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SINGLES: MARCH 2006

BEN WALKER: "If You Want Love (Have Mine)" DAYLIGHT DOG Now Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 I’ve a soft spot for anyone determined enough to get out and make the music they want and releasing it themselves (this is only available direct from the weblink below). It’s the old punk DIY ethos brought up to date and into the digital world. Ben Walker’s been at this for a long time and gets around from his Bradford home to weekly gigs all over. If You Want Love (Have Mine) is a gentle set, swinging at times, with simple, affecting songs that veer to the middle of the road in tempo and sentiment. There’s a folky tinge at times but that might just be the acoustic guitar fooling with my expectations. Ben chucks in some techno pulse on a remix to throw us off the trail but the sensibility here is one of intimate songs that’d go down well after a good meal with good company and a bottle of something red. www.daylightdog.com RMcG

IDIOT BOY: "Burn" NABOUCHAKA RECORDS Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Very very tightly arranged and assembled from the ground up. Jon Smith Jr. croons in a controlled slab of artifice. All a bit Radiohead before they disappeared up their fundaments, in that the song builds to a pinnacle of emoting without ever rocking then winds down and leaves us floating. Nicely angsty and despairing, providing a perfect shoe-gazing soundtrack. The sort of band that develop a obsessive following. www.idiotboy.tv RMcG

LAST STOP CHINA TOWN: "Just Ashes" WOODHILL RECORDS 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Nice name, youths, leaving us guessing what gonna be on the grooves. Unless you get a vinyl copy you never do know, CDs give no clue at all as to what’s coming up. Crunching riffs announce old skool hard rock with a bit of an eighties spin on the chorus vocal duties – one of them air-pounding ‘Final Countdown’ sort of choruses. A guitar emotes briefly and the ryhtmn section chugs along in a blatently in your face rockist stylee. If you like sneaking a peak at dinosaurs like UFO and the Scorpions, these are flying the flag. www.laststopchinatown.com RMcG

KARMAKOPS: "Creatures" NEWMEMORABILIA RECORDS 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Another cool name – half dryly funky, half in-your-face naff. And the song? At first blast it’s kinda American college rock then a subtle smartness becomes apparent as it drops into a loose-limbed skank before changing gear another half-dozen times. Then it throws in guitar fret slides, glam chorus and a few licks perhaps studied off Mick Ronson circa Diamond Dogs-era Bowie. Then again, spinning your song round creatures from Mars will put your average critic / rock historian in that kind of frame of reference and that’s hardly going to be a bad thing, is it? ‘Bonus track’ Spacekid flashes up a lyrical side that puts me in mind of I Am Kloot brought up in a sunny world instead of Manchester. www.karmakops.com RMcG

THE LIKE: "June Gloom" GEFFEN RECORDS 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Purely excellent drum intro, all simplicity and space and repetition tips me into a really closely miked vocal from the lead singer of this all-girl trio. Some marginally turgid guitar figures detract but it’s only a few seconds till we’re back in a world of slightly sad girly voice. You could draw a line through the three members of this band and it would point straight back to the Red Bird Records label. I do my best to avoid repeating any of the hopeful speculation on your average press release but the phrase ‘velvety pop grunge’ in this one is spot-on. Not heard anything as touchingly raw since Giant Drag. www.ilikethelike.com RMcG

THE MARSHALLS: "Make Her Cry" VERTIGO 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 This one, from Irish bright boys assembled by major Beatles fan (and don’t it show…) Michael John, brings us back to the unfortunate years titled ‘New Wave’ – all a bit XTC and visions of perfect pop that wins big fans amongst the anoraks (and I might have had a snorkel parka myself…) but leaves the masses slightly unaffected. So what does POP mean anyway? Boppy, funky, bluesy and retro in a today sort of a way, it still fails to move my guts. www.themarshalls.com RMcG

YELLOWCARD: "Lights And Sounds" PARLOPHONE 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Funny one, this. I expected to dislike it and left it till low in the review pile since Yellowcard seem to me to be the corporate detournment of youth rebellion. But then again, Lucy from Vanguard’s live crew says they are genuinely nice guys. Lights And Sounds was artfully paced and actually excitingly accelerating. Ryan, Sean and crew manage to avoid the dual traps of frat-boy rock and pandering to teen angst. One eye on the volume, one eye on the speedo, this leaves a nine mile skid on a ten mile ride. < www.yellowcardrock.com RMcG

ENGERICA: "The Smell" SANCTUARY RECORDS 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Hidden beneath a cover worthy of Alice Cooper, Engerica (surely not STILL being billed as a new band!) have a b-side (A Cure For Living) as cynical as the classic Sumo b-side “Last Days Of Disco” from the far away days of 2002. I’ll not spoil it for you but it knocks the A-side into the bin. Kind of simplistic and twisted to a jaded viewpoint, this’d win the hearts of a hundred misunderstood moshers. The real A-side, The Smell, is louder, as befits an A-side, and generally crunchier, being aggressive and a little pointless till you hit the moshpit and it all makes sense. www.engerica.com RMcG

NIGHTMARE OF YOU: "The Days Go By So Slow" FULL TIME HOBBY 06.03.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 I’m fonder of the album by the day so it’s hard to be dispassionate about this. This is like British pop at its most classic played by Americans with an indie sensibility. It’s a bundle of hooks and dryly winking lyrics belying the fiction that Yanks have no sense of irony. There’s more than a little Wilco circa Summerteeth era to the tunes and delivery. The winning touch is probably thumbing the melodic hook in on the bass in a nod to New Order. What can I say? Don’t buy this single – buy the album instead, then you get more of the magic. www.nightmareofyou.com RMcG

A MILLION BILLION: "Volcano Season" exercise1 records 27.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Ryan Smith’s one man band bears no relation to the ‘one man band that nobody knows or understands’ populated by recently revived Leo Sayer. No, this is a journey into multi-layered epic pop of the sort favoured by Mercury Rev; all harmonies and hidden strings, building out of a hanging piano pattern and slightly lost and resigned vocals. The beat rises, things speed, energy floats, heads nod, feet tap before an ethereal organ drifts in behind and the vox humana begins to suspend time in readiness for the epic outro. www.exercise1.net RMcG

NEON PLASTIX: "Prick Tease / Neon Invasion" MERCURY RECORDS 27.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 It’s not just the vocal twists that inspire the comparisons to New Wave weirdoes Devo (spotted recently working for Disney – eh, you wot?). Sequenced synth rhythms, disco beats and crashing keys all hark back to those heady mannered days when music was taking a last deep breath before swimming up it’s own arsehole. Quite why a generation of 21st century bands should want to celebrate such an event is beyond me. Just tell me the boys in the band don’t wear eye-liner please. I have not allowed for the distinct possibility that this may be the first time that Doncaster, home of Neon Plastix, is experiencing the nineteen-eighties. All the impassioned flailing and energy indicate that the Don Valley might just be twenty-odd years behind the times. www.theneonplastix.com RMcG

dios (malos): "I Want It All" FULL TIME HOBBY 27.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Like the album, this has West Coast written all over it. Slacker pop, laid-back melodies, sunshine. With a sort of sixties sensibility to the instrumental break that has me in mind of the boardwalk at Santa Cruz, the afternoon before a Neil Young concert. Warm, sunny but with a bracing wind coming in. Experimental pop by people who might just decide to grow beards. Oh, yeah,…. I liked it. www.wearedios.com RMcG

SIMPLE PLAN: "Crazy" LAVA / ATLANTIC RECORDS 20.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Simple Plan scrub up well and must sell a lot of posters. They know how to do hammer-ons on their guitars and make a lovely chiming intro. It’s all a bit assembled and polished for me but I’m a sucker for pubescent politics (hey, I used to like Stiff Little Fingers!). Crazy starts out by attacking the marshalling of young women’s lives by diet pills, surgery, photoshopped models and other magazine and MTV mind-control tools before moving onto blander targets – ‘society’ – whatever THAT is. Fo0r that brief first verse they had me convinced – or is it just the commercial repackaging and commodification of rebellion? www.simpleplan.com RMcG

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND: "Roses For The Dead" ATLANTIC RECORDS 20.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 This year, at the NME Tour, Maximo Park had to follow the Artic Monkeys and managed it without losing the audience. Last year, Funeral For A Friend had a similar task at the NME Tour and succeeded in clearing the hall. So it’s a wee bit hard to take them THAT seriously. Roses For The Dead is sadly not some Ryan Adams / Grateful Dead collaboration in a lonely Welsh studio but is instead an opportunity for FFAF to wear their hearts on their sleeves in their own extremely literal way and to state the bleeding obvious over standard issue emo identi-chords. Not unpleasant is surely one of the worst insults you could hurl at a rock band. Consider it hurled. www.funeralforafriend.com RMcG

MAXIMO PARK: "I Want You To Stay" WARP RECORDS 20.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Hey! What’s left to say? Lukas Wooler provides those winning keyboards, Duncan Lloyd does choppy things on guitar and Paul Smith jumps up and down. Actually he probably stands carefully still, headphones held to his ears in the studio, but you know what I mean. Lyrics are all suppressed passion, regret and a Northern sense of empty sky, cold horizons and that lost girl. “Remember what we had”. Maximo have picked up the torch that Jarvis Cocker walked away from and carry that special sense of “nostalgia for an age yet to come” (a prize for the first to attribute the quote – email ed@vanguard-online.co.uk). www.maximopark.com RMcG

FOUR DAY HOMBRE: "The First Word Is The Hardest" ALAMO MUSIC 13.02.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 I’m immunised against records that start out all sensitive and heartfelt before becoming epic loud and heartfelt sweeps. This one flew in under the radar and scored a hit, partly by dint of my never quite getting a full grip on the lyrics enough for them to distract me. You see, each time I hear it there seems to be a tidal tow to the music that rolls the whole thing up into a feeling and, by the end, it’s all a rushing head of surf. Pushed to explain why, I’d have to say that FDH have one of the great drummers of today. www.fourdayhombre.co.uk RMcG

HUMANZI: "Long Time Coming" FICTION / SOUND FOUNDATION RECORDINGS 13.02.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 The bass and drum thrub here had my knickers all in a twist and the guitar seemed to be on an undercover mission to deliver jabs to the kidneys before hiding out. “Just relax ‘cos you’re not dead yet” says the vocal in a way that suggests the end might just be precipitated any moment. Yeah, so Humanzi are riding the coat-tails of last year’s sound but it’s punched out with a passion and threat that convinces. The four (!?) B-sides (remember B-sides, pop-pickers?) suggest a devotion to Joy Division and all things darkly outside. This must be an utterly driven live band. www.humanzi.com RMcG

ALKALINE TRIO: "Burn" VAGRANT 13.02.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Dark and echoing. A thudding and mildly menacing slab of dark star matter from Chicago power-punk trio. As granitely polished as the rest of the album its drawn from and suggesting a yearning to be abandoned, the Alkaline Trio never surrender to the fire and remain just a touch too reserved for these tastes. www.alkalinetrio.com RMcG

ENVELOPES: "Free Jazz" BRILLE 13.02.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 First free jazz gig I ever went to featured the legendary David Toop whirling a Fisher Price toy telephone round his head to make a whirling noise. Hmmmm, chin-scratchingly fascinating… but that free jazz isn't this Free Jazz. Neither is this free-form honking ala Evan Parker. Nope, it’s quirky 80s type pop fused with underground lo-fi noise ethics. It’s ickle-girl singing and a collection of kitchen-sink instruments probably summoned up and polished on a vocoder. Some shades of 80s quirk-gurus Art Of Noise but with a more robustly organic underpinning. Convincingly dotty. Must be Swedish. www.envelopes.se RMcG

STEREO MCS: "Set It Off" GRAFFITI RECORDINGS 23.01.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 There’s a moment of fear at the beginning where it’s all a bit eighties but then a loping funk gets going. Sadly the verses having been infected by the flat dull influence of Ian ‘Monkey Man’ Brown but the chorus with gentle horn hints and flute figures and stinging guitar figures keeps promising to lead off into an extended funky jam – I’d’ve swapped all the remixes on this single for the extended funky jam that I only hear in my imagination. RMcG

GRAHAM COXON: "Standing On My Own Again" PARLOPHONE 27.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 The Coxon-meister has an unerring ear for a riff. This one is buzzy and rushing, recalling all sorts of post-punk classics without ever ripping one of them off. Whenever he does one of those fanning type riffs it feels like the excitement is getting all a bit much for him. His cheeky chappy vocals are something you either love or hate but his last album argued hard that he was the vital drive that propelled Blur to what they became. The pace and timing here are all about adrenaline and the hook is, well, er, very hooky. www.grahamcoxon.co.uk RMcG

ORSON: "No Tomorrow" MERCURY RECORDS 27.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Continuing the strip-mining of the eighties, Orson employ the tools of that dark decade (synths, power-pomp chords, whoop-whoop-di-do backing choruses) to stitch up a big piece of pop. There is something of Scissor Sisters here - disco stomping, pop hooks and very catchy. Couldn't say I actually LIKE it but I can admire it's confectionary construction as much as I can admire Supertramp without ever wanting to hear it again. Would make a good dancefloor filler of live prospect though. www.orsonband.com RMcG

MORNING RUNNER: “Burning Benches” FAITH AND HOPE 20.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 As ‘Burning Benches’ begins with lead vocals over light piano playing you can understand why Morning Runner are being talked about in the same breath as the likes of Embrace and Coldplay. Yet as the song progresses and the rest of the band join in, their rockier tendency takes the lead, banishing all such weak comparisons! Steve Lamacq named it his record of the week, as did Scott ‘Bandwagon’ Mills and I’ll put what little money I have on it charting well. You didn’t hear it here first… www.morningrunner.com NS

THE MODERN: "Industry" MERCURY RECORDS 20.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Horrid horrid synthed drum sound and four to the floor stompage going on, allied to to processed chorus and the feeling that these guys could very well be dressed as Duran Duran while performing. Allied to aspirational lyrics and storytelling style not a trillion miles from ELO. Oh God! That's it! This release and the one above are evidence that the current cohort of thirty-somethings are prey to nostalgia marketing. Or could be that The Modern are snickering up their glammed up sleeves. www.themodern.co.uk RMcG

DILATED PEOPLES: “Back Again” CAPITOL 13.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Dilated Peoples are “in the house again!” and set to remind everyone why they’ve been so successful! The Los Angeles-based trio announce their return like a dutiful husband arriving home from work, but instead of a pleasant ‘Honey, I’m home!’ they hola with inevitability “BACK AGAIN!” The production process is laid bare; as Rakaa and Evidence wax lyrical about the group over a thumping beat, DJ Babu obeys his compatriots’ shouts to rewind! Back and bouncing! www.dilatedpeoples.com NS

THE SWEETHEARTS: "Blue Skies / Rainy Skies" DOGBOX RECORDS 13.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Cute, rinky-tink art-pop made by students who like to run around in forests being arty. This reminds me strongly of early-eighties Cherry Red denizens The Marine Girls (who can almost unbelieveably, be found on www.twee.net). That gives me the word for this release - twee. But I kinda like it. You know, there's good twee and there's bad twee - otherwise how would Jonathan Richman have made a career? On the other hand, at least The Sweethearts are thinking outside this year's box. And the release is available as free MP3s by clicking the link below. Available free at www.dogboxrecords.co.uk RMcG

SWIMMER ONE: "Largs Hum / Cloudbusting" DOGBOX RECORDS 13.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Sung over the top of a recitation of Scottish seaside towns, this is an oddity worthy of being cherished in its obscurity. Crunching and swelling synths are very much of the sonic electronic moment. Rodney Relax, Edinburgh poet adds an air of dementia to the proceedings. Track two is a cover of Kate Bush's ditty. Very different but vaguely pointless and just makes the critics shout 'bandwagon jumper' however much the band protest 'we did it before the Futureheads'...... Like the single above, this is a free download, so, why not, I guess! Available free at www.dogboxrecords.co.uk RMcG

THE FALLOUT TRUST: "Washout" AT LARGE 13.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Tight beat and dancing drums announce something well-dressed and assembled into a tautness born of XTC mating with The Jam and raising their progeny in Detroit. It's all very well name-checking Bowie's unendingly dull Low and Iggy Pop but this is nothing like. Very pop, very British, quite a lot eighties but stretched like a wire with amphetemine nerves. Played at least half as fast as a lesser band might have played it, this is almost like chucking a song out at speed and saying "don't worry, we've got hundreds like that". Born of Dalston and driven to Top Gear type speeds, what is it about East London that spits out zipsters like Razorlight and The Fallout Trust? www.the fallouttrust.com RMcG

