CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS 5 CDR (Stone Premonitions)
Extremely prolific band featuring members of The Rabbit's Hat, Body Full Of Stars and Stan. This is their fifth album in what seems like a few months! Spacey, psychedelic songs and spoken word set to music, sometimes floaty and atmospheric and other times more rockish, all in the same high quality musicianship that's to be expected of Stone Prem. terrib@stoneprem.freeserve.co.uk

CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS Seeing Things CDR (Stone Premonitions)
Not content with releasing five albums in a short space of time, Census unleash yet another album! This is a collection of previously unreleased mixes and outtakes from the first four albums, but despite these songs' "outtake" status, the quality is just as impressive as the "proper" albums. Whilst much of the album reviewed above is song based, it has an overall spacey, atmospheric, psychedelic feel. The songs on Seeing Things, whilst having space/psych elements, are usually shorter and come across as being more obviously song based. This album contains mature pop and soft rock songs with a psychedelic edge, many of which are similar to The Rabbit's Hat. In fact there's a version of Hippy Anthem on here, which was originally a Rabbit's Hat song. One exception is The Lepidopterans, which is spoken word set to dreamlike, atmospheric, almost surreal music. If you like The Rabbit's Hat I'm sure you'll also like this.

VARIOUS Everything Went Pop! CD (Meller Welle)
Novacain have two tracks, one is grunge-tinged indie-rock and the other is a more 80s-ish indiepop song. The Hamptons are great, especially their first track which is catchy-tuned powerpop (not the punky sort of powerpop). I remember Howl In The Typewriter from comp tapes in the early 90s; their music is quirky noisepop that sounds like something from the 80s underground (in fact I think they have been around since the 80s). Cuppa Joe are indiepop, again a bit 80s-ish. Ninety Nine do noisepop with slightly post-rock-ish elements. The Celestial Daffodils' tracks are noisepop that's nowhere near as twee as the tape I heard from them ages ago. Foofie have one noisepop track and one more laid-back, mellow song. Glaring Surge are another name I remember from years ago. This track is new to me, but they're still playing the same brand of shoegazer-tinged noisepop. Halftime Oranges are another familiar name, making football-obsessed, 80s style janglepop. Malory have a dreampop song. Suretoss, another band I've heard stuff from before, appear here with a fairly noisy, lo-fi pop song. Finally there's Blame, who have three tracks of powerpop. Meller Welle info from kruckemeyer@aol.com

ANJI THE FAY selection of songs on CDR
There are two sides to Anji The Fay's music. The first is a very professional kind of pop music that's commercial, but whereas I find most mainstreamish music bland, this is definitely not! Anji is too talented to write bland songs, and also her music has a timeless quality rather than the sort of music that sounds commercial just because it conforms to current fads/trends. The other side of Anji's music I like even more. This is excellent folk-inspired music; Dreams has an ethereal yet very strong melody, accompanied by didgeridoo, percussion and synth, The Fay has a traditional-sounding tune, accompanied by fiddle, percussion and synth, and Dolphins Play is a guitar-pop song with folk elements. Really well written stuff. Contact anji_the_fay@yahoo.com or visit her website (see links section) to hear these songs online.

MOROSE Best Regards from Hungary CDR (Ouzel)
Nicely packaged, with a larger than usual sleeve in the form of a postcard, inside a similarly sized plastic bag. The front cover has a curious drawing of a naked man whose feet appear to be sinking in quicksand, and the insert with the tracklist has another odd picture, this time a naked man with a beak and strange feet. The music is good, homemade indiepop, some quite noisy, some more quiet. Mostly guitar-based, with the occasional keyboard, but Fishing Boots also includes a glockenspiel and what sounds like an accordion (but could possibly be a melodica or even a keyboard) and Priscilla features a recorder. Every song is good as the one before it - whilst there's no stand-out tracks, there are no duds either. If you dig lo-fi pop, get this. ouzel@libero.it

