New music reviews

Jun 15 2009 By Katie Campling

CAROLINA LIAR: Show Me What I’m Looking For. It’s big, chiming and, at its peak, ridiculously accomplished. This is striving for pop perfection and at the production helm is Max Martin who penned hits that launched the careers of Pink, Britney Spears and Katy Perry.

TINY MASTERS OF TODAY: Pop Chart. Surreal bubblepunk pop from the Brooklyn band that’d fall over it was any more laid back.

ENTER SHIKARI: Juggernauts. The first single from their highly-anticipated second album, Common Dreads, that bafflingly switches from shouting intensity to atmospheric pop hardcore. Brilliantly challenging and will mug everything else in the charts.

KATY PERRY: Waking Up In Vegas. Full-on melodic deluge about a debauched night out in America’s answer to Blackpool. Bet Las Vegas doesn’t have candy floss.

THE XCERTS: Just Go Home. Pure, unadulterated Britpop multicoloured vibrancy. It slaps you around your face – and then comes back for lots more.

DUB PISTOLS: Rum And Coke. Those who like to dabble with reggae, soul and dub will be in heaven. Their fourth album and now at the peak of their powers with a collection of classy collaborators – Ashley Slater, Lindy Layton from Beats International, Gregory Isaacs and superstar DJ Justin Robertson. A euphoric mix of brass-laden reggae, bass-heavy soul, ska, electro funk, hip hop and a dash of latin. The cover of 80s hit I’m In Love is a prime example of inspirational reinvention.

THE TELEGRAPHS: We Were Ghosts. Recorded on a mountain side in Snowdonia with producer Dave Eringa who has knob-twiddled for a diverse bunch from Manic Street Preachers to Kylie Minogue. The Telegraphs are led by frontman Darcy Harrison and fiery redhead bassist Hattie Williams and this was recorded in the dying days of their relationship to add to the intensity of it all. It’s punchy, passionate power rock imbrued with a punk spirit, yet just about every track has its own twists and turns for dramatic effect.

VARIOUS: To Dad From Motown. Unashamedly gearing up for Father’s Day and doing it with classics such as Mercy Mercy Me, Treat Her Like A Lady, Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, I Second That Emotion, Get Ready, War, I Want You Back, Reach Out I’ll Be There, This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You), Cruisin’ and What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted.