Some of the most brilliant music I've heard of late has come from Rainbow Quartz, a great label that specialises in the sort of music that some call powerpop and others call melodic rock - the type of ultra-tuneful music with a 60s pop sensibility but with more oomph than your average pop. Most of the bands on the label are in a similar style, but this is OK cos if you like something they've released, you know you can trust them to go on releasing music that's just as good. Whilst I get the impression that most bands on the label are probably influenced by practically every well known 60s band, they don't just regurgitate the 60s sound. It's as though they're bringing a sort of 60s vibe into music that, at the same time, sounds current.

The Fletcher Pratt have some 60s elements to their sound, like the riff in Million Miles, which could have been from a Beatles or Monkees song, but the band are perhaps more 70s, comparable to powerpop bands like The Knack (but then The Knack were formed with the intention of sounding like a 60s band). Their album Nine By Nine includes lots of really catchy songs like Electrocute, Spin Label, Living in the House and 16 Days, that are full of power and melody. Included on the album is a Long Medley, comprising three comparatively laid-back tracks, and finally Rings True, a more upbeat number with squalling guitars.

I've heard some older stuff by The Asteroid No. 4 and recall it being quite spacey. Their new album on Rainbow Quartz, King Richard's Collectibles, is nothing of the sort. The first two tracks are 60s style pop in a similar vein to the Lilys, but without the wacky bits. This isn't surprising as this album is co-produced by Kurt Heasley of said band. In the third song there's a change of direction, this is a more folkish track, complete with flute. The next track, Monday Morning Gloom, is well crafted pop with elements of 60s psychedelia. Other tracks contain elements of folk, psych-rock, psych-pop and just plain pop - a diverse collection of influences but it works well, the end result doesn't come out patchy. Plenty of great songs on offer here; particularly exciting for me are Apple Street, King Richard, Gotta Find A Better Way, Local Fashion Junky and the SUPERB Monday Morning Gloom, which is 60s tinged yet it also sounds startlingly NEW and ORIGINAL.

Following a handful of releases on other labels, The Grip Weeds have now signed to Rainbow Quartz. Recently released was their album Summer of a Thousand Years, which mixes together elements of psych-rock, mod and powerpop. Really melodic and powerful stuff that sounds totally at home on Rainbow Quartz. Songs like Save My Life, Rainy Day #3, Is It Showing, Window, Love's Lost On You, Changed and Love That Never Ends are simply amazing. In fact there's not a duff track on the whole album. It's not often I'll hear a song I think is similar to Delta, but Window comes pretty close. It's nothing like the Delta song of the same name, which was a noisyish, quirky affair. This has more in common with the mellower Delta songs, and the way the singer spreads the second syllable of 'Window' over three syllables particularly reminds me of James Roberts' singing. Also that riff in Changed could be out of an early Delta song. Overall though, The Grip Weeds aren't that much like Delta - they're more psychedelic than Delta for a start. This album also includes a cover of the Who song Melancholia, sung by Kristin Pinell, the band's lead guitarist (usually the two Reil brothers sing). It's encouraging that this band have a female lead guitarist, particularly one who can play this well. There are lots of women in bands playing other instruments, but it's rare to come across a woman playing lead guitar, I don't know why this is. Yep, this album is really, really great, having a 60s feel but updated for NOW. If you're into melodic, well written songs, you can't miss this.

Rainbow Quartz have recently reissued The Shazam's debut self-titled album, with four extra tracks. This band are usually total powerpop, but there's also the much more mellow song Deep Low, and the 70s-ish rock of Florida. So this album doesn't have as much variety as The Asteroid No. 4's or The Grip Weeds' albums, but if you're just looking for straightforward powerpop, you could do a lot worse than check this out. I do think The Shazam have done some better stuff since this debut though - I've heard a song of theirs called On The Airwaves, which is particularly great.

Give It To Her by Gallygows was originally out on Spanish label Houston Party Records, and has now been released in the UK/US on Rainbow Quartz. Most of the material on this album was produced by The Posies' Jon Auer, who also plays on the album. Tone Generator is melodic pop that then dissolves into a rock instrumental, then some electronic bleepery. Live At Budokan is rather Beatles-ish, Burning At The Stake is laid-back pop with occasional electronic bits, Naked has quite an old-style indiepop feel, and Senseless is fairly psychedelic, in a laid-back sort of way. Roller Disco Combo is pretty untypical of the band, a catchy synthpop track with a very 'fun' feel, almost like a novelty track! Although it's kitsch, it's actually good. Then a 'secret track' comes on after a huge gap. This is snippets of other songs on the album, interspersed with irritating noise, hardly worth the effort! Other songs on here are all tuneful pop with hints of the 60s, 70s and 80s. This band aren't as powerpoppy as most other bands on the label, but are just as melodic.

Also different from the usual Rainbow Quartz sound are Fraff, whose 9 track album Artrocker sells for £2.99, a reaction to the high prices CDs sell for in the UK, an 'attempt to release music for pocket money' as 'overpricing especially restricts access to new music'. This is very true - with new bands you might read a good review and be tempted to check out their records, but normally it's a lot of money to risk on a band you've not heard before. The title of this album comes from the fact that Fraff have been accused of being art rockers, but they don't actually like rock, a fact that's evident from the title of their first album, Resist The Call To Rock. The 'art' bit is accurate though, as Fraff are making music that's individual and different, not the samey, production-line stuff that's just out to make money and be fashionable. You Should Have Been Looking has a riff that sounds like it's from a traditional English folk song (or at least a 70s version of one), but this is the only folky thing about it. The song is warped and changey, containing bits of several genres, including some that probably haven't been invented yet. The guitar solo sounds suspiciously like, erm, that style Fraff are supposed to hate, but it's psychedelic rock rather than bland stadium music. The songs themselves are melodic and most could pass for indiepop if they had more straightforward backing music, but instead you get a melange of the psychey and spacey, the warped and angular and the experimental and jazzy, which is far from straightforward.

Returning to a sound that's more typical of the label is the new album from Cotton Mather, The Big Picture. Allegedly Oasis' favourite band, Cotton Mather are probably the best-known band on the label. They're forever getting compared to The Beatles, a comparison I don't think is entirely fair (another Rainbow Quartz band, Myracle Brah, are more like The Beatles than Cotton Mather are). Last of the Mohicans is powerpop with some chaotic noise near the end, then what sounds like a wooden flute being played in a random fashion. Marathon Man begins as an acoustic song with some ethereal psychedelic noise in the background, then noisy psych-rock guitar bursts in. Next is a version of Baby Freeze Queen, a song that previously appeared on their mini-album Hotel Baltimore. The Beatles comparison is valid when talking about this track, and Pine Box Builder, but I'm not so sure it's a relevant comparison for the rest of the album, most of which seems more influenced by powerpop and heavy psych-rock. Monterrey Honey is almost like a 50s or early 60s easy listening song, something I'd usually find pretty bland, but this song is enjoyable, as is the rest of the album.

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