THE CLEANERS FROM VENUS Live in Japan (Osaka 1994) CD (Jarmusic)
First I must applaud the original packaging, it's one of those zip-up canvas CD carrying cases, which is printed with a Japanese flag and the band name and album title, and contains the CD, photos, sleeve notes and a laminated map of Japan. Next I must applaud the CD content - 14 live tracks and a demo track, many of which are versions of songs from Martin Newell's solo album The Greatest Living Englishman (which is one of my favourite albums, check it out if you haven't already). The live band on here includes the likes of Dave Gregory (XTC), Nelson (New Model Army) and Captain Sensible. The sleeve notes include the tour diary, which is written with the usual wit and intelligence expected of Martin Newell. If you're unfamiliar with Newell and his band, the music is pop (but the guitar solos on this release are more rock), a bit 60s and a bit 80s, catchy and well written. Info on this release and other Martin Newell related releases from Joachim at Jarmusic - jarmusic@t-online.de

GYPP Gypsy Dee CD (Jarmusic)
More unusual packaging from Jarmusic - this time a square metal box! Gypp is another of Martin Newell's bands; some tracks are written by him and others are written by other members of the band. The first eight tracks don't appear to include Martin Newell in the line-up, although he wrote some of the songs. Some songs are poppy light rock that's more middle of the road than the Cleaners of Venus, other songs (like Shoe Box) are powerpop in the late 70s style, and others are a mixture of soft rock and powerpop. The last five tracks are live and have Martin Newell on vocals. Although there's still a rock influence in evidence, some of these songs are more pop. Boots and Trousers is one of the poppiest tracks here and is fairly close to the Cleaners, even though this isn't one of the songs written by Martin Newell. Much of the time this band are a bit too middle of the road/soft rock for me, but their more poppy songs aren't bad. I prefer the Cleaners of Venus and solo Martin Newell though. If you're going to buy any Martin Newell record, get The Greatest Living Englishman, it's full of really excellent, catchy songs. jarmusic@t-online.de

THE EMBROOKS Our New Day CD (Voxx)
The band consists of ex-members of The Mystreated, Stewed, Head & The Hares, Hellcats, Dirty Burds and The Lyds, and they play hard-edged pop with an authentically 60s sound, made even more authentic by the raw mono recording (courtesy of the Toe Rag Studio, where else?!) Completely brilliant, and highly recommended to anyone into 60s music, whether it be pop, mod, garage, freakbeat or psych. The band - beat@embrooks.freeserve.co.uk The label: suzybomp@pacificnet.net

TELEVISION PERSONALITIES Part Time Punks CD (Cherry Red)
22 track best-of album collecting 20-odd years' worth of material. This band manage to appeal to fans of post-punk, mod, psychedelia and indie-pop alike. Compiled by Dan Treacy himself, this album has examples of their early, raw pop-punk; more poppy songs that border on the twee; heavier pop; and psychey songs such as King and Country, which has a guitar solo that's a blatant ripoff of The Byrds' Eight Miles High! Despite the occasional unoriginal bit such as this, the TVPs aren't just a band who were heavily influenced by other bands. They have, in fact, influenced an awful lot of people themselves, including those who have gone on to be more famous than the TVPs. One such person is Alan McGee, who contributed to the sleeve notes of this album, and it appears that if there was no TVPs there would have been no Creation, or at least Creation wouldn't have released the sort of music they did in the early 80s. He says "To say Television Personalities changed my life is an understatement. Creation Records in 1983, for a start, lock stock and barrel hi-jacked their idea of punk merged with psychedelia". This album is an ideal introduction to the TVPs; anyone who's curious about this hugely influential band - look no further! infonet@cherryred.co.uk

MOMUS Folktronic CD (Analog Baroque)
Pop, experimentation, baroque, analogue electronica, folk, blues, country, vaudeville, prog and more are all mixed together on this innovative album. Just one example of the genre-hopping that's going on here is Simple Men, which mixes trad folk, rave and easy listening! The lyrics of some songs here are also a mix of old fashioned and modern, eg Finnegan the Folk Hero who is a website designer! Musically diverse, lyrically intelligent and witty - one of the funniest songs is The Penis Song, joke vaudeville with casios and humorous penis-related lyrics. If you're bored with conventional music, give this a listen - it's great! infonet@cherryred.co.uk

THE BEAKER PEOPLE The More You Know The Less The Better CDR (Lost Wasp)
This is the band of Ian Simpson, whose solo songs you may have heard on assorted Bliss compilations. Some of the songs here are folk-tinged pop that's occasionally reminiscent of The Kitchen Cynics (the recorder in Could Be The Way is particularly Kitchen Cynics-like). Others are dark, melancholic indiepop (or 'sadcore' as it's often termed these days). On rare occasions they get wacky, like the la-la-las in exaggerated voices in Watchful Spies, but don't let this make you expect something stupid or overly weird; most of the album is serious and well-written. A really good homemade album, with no duff tracks. i_d_simpson@yahoo.co.uk

THE FAIRWAYS Is Everything All Right? clear vinyl LP (Shelflife/Paris Caramel)
Two members of this band were in a band called Uni, whose version of The Sea Urchins' You're So Much appeared on the Sarah tribute EP on Matinée. A great choice of song, and a great version of it too. The Fairways also had a 7" on Matinée which had been compared to The Sea Urchins and Blueboy. I could see where the Blueboy comparison had come from, not so much The Sea Urchins, but still thought the single was great. When I heard The Fairways had an LP out I was really keen to hear it, and it's certainly as brilliant as I'd hoped. The music is some of the best to come out of the whole old-style indiepop revival - very jangly and tuneful, usually with sunny melodies but without being unbearably twee. Close To Me is an excellent piece of janglepop that is at times reminiscent of, yes, The Sea Urchins, during their most indiepoppy phase (eg You're So Much and Summershine). There's not a dodgy track to be heard on here. If you're into well written, melodic, jangly pop you'd be foolish to ignore this. info@shelflife.com or pariscaramel@hotmail.com

THE VIC DANIELS QUARTET With The Crows CDR
There's only three of them, and none of them are called Vic Daniels! They're a folky, sometimes bluesy band, and elements of their songs often bear an uncanny resemblance to Jethro Tull, especially the style of woodwind playing, but their overall sound isn't as rockish as Jethro Tull. I can also hear hints of the Strawbs on occasions. Viola is a bit Nick Drake-ish at times, but also puts me in mind of The Stinking Badger of Java. Tell Me Why is a jazzy, bluesy affair with gravelly backing vocals. A band for 70s-style folk fans to watch out for. Info from vicdanielsquartet@hotmail.com

CALIGARI What You Hide CDR (Peach Fuzz)
Begins with an experimental instrumental that, like many tracks of this type, is heavy on atmosphere but devoid of tune. Regular Aq readers will know I really don't dig this sort of thing. Fortunately the rest of the album says much more about what Caligari are capable of. Their overall sound is on the darker side of pop, but the individual songs integrate elements of various styles, eg janglepop, noisepop, post-punk and psychedelia. Riding Low This Time is the poppiest song here and is the one that stands out the most for me. Close runners-up include Solitude and What You Hide. This isn't to say these are the only good songs here; the first track is too tuneless for my taste, but the rest of the album is worth a listen. Info from rintrah2001@yahoo.com

MICROMARS Metro CD (S.H.A.D.O.)
Retro-futurist electronic pop, where the stylish and sophisticated meets the kitsch and twee. Across the album you'll hear elements of easy listening, 60s film music, bossanova and disco, but overall it still sounds very indiepoppy. Why Didn't My Parents Buy Me A Casio and She's Into Cha Cha Cha are two of the titles here that will give you a big clue as to what the music sounds like. After the eleven songs that make up the main album, there are three remixes of two of my favourite songs from the album - Why Didn't My Parents Buy Me A Casio is remixed by Her Space Holiday, and there are two versions of Thermoluminescent, one remixed by Valvola & Astro Black Stereo and the other by Safari Ari. All these versions are dancier than the originals. This album is a lot of fun - happy go lucky music that brought a smile to my face. shado@dada.it

EMETREX Metacomet CD (Infur)
The band includes Rick Lescault who used to be in Wheat. Their music is indie-rock meets modern psychedelia - it's off-centre but not totally weird. They're doing a similar thing to Grandaddy, but are perhaps a touch more psychedelic. Info from seriously.groovy@virgin.net

BIG FRESH Yes, Nice, Please, Thanks CD
The album begins with an analogue synth based instrumental, but this doesn't appear to be typical of the band. Some of what follows is psych-pop with orchestrated bits, which would sound very much at home on the Elephant 6 label. Various bands from that label spring to mind when listening to this; they also sound reminiscent of The Beatles during their more conventional moments, and some of their quirkier stuff is similar to The Creams. There's also some completely crazy stuff like Modern Woman, which is one of those prog-pop-vaudeville-punk things, like Mad Uncle Jane and similar bands. Tiger Woods starts as a synth instrumental that would probably please the post-rock crowd, but when the vocals come in, it changes into quirky psych-pop. They also do a couple of slick easy listening numbers, No Guarantees and Lost And Found. The overall mood of 2199 sounds like it's from a musical, the subject being visitors from outer space. Jesus Christ is another quirky, vaudeville-esque track. Despite the occasional Beatles-ish and easy listening moments, most of this varied album is pretty high up on the wackiness scale. No contact info for the band, but this CD came to me via Jarmusic so they should be able to tell you more - jarmusic@t-online.de

