SINGLE: The Maccabees - No Kind Words (Fiction)

With the opening bars of this track, there is an immediate contrast to the battling guitars that usually fills The Maccabees sound. No Kind Words has a darker undertone, guitars are minimal, while Orlando’s singing compliments this new departure with less of the cries and yelps, yet it does not feel like the delivery is any less heartfelt.

The lyrics still capture a moment and tell a story, but the topic is not one of youthful nostalgia, describing how someone is diverting and battling from expectation with the words ‘Alone, alone, alone’ always setting the tone, in both its reputation and the way it is delivered. But when we reach the end of the song, there is an air of continuity from their previous sound with the return of a more sedate form of the battling guitars. The Maccabees sound has grown up and we love it.

Stacey Evans

SINGLE: Metric - Help, I’m Alive (Last Gang Records)

Forcibly laser etched onto every Metric fan’s brain since it appeared on the internet and Canadian airwaves a few months ago, if there’s any justice in the twisted universe of the music industry ‘Help, I’m Alive’ might be Metric’s breakthrough single in the UK.

The band are backed by their usual array of strengths – breathy sing-talky vocals from Emily Haines, a well placed acoustic guitar second chorus and some clever juxtaposition of music and lyrics (‘my heart keeps beating like a hammer’ over the bass drum’s heavy heart-like pounding), as well as a new more personal perspective and clearer songwriting certain to drag in new fans. A brilliant single worthy of a great band.

Ollie Khakwani

SINGLE: Tommy Reilly - Gimme A Call (A&M Records)

A sparse combination of folky guitar, voice and a bit of foot stamping on the chorus (I think, but it might have been a quiet drum), ‘Gimme A Call’ is one of the better examples of the work of singer-songwriters if not particularly groundbreaking. The single is lyrically tight and rendered by some not unpleasant but sort of pubescent sounding vocals that have a vulnerable charm (especially on the chorus where Reilly croons ‘Gimme a call/you got a phone, don’t you?). Still, if it weren’t for the acoustic guitar freakout of a post-chorus, the song would pretty quickly disappear into the forest of teenagers playing MTV Unplugged covers in their rooms. Good, but not really and instant classic.

Ollie Khakwani

ALBUM: Metric -Fantasies (Last Gang Records)

Now that ’09 synthpop has apparently become an official term (at least according to the Guardian’s Guide from last week where contemporary slang was dissected), most 80s-sounding things have become more unwelcome to my ears than questions about censorship are to the Chinese government. Still, it’s hard to fault a band whose two albums both got nominated for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards, collaborate in Broken Social Scene, and are unknown enough in England for me to lecture/brag about to friends. Fantasies leaves their untouchable aura of brilliance intact, providing yet another reason to love Emily Haines and James Shaw.

First single and opener ‘Help, I’m Alive’ was in simplest terms a wet dream to Metric fans, showing their trademark sound remains as good as it ever was with poignant lyrics, a killer refrain and possibly even sweeter breathy vocals. It also provides a good insight into the rest of the album – even though the perfect musical formula from before remains unscathed, the political element that dominated earlier releases (‘I fought the war/I fought the war/I fought the war but the war won’) has been eclipsed by a more personal theme. The album involves more songs that centre on controlling your own life and the problems that fame and other unwelcome monsters have caused on the subject. ‘Help, I’m Alive’ sees Emily use her brilliant falsetto to ask why she shouldn’t do what she wants; ‘Sick Muse’ attacks Cupid for sticking his arrows in her; Metric turn their attention to the need of musicians to push themselves so hard they burn out for the sake of staying edgy on ‘Front Row’.

As a whole, musically, Fantasies is appealing as anything they’ve released with songs catchy and credible enough to match up to the highlights of their back catalogue - the chorus on ‘Gimme Sympathy’ has super heart-melting powers; ‘Stadium Love’ will force you to dance like it’s got a gun to your head. Lyrically it shows a more wistful side of the band – they’re not railing against rehashing of old stuff in the music industry or the left’s failure to galvanise against the Bush administration’s capitalist-war machine, so it doesn’t feel quite as angry, but there’s little trouble being as emotionally intense – if anything it’s a sign Metric are getting even better at what they could already do perfectly.

Standout Tracks: Help, I’m Alive; Sick Muse; Gimme Sympathy; Front Row

Ollie Khakwani

ALBUM: Bishop Allen -Grrr… (Dead Oceans Records)

Bishop Allen deserve love. They had the brilliant idea of an EP a month for a year, released the both charming and clever Broken String, and they were on screen for about 30 seconds in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (although I’d question the choice of song – ‘Middle Management’ is good, but why not ‘Click Click Click Click’?)

