LISBEE STAINTON: Never Quite An Angel.The London-based 21-year-old has done better than this somewhat twee folk pop crossover that becomes something of a trudge – and that’s not good. Feels like you’re in a fairy liquid advert halfway through.

MERETTO: A Method Of Urban Survival.An indie rock band that knows how to pack a guitar-searing punch as it sears its way into the consciousness even though the voice is a tad electro. At least it’s real.

BROKEN LINKS: Resisting Movement And The Almost Advisory.Buzz of angry-sounding bees heralds an EP that’s out to be edgy and menacing and they count the likes of Joy Division, Gary Numan and the Manic Street Preachers among their influences. They’ve captured an indie sound that’s their own – harsh bass, crying-in-the-wilderness vocals and guitars that shoot off into the stratosphere. And then there’s the creepy, eerie, haunting The Sea Inside that’s the stuff of nightmares.

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS: Hollywood.At the start seems unsure which tack it’s taking and then goes down the electro Toyah Wilcox avenue. Marina is part Greek, part Welsh – her voice sounds strained and one critic has hailed her as the new Kate Bush. Makes you wonder if he’s actually heard the old one.

CHEW LIPS: Unicorn.The East London trio are exponents of the kind of synth that you feel could be done and dusted in a back bedroom. It wasn’t. It was recorded at Muttley Ranch Studios. Now you’re talking – Muttley and Dick Dastardly. Anyway, back to the Lips. The single just out, Play Together, is the kind of stuff that may have just crept into the lower echelons of the top 40 back in the 80s. Luckily a couple of other tracks trump it – most notably the simple, dreamy Too Much Talking – but too many come over as being too sparse.

FIRST AID KIT: The Big Black And The Blue.Two folky Swedish sisters aged 16 and 19 grab the attention with the swirling, hard-edged commercial acoustic humdinger Hard Believer – but sadly that’s as good as it gets by far. The happier, clappier stuff is really for country cousins only – and then it slowly starts to deteriorate into a dowdy soundscape. They are deep thinkers, judged and convicted by the line: “I saw your mother at the department store, she looked innocent like a stillborn.’’ Now that takes some imagination.