This week we review The Strange Boys, Dave Rawlings Machine, Skinlab, Snoop Dogg and Basement Jaxx.
If you can get past the gravelly production of this debut from Texan garage rockers the Strange Boys, you're doing the band a big favour.
It's one thing to record on the cheap through necessity; it's another to adopt lo-fi chic as an affectation and the Boys pose a little too self-consciously as Nuggets-era psych-rockers on this one.
But underneath the scratchy veneer lies a robust and energetic group with a healthy respect for bluesy R&B and snotty guitar rock, and a wicked sense of fun.
Should Have Shot Paul speaks for itself.
Single download: Woe Is You And Me
For those who like: Black Lips, the Pebbles and Nuggets garage compilations
- Jeff Harford
Better known as the long-time musical partner of Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings has formed allegiances with a fair few heavy hitters on the alt-country scene and he calls on them for his latest album: Ryan Adams shares writing credits on a few; Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor contributes one; while Welch is all over this effort.
Recording and producing the album in Nashville, Rawlings prefers to set his lyrics of daily life to the tried and true colours of banjo, piano, guitar, organ and fiddle.
However, the intimate porch-jam harmonies of Welch, Secor and others elevate this above the average.
Single download: Sweet Tooth
For those who like: Gillian Welch, The Band
- Shane Gilchrist
The Scars Between Us is pretty basic stuff really.
For an act that has the credentials and longevity of Skinlab, this is the sound of four guys going through the motions.
With other metal acts reaching for the heights set by Mastodon, Trivium and Opeth, it's simply not acceptable to expect punters to shell out for formulaic riffs and a caricatured death bark.
And, if the drummer trying to steal the show with the twin-kick pedal onslaught is not annoying enough, Skinlab has buried the guitars six feet under. Only when things slow down on the Alice in Chains-inspired Karma Burns do we get a sense of what could have been.
Single download: Karma Burns
For those who like: Lamb of God, Machine Head, Slayer
- Mark Orton
It seems you really can't teach an old dog new tricks.
In his 10th album, Snoop is partying like it's 1993, with plenty of tired thug posturing, casual misogyny, half-baked soulfulness . . . and a hideously cartoonish album cover which in itself almost sullies the legacy of Doggystyle.
While this release - the first on his new imprint - has an abundance of guests (Soulja Boy, R Kelly and The-Dream), and therefore plenty of crossover appeal, the fact remains there are only so many gun-click samples and bass-heavy beats one can employ before descending into self-parody . . . oh, hang on . . .
Single download: Gangsta Luv
For those who like: Rolling down the street and/or sipping on gin and juice
- John Hayden
Receiving only the second half of the planned double album from cheeky Brixton duo Basement Jaxx has left me feeling cheated.
Scars, released midway through last year, was loaded with the mashed-up, disco-infused house we have come to expect.
Zephyr, on the other hand, is devoid of any stomping dance-floor beats.
Simon and Felix have taken off their headphones and gone to sleep in the chill-out zone.
Meandering from one hackneyed soundscape to the next, Zephyr is innocuous and unchallenging.
Fortunately, the Jaxx perceive Zephyr as experimental . . . phew.
Let's hope this is just a blip on the radar.
Single download: Peace of Mind
For those who like: Cafe Del Mar, Tribal Fusion, whale song
- Mark Orton