TRESPASSERS W Vlucht Over Den Haag CD (Snowdonia)
Trespassers W's Flight Over The Hague was a series of artforms, including music, recitation and dance, performed at the Korzo Theatre, The Hague. This is the CD version of those performances, which includes 22 tracks, both songs and recitations set to music or soundscapes. These are all in Dutch, but if you don't speak Dutch you can read the English translations in the accompanying booklet. You may know the English versions of some of these songs from past Trespassers W releases. As for the music itself, it's not easy to describe in just one or two words. It doesn't easily fit into any pigeonhole as it mixes together various styles, eg musicals, light opera, prog, janglepop, classical, 50s popular music, traditional folk, jazz, acapella, film music and more, all with a very artistic feel. A real break from the norm. Band info - trespassersw@hotmail.com Label info - snowdonia@ctonline.it

TRESPASSERS W Cover Collection 10" (Pink Lemon)
7 track mini-album, which as the title suggests, is a collection of cover versions. But banish all thoughts of those bands you get down your local pub, playing note-for-note replicas of famous songs, cos the audience they're aimed at wants songs they know. This is Trespassers W, remember, who are a very original band. Although the songs here aren't theirs, the interpretations and arrangements certainly are. There are a couple of songs here that I don't know, but I doubt they sound anything like the originals cos the other stuff here has been pretty much reinvented.
Trespassers W make The Ramones' Blitzkrieg Bop into an almost folk song, having banjo as its main instrument, and slowed down to about half the speed. There's a noise in the background like air blowing through a tube, then processed by some sort of studio box-of-tricks. The sleeve identifies this noise as a vacuum cleaner, but it isn't immediately recognisable as one. The next track is Salvation Army Citadel - the original isn't known to me, but this interpretation has vaudeville overtones. I don't know the original version of Le Rouge Et Le Noir either, but this version is sleazy and jazz-tinged. The Abba song The Day Before You Came is recited as a poem, with a background noise that sounds a bit like a broom being swept across the floor, but is listed on the sleeve as 'jacket shuffle'.
Song From Under The Floorboards, as performed by Trespassers W, comes across like contemporary folk with a slightly proggy synth. Syd Barrett's Effervescing Elephant is next, again read out poetry style, complete with elephant noises. The Syd Barrett connection continues in the final track which is Television Personalities' I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives, although TW have transformed it into I Know Where Paul Ricketts Lives, and sing it in Dutch. Band info from trespassersw@hotmail.com Label info from ralf_friel@ferrostaal.com

P.A.I.N. Our Universe Commences Here CD (Iron Man)
Dub and ska aren't genres I've explored much as the bits I've heard mostly haven't grabbed me. This band, whose name stands for Propaganda And Information Network, mix these styles with punk, producing an effective result, much more impressive and individualistic than most ska-punk bands I've heard. P.A.I.N. are a very angry band who have a lot to say. Their philosophy is basically anti-police (or anti-current laws), anti-mainstream politics, pro-cannabis, pro-environmental protection. The inside of the cover shows a massive festival where punks, hippies, New Age traveller types, Rastas, trendies, rockers and people in costumes/masks are all gathering together, some smoking spliffs, some drinking, all enjoying the party atmosphere. Flags proclaim peace, anarchy and pro-cannabis. A band whose lyrics make you think, and who are sure to upset the moralistic establishment. Info from info@ironmanrecords.co.uk

LESS "...And I'll See You Never Work Again" Taunted Florence CD (Iron Man)
Less are described as tuneful hardcore with ska and jazz elements. If I hadn't have been sent this, it's probably something I'd have ignored, as I generally hate hardcore and am indifferent to most ska and jazz. However, Iron Man have done it again and released a CD that has elements of styles I'm not normally into, but which I actually like. There's not much jazz on here, and only some tracks have a ska influence, which leaves hardcore, but Less definitely don't sound like a hardcore-by-numbers band. Although the music is noisy and brutal, it's still melodic, and there's quite an off-centre feel to the overall sound. The singer from Less is also in P.A.I.N., and like that band there's a strong political theme to the lyrics. Less are also a band with a sense of humour, judging by the cover of this, which shows Florence from The Magic Roundabout wielding a bloodstained baseball bat, having beaten up Zippy, George and Bungle from Rainbow... info@ironmanrecords.co.uk

