SINGLE: 900 SPACES •
Lady Go (Shake It Up)
The pair of songs making up this double a-side release are brimming over with new wave exuberance and charm. ‘Ballerina Dreamer’ bounces along like a puppy at a canine indie disco, its judicious use of a 4/4 rhythm section and up-down-up-down bassline securing its pogo status, with a nice Yahama home organ break for good measure. ‘Lady Echinacea’ is less dancefloor but perhaps all the more anthemic for it – proper girl-fronted indie pop seems a bit thin on the ground at the moment but this certainly helps redress the balance. (NC)

DEMO: BLACK! GARDENIAS! •
(myspace.com/theblackgardenias)
Tattoos (lots of them, including a hurty palm-of-the-hand one), fuzzy guitars and rock rhythms are all quite common in bands, but the inclusion of a pair of deceptively sweet-sounding female vocals on top conspire to make this really interesting. Their second set of demos, it shows a direct progression from their predecessors, with ‘Lady Gardenia’ and “Cloak & Dagger’ ticking the rockabilly rumble boxes while ‘Norma Jean’ demonstrates a bold foray into baroque balladry that builds to dramatic crescendo. Gigs are coming up, should be worth seeing. (NC)

ALBUM: THE BLUE HEARTS •
Jukebox Of Maladies (Big Cactus)
From the outset this sounds like the work of an accomplished set-up – often we have to scrabble about for the potential in songs mired in a mush of budget production. Not so here, the sonic achievement exhibited throughout the album is usually reserved for international names. But gloss doesn’t necessarily make a record stand out from the crowd, that takes genuinely good songs and those are here in spades. Beefy rock rhythms snake around a catchy pop sensibility, with accomplished performances delivered by all. Definitely worth checking out. (NC)

EP: SEANY CLARKE •
Funky Boy Racer (The Hook Up)
Former Hardkandy mainman Seany Clarke is back with a self-produced and largely self-played EP calling card – one that firmly nails his loves and influences to the mast. And it would appear those influences share the common denominator of the funk – Sly, Curtis and even Prince are all present in spirit as the vocal lilts above notes we’re personally capable of reaching this side of puberty. Funk too often gets fused in with rock these days so it’s nice to see a lighter and eminently poppier take on it here. (NC)

SINGLE: FATBOY SLIM •
Right Here Right Now (JFB Remix) (Skint)
This is the future – in more ways than one. For Skint’s 200th release they commissioned a remix of one of their classics, JFB delivered it at 10am, Sir Norman gave it his thumbs up at 1pm before playing it on Radio 1 at 8.30pm. It was released on Juno at 9pm and was in the dubstep top 20 within a few hours. Phew. It’s a stunning mix – a throbbing bassline, loose drums and hip hop elements melt into all the memorable riffs. Next stop, the real charts? (JK)

SINGLE: FELGUK & TIM HEALY •
Score (Surfer Rosa)
Fresh from tampering with Flo Rida and David Guetta’s new single for the raft of remixes, Felguk close the studio door behind our very own electro house head honcho Tim Healy. Classic euphoric rises straight from the textbook are ever-present, before cunningly dropping into deep breaks and dubstep. It’s a combination that works the floor perfectly and a broken-beat re-edit by Slyde, together with another dubstep workout by Screen Age & Junior Red, round off a properly credible set. (NC)

EP: GYPSY AND THE WOLF
Perfect Rose (myspace.com/gyspyandthewolf)
A cursory background-seeking visit to the band’s MySpace page reveals a couple of proper heritage guitar endorsements that send the SOURCE eyebrows to the ceiling. Mark Knopfler, headband head-honcho out of Dire Straits, reckons they’re ace and Gary Moore, weatherbeaten erstwhile Thin Lizzy bloke, likes them so much he’s recorded a song with them. And it’s pretty good, too – some pastoral Foal-isms with a sparing of guitars, banjo and what sounds like mandolin. All very nicely done and a welcome introduction to an interesting sounding outfit. (NC)

EP: LENO GOLDSTEIN •
K2EP1 (myspace.com/lenogoldstein)
There’s a swagger and lyrical insouciance about the Lenos that rather puts us in mind of Brett Anderson and even Brett Smiley (you’ll have to YouTube him). Finding glamour and decadence in the glummest of suburban trappings – Worthing and cigarette ends stuck in our mind – they accompany their threepenny operas with suitably down-at-heel keyboards and guitar. The sound would certainly benefit from more lavish recordings, but it’s carried by the self-belief, humour and dissolute style that drips from every pore. (NC)

ALBUMS: MAPS & ATLASES
Perch Patchwork (FatCat •)
A tickle under the chin and a stroke on the head for local label FatCat, as this is their 100th album release – not bad going in such tricky times. Maps & Atlases’ debut certainly likes to experiment – distinctive Chicago vocals and plenty of prog arrangement shape the band line-up, which brings brass, strings, and virtuoso guitar picking to the mix. Mature and intelligent, it’s pop by any other name but pop with an IQ – there’s certainly nothing throwaway here. It may take a while to get to know properly, but there’s plenty of reward when you do. (NC)