On the first listen, it doesn’t seem like much has changed since the surprisingly good last album – same mix of folk and pop, cute minimalist arrangements and general sugary twee-ness that makes you buzz with child-like joy. If anything, musically Grrr… is more exciting and even tighter than its predecessor, with more interesting instrumentation (like marimbas and trumpets on ‘True of False’) and addictive but understated melodies, sort of equivalent to valium among drugs, with ‘Oklahoma’ and ‘The Lion and the Teacup’ containing some of the best poppy treats. However, lyrically the album as a whole fails to match up to earlier work, sounding too infantile or simple, and in particular spots dissolves into nursery rhyme-like mush (the main offender being ‘The Magpie’ although ‘Tiger, Tiger’ is a bit of a howler if you’re in the wrong mood). The title’s toddler/tantrum implications might have been a warning that was coming. As well as this, Grrr…lacks the effortlessly appealing songs like ‘Rain’ and ‘Click Click Click Click’ that really made the last album so brilliant.

It would be pretty harsh to call this a bad album, because it’s far from that – there’s a lot of great indie pop to be found and masterful arrangements on basically every track, but overall Grrr…suggests that the cohesiveness of The Broken String was more a happy accident than anything and that Bishop Allen still have some growing to do.

Standout Tracks: Dimmer, The Lion and the Teacup, Oklahoma, Cue the Elephants

Ollie Khakwani

ALBUM: The All-American Rejects - When the World Comes Down (Interscope/Doghouse Records)

The All-American Rejects - When the World Comes Down (Interscope/Doghouse Records)

Although I don’t think the magazine I read that contained the interview in which Tyson Ritter went on about how ‘totally different this album is’ was the NME, it seems like enough of a preposterous lie to have been published in that reputable publication.

I should point out now that I like (tense?) the All-American Rejects – even if I was into black eyeliner when I heard their first album, its adorable teen peppiness still isn’t lost on me now, but I have to say, ‘Gives You Hell’ does exactly what it says on the label (SEE? The title isn’t even creative!!!) What really grates about this album is that 7 years later they might have actually regressed as a band – it physically hurts hearing a 20-something write lyrics like ‘I’ve figured it out/breaking’s what your heart is for.’ Maybe that’s why I think the Jonas Brothers are worse than STDs (they’re roughly equal in destructive terms but those teen pop tossers are catchier). But I digress, the point is, studio polish will never be a decent substitute for imagination, and patriotic rejects’ eyes are blanker than my list of things I like about Miley Cyrus.

Standout Tracks: Do I have to? Fine, I guess ‘Real World’ was momentarily distracting, even if its namesake is the kind of show that would sink to using this album for a soundtrack.

Ollie Khakwani

ALBUM: Dead Young Club Vol. 1 - (Dead Young Records)

Record label samplers are always a good way to get a quick snapshot of fresh, new bands and Dead Young Records’ latest release is no different. Showcasing four of their newest signings, ‘Dead Young Club Vol. 1’ spans the genres from bluesy indie to epic Welsh glacial scores.

‘Edward the Confessor’, provided by Liverpool’s The Cubical is a jaunty, blues tipped psych pop song that would be straight out of the Black Keys’ back catalogue if it wasn’t for the slightly menacing, growling vocals. Perfect for cutting some 60s shaped rug to but perhaps not so much for putting the kids to bed to…

A Love Supreme are a more child-friendly prospect with the emotional and driving ‘I Know You Got Soul’. Slightly self-indulgent with the guitar solo at the end but otherwise just the right sort of momentous and raw sound new and old bands alike should be trying to create.

Fuzzy JAMC pop has seen a bit of a resurgence of late, Glasvegas being a prime example. The Lucid Dream are a bit less current indie than the nation’s new favourite band from north of the border, instead sounding more like they’ve stepped into a time machine in the 1960s and somehow ended up in 2008. ‘I Got the Devil’ is a sparkling 5 minutes of distortion and noise proving the Lucid Dream to be something to look out for in the coming months.

Last but not least comes Yucatan, creating epic Sigur Ros-esque scores that represent and reflect the Welsh valleys. Singing entirely in their native Welsh language adds a more magical touch to the music although occasionally the whole thing does smack a bit of jumping on the aforementioned Icelandic group’s bandwagon a bit.

Standout track: The Lucid Dream – ‘I Got the Devil’

Rhian Daly