DRESSY BESSY Pink Hearts Yellow Moons CD (Track & Field)
This Apples In Stereo related band make brilliant fuzzpop with 60s pop and 70s powerpop influences, as well as a 50s teenybopper pop influence that's most obvious on Jenny Come On, but most of it's more likely to appeal to fans of the 80s cutie scene than those into any 50s, 60s or 70s music. As with most other cutie bands, this is pretty sugary and twee, but it's not excessively so. As well as the Apples In Stereo connection (John Hill is a permanent member of the band, Hilarie Sidney is a guest backing vocalist, and Robert Schneider is engineer/mixer) there also seems to be a Minders connection - Big Vacation is co-written by an M Leaper, who I assume is Martyn Leaper from The Minders. This is very catchy, bouncy music that's well worth a listen. Unfortunately though, the hidden track at the end is a letdown (as most hidden tracks are) - it's just some laughter. They should have just stuck to the songs, which are truly excellent. info@trackandfield.org.uk

VARIOUS Sonic Somnolence CDR (Evelyn)
Streetlightunit's Another Honeyed Evening is melodic post-rock interspersed with added vinyl crackling and telephone conversations. Amberlamp's Clicheshit is melodic experimentation with a dance beat. Karina ESP have two tracks up next - Sunlight II is a drone/post-rock instrumental with added noise that gives it quite a harsh feel. Underwater II is my favourite track of the two, a dreamlike soundscape that proves that Karina ESP are continuing to be one of the more listenable bands of this type, to my ears at least. Not so keen on Trademark TM's Cosmo which is a tuneless row, then a pause, then even more of a racket. Nixxos Lexxos' Salt is next, rather atonal drone stuff that drags on and becomes pretty boring. Drone only works well for me if there's some semblance of harmony, not when it's dissonant like this.
Trademark TM are back next with Root Dub which is the sort of experimentation that's based more on rhythm than melody. Arabella's Parade make lots of noise with some talking in the background on Memory Lapsed. Nixxos Lexxos return with the curiously titled Writing A Cheque With Imaginary Numbers To Someone Who Doesn't Care. This is also drone, and while it has a touch more atmosphere than their previous track, it's still rather long and repetitive. Arabella's Parade's I Love You Too features a repeated voice saying 'I love you' and some discordant violin. Amberlamp's Port is a series of seemingly random notes played electronically, with a techno beat, then some atmospheric droning, then some more random electro-noise. Finally there's Streetlightunit again with Dusk Is In The Street, which is a welcome relief after all that noise. There is a noisy guitar in this but it's played with an atmospheric effect rather than a discordant one, and the overall piece is very tuneful. It's the sort of post-rock that's kind of like instrumental indiepop.
So, basically a mixture of cacophonous noise and pleasing, relaxing post-rock. If only there was more of the second category though. All tracks are exclusive to this release - for more info email evelynrecords@yahoo.co.uk

AMY X NEUBURG & MEN Sports! Chips! Booty! CD (Racer)
This band are described as 'avant cabaret'. They mix vaudeville, proggy time signatures, and touches of experimentation and jazz, resulting in a very original sound. The originality is added to by their choice of instruments, which include MIDI mallets, Chapman stick and a motion sensor instrument known as Lightning. Amy X Neuburg has a very wide voice range and can sound operatic at times (like in parts of I Know You, The Shower Song and Baby). The songs are extremely well written and in many cases, very catchy - just listen to Big Barbecue or Bison Bison Bison, and if you don't get them running round your brain I'd be very surprised! There's no shortage of humour in the lyrics, but this is far too good to be just written off as joke/novelty music. Label info - racer@racerrecords.com Band info - info@isproductions.com