ALBUM: ROUGH CITIZEN •
Echolocation (facebook.com/roughcitizen)
As the lengthy and engaging press release accompanying this CD acknowledges, making music at home is no longer the talisman it once was – anyone can knock out a few songs with a MacBook Pro and GarageBand. Trouble is, you need actual songs as well as the physical ability to record them. What separates this collection of poppy rock numbers from the rest of the homemade herd is the real-ness he’s strived for and achieved – not over-polishing the production and not relying on layer after layer of keyboards – and the sheer amiability of their delivery. (NC)

SINGLE: SEERÄUBER JENNY •
Push It Away / Waste Of Time (Label Fandango)
Brightonian Fran Barker has teamed up with ex Mint Royale person Neil Claxton for this new project, and the pair seem to have cracked it with their first release. Mid-tempo indie pop bustles along breezily on the opening track, with a vocal on top that almost recalls a Luke Kook intonation in places, and the more laid-back accompanying song pulls the pace back to showcase their ballad capabilities. As an introduction to a new band, it serves them very well indeed. (NC)

ALBUM: SHRAG •
Life! Death! Prizes! (Where It’s At Is Where You Are)
The first album proper following last year’s summation of five 7″ singles, this is certainly an important moment for the band. Together since 2004, they’ve had time to decide what and where they want to be, and as a defining article of their work so far it suggests they have lofty ambitions. Scuzzy indie guitar and retro keyboards vie with an underlying pop song awareness, taking the tunes above the herd of self-consciously arch and spiky bands who dominate the landscape. It might share the same influences of generation-old indie stalwarts but injects a modern energy, humour and accessibility that keep it resolutely contemporary. (NC)

ALBUM: STUART WARWICK •
The Ordeal (stuartwarwick.com)
When you have a voice like Stuart’s, it’s best not to overcrowd it with superfluous backing. So it is with this album, understated yet strangely hypnotic layers are the perfect foil for a vocal performance that’s earned comparisons to Thom Yorke, but to our ears recalls ‘Spirit Of Eden’-era Talk Talk. An emotionally wrought journey across the frailty of human emotion, taking in everything from anti-gay Christianity to Shannon Matthews’ kidnapping, ‘The Ordeal’ is actually far from its titular suggestion and a genuinely beautiful album. (NC)

ALBUM: THE XCERTS •
Scatterbrain (Xtra Mile)
For their second album chirpy guitar slashers The Xcerts sound like life has hit them. Sure there’s still an energy here – in places it comes on like Soundgarden or Stone Temple Pilots with the looseness of the White Stripes fuller songs – but there emotion and world weariness too. Like Nirvana in their ‘In Utero’ days, it suits them. Heavy emotion and raw sounds are expertly handled by US rock superproducer Mike Sapone who handles Brand New. It covers a lot of ground cohesively – even coming on like Arcade Fire. Could it see The Xcerts break America? Maybe. (JK)

EP: FREEZING IN FRESSIN •
(myspace.com/freezinginfressin)
Softly spun vocals paint evocative pictures on a canvas of uncomplicated guitar strums on this homemade EP, folky and beautifully bucolic in tone. ‘If You’re A Bird, I’m A Bird’ opens the trio of tracks, the double-tracked voice hypnotic against its sparse backing, while ‘My Favourite Clementine’ adds some nicely understated amplification to the rhythm while retaining the innocent charm of the lyric. Drums make a belated appearance on the final entry ‘Everywhere With You’ which rolls along perfectly nicely, but it’s the simpler arrangements really that do it for us. (NC)

SPARES EP: THE TWILIGHT SAD
The Wrong Car (FatCat •)
Marking something of a triumphant critical end to the ‘Forget The Night Ahead’ album campaign, this EP also brings closure to a pair of tracks that didn’t make it in time for the album track list, as well as a couple of remixes from Mogwai and Errors, the latter currently on a co-headline tour with the Sads. The title track swirls along in epic indie rock fashion, with a confidence that screams of a job well done. Bombastic and dramatic in delivery, it leaves sufficient space for emotive undertones and an stylish aftertaste that leaves the palate wanting more. We’ll have to wait for our next course, but the newcomer should definitely check out the album. (NC)

DEMO: FOOLPROOF PROJECTS •
Grooganox (foolproofprojects.co.uk)
If drumming’s your thing, and we mean really, really your thing, you’ll find lots to love here. Billed as new recordings from Brighton’s hexen drum troupe, the CD features four tracks comprising of (and we quote) chaotic percussion rituals, wheezing drones and fractured pianos, although the overall impression is one of drums, drums, drums and drums, accompanied by backing drums and percussion. Not in a Burundi drums kind of way, just lots of drums, all being hit really hard. In fact, the opening track is a 15-minute celebration of hitting drums really hard. Really, really hard. (NC)

WORDS BY NICK COQUET, JAMES KENDALL