FALL OUT BOY: "Sugar We're Going Down" MERCURY RECORDS 7.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Falling out of what, eh? Gotta love the title - resigned pilot, failing boxer, hopeful suckee? The production is all about presence and volume - a proper salvo at the radio-play charts and the chundering guitars and nasal delivery have Green Day writ large upon them. Not that that's a bad thing. Flips over to proper pop harmony hooks. Yup, chart fodder but quality ROCK chart fodder. Can't help but like it in all its disaffected glory. Re-issued from it's original release in August to support their tour. www.falloutboyrock.com RMcG

CLAIRE SPROULE: “Wondering” PARLOPHONE 6.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Recipe for success: Take one young female singer-songwriter, preferably with a Celtic accent, armed with acoustic guitar and cook until played on Radio 2. Mmmm delicious! I don’t know whether Claire Sproule is gracing the airwaves yet but if the first single taken from her self-titled debut album is anything to go by it won’t be long! Far from overcooked (Should I stop with the cookery analogy?) Sproule’s vocals beam over a simple accompaniment; as she sings you can imagine her serenading a crowd at the local trendy wine bar. Table for 2 please! www.clairesproule.com NS

CHERUBS: "Paper Cut Moon" CARGO RECORDS 6.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Bands don't like to call themselves 'The' any more so this is Cherubs, not THE Cherubs. The single owes a lot to THE Smiths and THE Cure though. Alienated, tortured voice and clashing guitars bear comparison with contemporaries THE Departure. It's a driven track, intent on establishing itself and fitting the sonic niche we've become accustomed to over the last year or more of this Gang Of Four revival. It might be a bit too near the end of cultural wave to catch a decent slab of surf since the revival seems to have moved on to 1985 (oh, the horror!). Very good and maybe very late. www.cherubs-hq.com RMcG

AT THE LAKE: “These Days” POPFICTION 2.2.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Not to be confused with the last Charlatans album Up At The Lake, At The Lake release their debut single courtesy of the lovely folk over at Popfiction. Frontman Matt Forder begins ‘These Days’ sounding a little bit too much like Morrissey but this proves to be a brief moment of hero worship, allowing him to lay down his own emotive vocals over a top tune! Alongside B-side ‘Wide Eyes’ this is a sumptuous double, the type of sound Bloc Party would be producing if they weren’t so caught up in being ‘art’! www.atthelake.co.uk NS

HELEN BOULDING: “I Don’t Know What I Want, But I know What I Need” MAIN SPRING RECORDINGS 30.1.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Having co-written for the likes of Shakespear’s Sister, Annie Lennox and Natalie Imbruglia, providing the latter with her best song to date ‘Torn’, it is clear that Helen Boulding knows how to write a fine pop song. And on the evidence from her new single she knows how to sing one too! First off Boulding delivers a rousing slice of pop and shows her range with the tender, poetic B-side ‘Hazel Eyes’. www.helenboulding.com RMcG

MICAH P. HINSON: “Yard of Blonde Girls” FULL TIME HOBBY 30.1.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 I must confess that I have not heard the original cover of this song by Jeff Buckley. ‘SHAME ON YOU!’ I hear you cry, but having heard Hinson’s reworking of the song I don’t think I want to! What begins as one soulful man strumming along by himself ends as a beautifully constructed, uplifting composition. If you can listen to this song without singing along by the end you are a stronger man than I! www.micahphinson.com NS

CADILLAC: "Wilder Than This" POP FICTION 30.1.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Norway, eh? Home of rawk and roll.... Produced by Rich Robinson (Black Crowes), this is full of loud pounding drums, choppy riffage and a bass line that plays the accelerando game. Somehow classic rock and belonging to a more modern age at the same time - bits reminded me of My Vitriol played by The Flaming Groovies. (That's a good thing in my book). Somehow familiar and aggressively in my face at the same time. More fun than throwing Moomintrolls across a fjord. www.cadillacweb.com RMcG

ARTIC MONKEYS: "When The Sun Goes Down" DOMINO RECORDINGS 16.1.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Tell me you’ve not heard this and I won’t believe you…. The band that can do no wrong continue to justify their meteoric rise with an updating of The Police’s Roxanne. Cheeky chappy Northern vocals, slice of life observation, sense of the streets and an ineffable smell of the real. I’d love to not like this, after all thehype, but I get a kick out of it. There’s a raw talent at work here that makes the Monkeys on record even better than the sweaty chanting beer party that is their gigs. www.articmonkeys.com RMcG

