

Vestiges & Claws

Jose Gonzalez

(Peace frog)

Jose Gonzalez’s cover of the Knife’s Heartbeats has been streamed 45 million times, so depending on who you believe, both parties can just about afford to buy a round or could retire on the royalties from that alone. Maybe it’s the latter, as it is seven years since the Swede with South American ancestry released an album. His songs, reminiscent of Nick Drake, hinge on an intricate finger-picking guitar style and unflappably casual vocals. With The Ink Of A Ghost and The Forest urge re-visitation without the vulgarity of asking.

Deep River

Jon Allen

(Universal)

To listen to Jon Allen you’d think you could put a trunk call through to him in the Seventies in which he would flap to the phone in his loon pants. He’d then tell you about his holiday with Gram Parsons in Laurel Canyon and a new band called The Eagles. The sentiments on the title track, Hummingbird Blues, and Lady Of The Water are as well-meaning as a peacenik by a VW van hand-washing a tie-dye T-shirt. He seems to hark back to the days when Fifty Shades of Grey described the coal-fire smog and clouds on a February day.