HERB HEINZ Failure CD (IS)
Herb Heinz is one of the Men, as in Amy X Neuburg & Men. His solo music is equally innovative as AXN & Men, but mostly in a different style. Some of this is dark, eerie electropop, but different to the dark electropop goths go for, and other tracks are more proggy, mostly the darker/heavier side of prog, with a strongly experimental feel. Amy X Neuburg sings on five of the songs here. She contributes operatic backing vocals to False Images, and sings part of Beautiful Thing, a prog-jazz track with lots of changey bits, and part of the epic prog track Song of Songs. Good inventive dark music that shows that not all dark music has to be a goth thing. info@isproductions.com

VARIOUS Abuse Your Friends volume 3 CD (Abuse)
Compiled by the people behind Abuse fanzine, the Abuse Your Friends comps have a fanzine-type philosophy and exist to "showcase new/unsigned/ignored ace bands/music that Joe Public can purchase in the record shops at a very cheap price". This one features tuneful punky powerpop from The Sunset Sound (ex-Gel/Period Pains), a noisepop song called I Like Drugs by Brother Eye (produced by David Fridmann), heavy sleazy rock from Sunlounger, punkpop from Inimenter, indierock from Drowned, hardcore with ska and melodic punk bits from Five Knuckle Shuffle, noisepop with changey bits from Me & The Dragon, catchy powerpop from Identity #1, indiepop with noisy bits and piano-y bits and lyrics about a 12 Year Old Tart from The Pin Ups (I think this is the first time I've heard this band although I've read stuff about them for years. They're always described as punk, but this particular song is more pop I'd say), indiepop meets rock from The Pointless? Fanatics, indiepop from Vyvyan, punky noisepop with a commercial pop influence from Venus In Furs, quirky punkpop from The Kitchen (featuring Amanda from Bis and Ryan from Discount), an unusual track from Shortwave which is a mixture of quirky punkpop with talky vocals like James Call or Martoc, and almost commercial female fronted pop, weird jokey country with kazoo from Monkey Bob, experimental rock from Ex-Girl, a post-rock instrumental from Moonkat, electronic stuff from DJ Downfall and dance music with Ali G samples from Girls With Beards.
There's only about three songs here that don't grab me, the rest is well worth a listen. If you like noisepop, punkpop, indierock and quirky stuff, check it out! Costs £6.50 (UK), £8 (Europe) or $12 (rest of world) inc postage, payment to Abuse Ltd. Abuse, PO Box 2168, Reading, Berks RG1 7FN, UK. They're always looking for new bands so contact them if you're interested in being on the next comp. They can be emailed at abuse@cybersales.co.uk

RIVERTUBES Force Field CDR (self released)
Rivertubes are a lo-fi (but not too lo-fi), self-taught band who usually play indiepop with folky and quirky bits here and there. They also have some quirky indie-rock (My Bell), off-centre instrumentalism (Iron Horse Socks) and out-and-out experimentation (Crisp). They're dead good at all these styles - there's not a dud track on here. Highly recommended for fans of DIY music. Info from davekiml@attbi.com

VARIOUS The In Crowd CD (RPM)
Mod/R&B/Beat compilation featuring tracks from 1964 to 1967. Features, amongst others, The Yardbirds, Four + 1, The Artwoods, The Action, The Untamed, Manish Boys, A Wild Uncertainty, The Rocking Vickers, John's Children, Rupert & The Red Devils, Brian Auger & The Trinity, and my overall favourites, the excellent I'm Rowed Out by The Eyes, and Mud In Your Eye by Les Fleur Des Lys. A good introduction to this scene. Info from infonet@cherryred.co.uk or info.rpm@ntlworld.com

McCARTHY That's All Very Well But... CD (Cherry Red)
Best of CD from the band Tim Gane from Stereolab was originally in. Don't expect the music to be similar to Stereolab though. I was aware they played indiepop but anyone not knowing would be forgiven for expecting (due to many of the song titles) a particularly loud and aggressive variety of punk. Their message is political/angry - as seen in titles such as Should the Bible Be Banned, An MP Speaks, We Are All Bourgeois Now, Kill Kill Kill Kill, I'm Not A Patriot But..., etc. Practically every song has a left wing political theme, usually with ironic/sarcastic lyrics. The political anger seems a bit incongruous when set to unaggressive mid-80s janglepop, but at least they're singing about what they believe in and not doing the usual unrequited love thing just because this is what indiepop is 'supposed' to be about. Apart from the indiepop-meets-goth track, From the Damned, musically this is very 80s, jangly, melodic indiepop, almost twee at times but with an extra political kick that stops them from being classed as just another cutie band. infonet@cherryred.co.uk

MOTHER GOOSE Junior Magic CD (Soda)
This band started off on Blast First, making typically Blast First noise. Then they appeared on a number of smaller indies and even tape labels, mine included, making less brutal but still noisy music, usually a particularly quirky kind of noisepop. They then got snapped up by Seriously Groovy offshoot Soda, who released a couple of EPs containing some fantastic, crazed, madcap noisepop alongside some more tame but still great songs of the type people today class as 'slowcore'. They now have a full length album packed full of quirkiness and creativity. Songs range from angular noisiness like Modest Dreamer to atmospheric melodic pop like Village (which was previously released as a single). Some stuff here is very discordant but tracks like Girly Magazine make up for their barely-there melody by having an adventurous and unusual atmosphere plus lots of power and energy. This album isn't quite as mindblowing as Mother Goose's earlier CD, Little Richard, but Mother Goose are still a band well worth listening out for. This is truly individualistic music made by a band who are clearly not content with just following the crowd. seriously.groovy@virgin.net

THEORY OF EVERYTHING The Failure of Arithmetic CD (Addison)
Sophisticated, intelligent noisepop-meets-indierock, with the occasional falsetto vocal. Songs such as Fear of Flying change moods and structures, having a sense of experimentation whilst still being very accessible. Why Don't You Breathe is melodic indierock but with a difference, as it's tinged with hints of jazz and easy listening. Treacle turns up the volume, having a rather grungey feel at times, but again, they throw bits of jazz and easy listening into the blender, as well as an ending that wouldn't be out of place in a post-rock track. Sleepyhead is an atmospheric song with an electronic (but not dancey) beat and spacey synth. Then there's some wailing guitar and impassioned screams of 'Wake up!', before ending with the sound of a ringing alarm clock. Some other songs, such as The Impostor are in a more conventional indierock vein, but conventional doesn't equal boring in this case. A band that deserve to be, and easily could be, huge. Whilst there are songs that genre-hop a bit, the overall atmosphere isn't so weird that it will only appeal to a small audience. hello@theonlytheory.com

VARIOUS Woosh! CD (Little Teddy)
The Little Teddy 10th anniversary CD, featuring 25 tracks released between 1991 and 2001, most of which haven't appeared on CD before. Includes a mixture of powerpop, quirky pop, indiepop, mod, garage, surf, punk, singer-songwriter pop (but not the mainstream sort) and European influenced jazzy easy listening stuff. There's a greater emphasis on indiepop, quirkpop and mod. Bands are Moto, Arne Hansen & the Guitarspellers, The Bartlebees, This Happy Breed!, The Blind Bats, Melvyn & the Smartys, Direct Hits, Prime Movers, Mickey & the Masonics, Cee Bee Beaumont, Armitage Shanks, The Groovy Metal Babies, Tullycraft, McTells, TV Personalities, The Hanshalf Trio, The Mad Scene, The Silly Pillows, The Creams, Yukio Yung, Celest, Kickstand, Franklin Bruno, Sexton Ming and The Cannanes. A good introduction to this label. littleteddy@mnet-online.de

MELOCHROME Stay A Little Longer CD (Loose Thread)
I found out about this band from a review in Vendetta zine which compared them to The Sea Urchins and The Field Mice. I respect Vendetta's opinions so got in touch with the band, and I'm glad I did. There certainly are shades of those bands in Melochrome's sound on occasions, although it's a more modern interpretation of the classic indiepop style. Seasonlong is melancholic indiepop, sounding like how The (early) Field Mice might sound if they were making records now instead of the mid 80s. Summer Jens is faster and noisier, with a melody that sounds like a cross between Pristine Christine-era Sea Urchins and a more upbeat Field Mice. The rest of the album continues with a mixture of melancholic and more upbeat indiepop (more of the former than the latter), sometimes using strings, horns and lapsteel, which give the songs a very non-80s feel. There's also Aqueduct, a laid back and mellow instrumental with analogue synths and an almost sitar-like guitar. The noises/effects in some of the songs are more reminiscent of something you'd hear in a dreampop, spacerock or post-rock number, than any early Sarah band. Late Nights is a perfect example of old-style sombre pop mixed up with trumpet, cello and spacey synth. Basically Melochrome bring the classic indiepop sound up to date with sophisticated arrangements and instruments not normally associated with this style. info@loosethread.com

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