THE CRIMEA: "Lottery Winners On Acid" WARNER BROS 9.01.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 From the world-beating Tragedy Rocks album, the best track. Swinging big tune, classy lyrics (‘everything she says, I was thinking anyway’) and shiny melodies. This deserves to be all over Radio Two, grabbing all those Magic Numbers fans while they wait for the next appearance from their idols. Lottery Winners manages to walk to high-wire between MOR appeal and indie class, leaving them with the same sort of left-field appeal as the Flaming Lips. Very much an individual vision, Davey MacManus’s world is a starry and amazement-filled ride. www.thecrimea.net RMcG

RICHARD ASHCROFT: "Break The Night With Colour" PARLOPHONE 9.1.06 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 So how did Richard Ashcroft get the magic key to the epic box? Lately, everything he does is tinged with huge anthemic colour. A harpsichord type sound warns this could almost be some sixties Stones ballad (or as I first feared – Richard Harris!) then a head-nodding shuffle breaks out that impels you, wherever you are and whether or not you smoke, to grab a lighter and wave it above your head. Lyrics have an air of world weary man makes his own, independent way, head held high. You know, My Way territory but this is one of those songs where individual words are more important than narrative sense. Any number of phrases hint and link to other ballads you know, stacking up emotional depth with very little. Canny. www.richardashcroft.co.uk RMcG

COLDPLAY: "Talk" SANCTUARY 19.12.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Coldplay are too easy a target but it has to be done… Wet enough to trigger flood warnings, Coldplay go for an easy mark with this mournful ditty about feeling there is a missing bit inside and feeling an outsider. Universal enough to win a million sales but not individual enough to win the heart. Calling your single ‘Talk’ is going to win over the hearts of thousands of lovers who ask themselves ‘why doesn’t he or she just TALK to me?’ Listen lads, impress your girlfriend, buy them this record and hope that’ll mean she’ll be quiet and let you watch the footie. Smooth enough to be used as home decoration without actually demanding attention, Coldplay should be sold at DFS. www.coldplay.com RMcG

IMPERIAL VIPERS: "Promised Land" EMINENCE RECORDS 12.12.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 More like it! I’m not saying I like it – I don’t specially – but loud, obnoxious and vaguely whiffy. Lyrics are about shooting someone, shooting him through the knees and cutting him through the middle. Full strength swearing and no radio-rated version. Reprehensible of course, and coloured in with metal guitar and chugging rock riffs of the most retrospect type but this record doesn’t care what you think of it, it is what it’s makers wanted to do and if you don’t like it, they’ll spit in your eye. That’s the spirit. www.imperialvipers.com RMcG

REGGIE & THE FULL EFFECT: "Take Me Home, Please" VAGRANT 5.12.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Ugh! Synth rock! And not of the nouveau-trendy Clor faction either. It’s not, initself a bad tune or song but the whole presentation stinks of the Buggles (remember them, pop pickers?). Released in the eighties by ELO as a filler album track this would be merely boring – in the Noughties it is puzzling and slightly saddening. RMcG

MAGNET: "Fall At Your Feet" ATLANTIC RECORDS 5.12.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Magnet makes a lovely sound with gentle country beats and a detailed, full sound. He’s as wet as a bag of pre-moistened tissues, though, and makes James Blunt look like the local pub hard-man. Here, he is at pains to tell us his lover sings like an angel and he’ll fall at her feet. Nice fluffy warm sentiments for cold evenings. Anyone done a test on whether this makes for better seduction material than Barry White? www.homeofmagnet.com RMcG

VIVA VOCE: "Wrecking Ball" FULL TIME HOBBY 28.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Live, VV are hard-edged and brutal, a Kills-go-americana trip for this wife and husband team. On disc they plod and drag despite the kitchen sink contents of the sound. Occasional glam stomps poke through but anything called Wrecking Ball ought to at least try to kick down the door. RMcG

I AM KLOOT: "Maybe I Should" SKINNY DOG 21.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Other bands should be forming a line outside I Am Kloot’s door, begging for tips. Here we forgive them for the ‘b’ side (Strange Little Girl) not being a Stranglers cover for the wondrousness of the ‘a’ side. Maybe I Should has sharply simple solo riffing as beat before ushering the sort of pop colouring that XTC were famed for but without the clever-clever edge. Instead it is a deceptively simple ditty and heartfelt singing. Oftimes the hardest thing is to pare away the excess lyric to leave only the emotionally direct and true – I Am Kloot are lyric sculptors. www.iamkloot.com RMcG

