London three-piece state the bleeding obvious.

'Sticks and stones' yells Marion Andrau 'will break your bones'. Golly! While reiterating what everyone has known since they were four years old, Underground Railroad play the type of electronica-fueled alt rock that most would have bored of before leaving high school. Remember Sunna? It's not much different, in approach, to that.

At least that's how the lead single comes across, b-side 'Homeless Town' tells another story capturing what Idlewild clumsily misplaced after '100 Broken Windows' with scrappy spackhanded guitars and disorientated slurred vocals reminiscent of Thurston Moore. Whoever decided to put this as the b-side made a massive boo-boo as this disc was taking the gravity express out the third floor window into the pissy bushes before this dose of saving grace kicked in.

So Underground Railroad, 50% trainwreck, 50% Orient Express.

Following the slight dip in form that was 2005's 'Plans', Death Cab For Cutie, Seattle's finest [Nirvana?] ok, second finest export has bounced back with 'Narrow Stairs', a confident and well-accomplished record of healthy guitar indie for those who already love them will find difficult not to foam at the mouth over.

'Cath...' is one such example why Death Cab, despite how bitter and whiney they can be in person, should be loved by any person who has ever been slightly excited by the sound of a loud guitar. Sure to be one of the jewels in their upcoming tour setlists, it would have been a genius idea, if not slightly obvious, to release 'Cath...' with its preceding track on 'Narrow Stairs', 'No Sunlight'. They're like salt and pepper, wheat and hops, blood and bone.



Nonetheless, 'Cath...' possesses a simple barebones drumbeat for the verse that frequently has me airdrumming while stuck in traffic. Ben Gibbard's vocals are just as stark, yelping when it seems fit. It's a perfect case of "less is more" with the song breathing as its if on a country walk.

Oh dear, it seems a small mountain of singles has spawned on my desk so as a measure to resolve this, I thought a quick and slightly flippant round-up would be the best method.

First to walk the plank is Brighton three-piece Elle Milano with their latest single ‘Laughing All The Way To The Plank’. Nautical profiteering sadly isn’t the subject at hand but more yuppie twats who bum up to Ikea, finding themselves alone with unpacked furniture.

The Cribs meets Muse with a non-irritating measure of Kaiser Chiefs is the order of the day as vocalist Adam M. Crisp [a pseudonym, surely] spits snide jibes at a section of today’s society who claim "it's easy, like getting your attention. We go "Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!"

Initial listens are a bit cringey but once the irritation subsides, ‘Laughing All The Way…’ shows it colours as a catchy little number and honest listeners would see their acclaim in mainstream press as warranted.

Tatty electro-rock from over the water.

The name ‘Innerpartysystem’ rings far too closely to Love City Groove, Eurovision Also Rans from 1995, to warrant really being taken seriously.

So upon learning that Innerpartysystem arenothing more than a Pendulum clone, its safe to say this initial discovery didn’t cause much upset.

Not wanting to dwell on the name but what does that mean? It doesn’t make sense. ‘Inner’? Okay, makes enough sense so far. ‘Innerparty’? Right, maybe that refers to being savagely bummed. ‘Innerpartysystem’? Whaaaat?! Makes no sense!

Oxford's finest gets a good milking from bitter record label

If you missed the review for Led Zeppelin’s ‘Mothership’ back in November, you may as well read that and substitute the names accordingly because this is another shameful act of moneymilking from bereaved record labels.

So unless you’ve just been born, you’ll need no introduction to Radiohead. Forerunners and pioneers of modern music for over ten years (I don’t count debut ‘Pablo Honey’), Lord Gammy-eye Yorke and his moody rabble have produced albums so strong they could stand two nuclear holocausts.

But once again as per usual with bands of such an influential nature; fantastic music, awful motive. Parlophone, still nursing the sores from when Radiohead punched them in the eye socket and decided they could handle their own shit now, have issued this double-disc collection in an effort to squeeze what cash they can from Radiohead. However the Oxford five-piece can smirk at the fact that they’ve rendered this ‘best of’ redundant before it was even released. Where’s ‘Nude’? Where’s ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’? On ‘In Rainbows’, that’s where.

