DAMN: DIRTY HUMANS Superstar (myspace.com/damndirtyhumans)
Cheery pop with attitude is always nice to hear when the whole world’s going to shit. Damn Dirty Humans inhabit a similar crevice of the pop reef as bands like Republica and Transvision Vamp did. These might sound like slightly dated references but more recent girl-fronted, kind-of-new-wave guitar outfits have veered more towards the spiky and all-too-knowing – we prefer lyrics that address the listener as “babe” quite a lot, coming across slightly miffed but never in any real danger of actually kicking you in the nuts. (NC)

DEMO: RACHEL’S LAST DANCE (myspace.com/rachelslastdance)
This is a rather sumptuous concoction that, with some forcing, would probably fit in the folk-rock bracket – the kind of thing you can imagine sitting round a camp fire listening to, or just as perversely the kind of thing you can imagine Jo Whiley jumping all over (once someone’s told her they’re cool). There are echoes of The Levellers and Damien Rice in the mix, but in truth it’s just a really accomplished set of well crafted songs we can imagine doing rather well for them. (NC)