ALKALINE TRIO: "Mercy Me" VAGRANT 21.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 You know, Matt Skiba is the only original member left since the Trio’s 1997 inception. In that time he has honed the sound to a polished punk perfection. Too polished for my tastes – live, they bored me. Here, the single is a boppy piece of pop, fusing Green Day with hints of self-harm hidden in longing for a crash. Rising chorus leaps to the hook and wins a few punching arms. Somehow I can’t help but feel that this targets deliberately a 13 year old audience, which is a bit creepy in men this age. RMcG

OVERSOL: "Speed" 21.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Zzzz… Now the Athlete single sounds nice and there’s a few Coldplay songs I can be in the same room as but, generally, this is the worst kind of indie that isn’t revivalist garage rock. ‘Speed’ ain’t bad but it is bland and formulaic. It aims to be a big anthem but it’s done at the expense of joie-de-vivre. The electronica-influenced B’s, ‘Tiredness Can Kill’ and ‘Under Surveillance’, are slightly more interesting diversions away from the norm but, just as Athlete are overshadowed by Coldplay, so it is that Oversol are likely to be eclipsed by Athlete. www.oversol.co.uk RH

ATHLETE: "Twenty Four Hours" PARLOPHONE 14.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Ah, Christmas – traditionally, the time when most acts decide to release their big production, lighters-aloft ballad. Here is Athlete’s and, by ‘eck, it doesn’t half sound like a Coldplay knock-off. Decide for yourself whether that’s a good thing or not but Athlete have certainly come up with something more palatable than the dreary ‘Wires’. ‘Twenty Four Hours’, whilst derivative, is akin to watching ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ whilst tucking into sherry and mince pies. Cockle warming, in short. www.athlete.mu RH

ENGERICA: "Roadkill" SANCTUARY 7.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Interesting, this ‘un. The front cover is a shoddily-drawn picture of a freshly squashed rabbit, no doubt steamrolled over by Engerica’s out-of-control Metal-Mobile. ‘Roadkill’ evokes prime Therapy? with loony bin escapee vocals, yet they manage to hold a decent melody together throughout the madness. The B-side, or ‘other song’, ‘Detective Show’ is even more nuts, in case you’re wondering. Short and not at all sweet; I’d love to see Engerica live. www.engerica.com RH

TOMMY LEE: "Good Times" SPV 7.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 On the front cover, Tommy Lee is covering his ears with an agonising look on his face. Someone musta been playing him the Babyshambles album, then. Arf! This, in case you’re wondering, sounds nowt like Motley Crue. It’s an uncharacteristically ‘Dawson’s Creek’-friendly slice of acoustic pop-rock, featuring Butch Walker (who?), and is actually quite good. The other song, ‘Trying To Be Me’, is just a big rock star whinge about how crap it is being famous (oh, me me me!!!) and, just when you can’t imagine things getting worse, Chad Kroger out of Nickleback sings it. Quick – put that Babyshambles album back on! www.tommylee.tv RH

GOLDIE LOOKIN CHAIN: "R'n'B" ATLANTIC RECORDS 21.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 "There's this girl what I've liked for time. I've tried to get her attention with a beat and a rhyme. She's really fit and she works down the shoe shop." GLC pimp their ride and cross over to the dark side of R'n'B, leaving Welsh hip hop to stagger around without a head. As funny, crass and pointless as the rest of the excellent album. Not funny after the third spin but the first two are seat-wettingly on-target. Truly a Welsh Bloodhound Gang. www.youknowsit.co.uk RMcG

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND: "History" ATLANTIC RECORDS 14.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Another installment of emo sensitivity from those Welsh merchants of epics. Not as big and sweeping as I think they hoped and, damn it, dragged down by the touchy-feely content. I still believe this sort of content is fit for Elton John musicals and that rock should be about noise, stupidity and senseless violence. FFAF are more likely to release a bat into the wild than bite its head off. Do you really want a record your parents would approve of? www.funeralforafriend.com RMcG