Anita Smith waxes lyrical on Hip-hop's newest hope.

I’ve never heard of Wax Tailor until now. But I do like hearing new things. Especially when they impress as much as ‘Hope & Sorrow’.
It’s not an album that will immediately blow your mind, or make you question your life before this moment, but nonetheless, I insist that you give it a chance if you know what’s good for your ears and your mind.

With songs that grow organically around samples and beats, 'Hope & Sorrow's intelligence lies in its simplicity, and that only makes the songs improve with each listen.
Nothing is overdone, and with tracks veering from a dark, urban feel to a laid-back Jurassic 5 sound, this album deserves to be heard by anyone who has even a passing interest in hip-hop.
What am I saying? I hate pigeon-holing like that. Even if you’re not into hip-hop, you should check it out. It’s an album that keeps you interested from start to finish, without being too demanding – a healthy mix of technique and instinct…plus a cello. Yes, a cello.

Michael Bates gets wanky all over the new Opeth disc...

First things first – yes, this is the recording debut of Bloodbath’s Axe and ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson for the Stockholm superstars that are Opeth.

It’s also Opeth’s first original material to be released in three years, something that would never have occurred in the band’s early career when an album a year was the norm. So this release was always going to be interesting from the outset; would Axe tip Opeth too far into death metal territory with his horrendously punishing drumming? Would Fredrik try taking over guitar parts with too many widdily- widdily bits? Did it take three years because it wasn’t as good? Would Opeth stop sounding like Opeth?

Pftt, don’t be fucking ridiculous. Even though he’s the only remaining original member, there has only ever been the odd Opeth song that wasn’t penned by singer/songwriter/deity Mikael Åkerfeldt. So, yes it took longer to do. Yes, it has new members. And yes, it has a name suggesting a pivotal moment in their career as a band, but the album is unmistakably Opeth. Vocals might be the teensiest bit cleaner than usual, but when its Åkerfeldt singing, who gives a toss? Mikael Åkerfeldt is one of the finest vocalists ever to grace the planet, and his soaring vocal performance on album centrepiece ‘Burden’ prove that he owns you, your gran and her pet budgerigar. And when he decides to scream you shit yourself. He must have balls the size of the late Lolo Ferrari’s knockers to make that sound.

Ian Breen OBE gives a heads-up on 'the next big thing's debut...

So, The Ting Tings.
Quite a difficult one to review, this. Having played their first show a mere twelve months ago, they seem to have gone supernova - Radio 1 A-listers, interviews in The Sun, top 20 singles and so on. Having seen them play one of their "intimate" shows at Islington Mill last summer and being pleasantly surprised by their catchy awesomeness, the wait for the debut full length has been a long and strange one.

Things start off brilliantly with their two amazing singles 'Great DJ' and 'Thats Not My Name' - both brilliant sing-along pop rock songs, the former boasting a nagging, slightly annoying yet still brilliant chorus. Then all of a sudden, it seems like The Ting Tings may have spunked their wad too early, as 'Traffic Light', the fourth track on the album, stumbles onto the scene and barely even makes it's presence known. Total filler, very light, quickly forgettable.
Pfft.
Is this what we've been waiting for?

Selina Helen Travis plays with some monkeypuppetsrascals.

With the Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight and Muse seemingly being the only other UK bands who can regularly sellout arenas and dominate the charts, it’s hard to have any real beef with the Arctic Monkeys.
Easily the best of a bad bunch, they’ve always seemed to carry themselves with a certain air of modesty (take note Johnny Borrell) and with their honest uncomplicated approach to songwriting, they’re a decent enough antidote to the absurd and overwrought meanderings of Matt Bellamy & co.

With this in mind, Alex Turner’s latest project 'The Last Shadow Puppets' is worth a fair old chance.

So let’s start with the plusses.