JOHNATHAN RICE : "So Sweet (Endert Mix)" ONE LITTLE INDIAN 7.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Sounding like Bright Eyes on a rare happy day, “So Sweet” is a track that sounds like it was recorded in the back of a convertible on a sunny summer’s day. Rice’s voice is haunting yet positive and the chorus backing’s “la la-la la-la” is guaranteed to get you singing along. This may well be the track that makes me buy Rice’s album, “Trouble Is Real”. www.johnathanrice.com RH

KAISER CHIEFS: "Modern Way" B-UNIQUE RECORDS 7.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Nice to see the lads doing something other than re-releasing the same two songs over and over. Leeds' luckiest wastrels are riding high and give us their stab at a Christmas number one. You'll have heard it before - it's the live belter, Modern Way, and works it's way from the Kaisers standard clockwork intro to an anthem via a light pop-inflected sleigh ride. Close your eyes for the last minute and picture a few thousand people singing along - it's easy to do and that's the Kaiser's secret weapon - crowdability. RMcG

HUMANZI: "Fix The Cracks" FICTION RECORDS 7.11.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Despite a slightly confusing and (dare I say it?) pretentious press release, Humanzi’s first real single has definite promise, despite sounding like the Hives and Supergrass having a barny. Elements of electro lend the track a fullness that makes it memorable while managing to nestle itself slap bang in the middle of the current Indie scene. B-Side “Get Your Shit Together” goes a bit more pop/punk, but is just as catchy. www.humanzi.com RH

FIVE O’CLOCK HEROES: "White Girls" GLAZE RECORDS 31.10.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 A funky, stripped track from the hard-working New Yorkers that guarantees to get your foot tapping. “White Girls” deals with the stresses of groupies (don’t we all feel sorry for them?!). While having some of the daftest lyrics I’ve heard for a while, it’s enjoyable and certainly worth downloading. Accompanying track “Skin Deep” has a strong Levellers-style riff and a catchy chorus. Sod it, just buy the single and get your head nodding at the traffic lights. www.thefiveoclockheroes.com RH

RECULVER: "Wake Up Call" ORGY RECORDS 31.10.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Sounding surprising American, the Nickelback-esque sounds of Kent-based band Reculver lend themselves well to the genre of the rock ballad. Luke Purdie’s voice has a familiar cocky lilt, while ringing with a uniqueness that will surely see the band grow over the coming months. “Wake Up Call” has great repeat-listen value and showcases a band with a clear available range. Definitely one to look out for next year. www.reculver1.com RH

THE KILLS: "No Wow" DOMINO 31.10.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Desperately simple slab of scuzz, all lo-fi and pout, smeared mascara and dry-mouth tension. VV (vocals) and Hotel (guitar) work up a frantic dose of sexual chemistry. Their singles somehow exude the sweaty obsession of the gigs and that makes we ponder the redundancy of the multiple 'dance' remixes here. www.thekills.tv RMcG

THE FALLOUT TRUST: "Before The Light Goes" AT LARGE 31.10.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 It's a floaty glittery thing, quite unlike a lot else till the thrummed bass steps up a notch and the chorus sweeps in. Then it garners a whiff of other epic-rockers before returning to it's shimmer again. Flavoured with little touches of Athlete, Coldplay and Embrace, it would be a surprise if The Fallout Trust didn't grab the coat tails of our current need for sonic uplift and soul balms. www.thefallouttrust.com RMcG

MY AWESOME COMPILATION: "Set To Go" SORE POINT RECORDS 24.10.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 The lyrics “Mind set to go / You can do anything” really sum up this track. It’s so full of positivity it bounces, and if it doesn’t get stuck in your head there’s definitely something wrong with you. One of the standout tracks from the band’s debut album “Actions”, it should be listened to several times in a row to alleviate nerves, depression… in fact, to steal a few words… it can do anything! www.myawesomecompilation.com RH

MAXIMO PARK: "Apply Some Pressure" WARP RECORDS 24.10.05 Link: http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/sr.htm#01 Jerky, perky and pumped full of stimulants. The Maximos apply some pressure to the inside of their heads till it makes them leap up and down, shaking frantically. Stir in some Lancashire vocals and you have a soup full of glass, like Pulp played at double speed, double volume. "I hope that I am still alive next year" sings Paul. Maybe lad, and maybe you're moving too fast. Luvverly. www.maximopark.com RMcG