Rock/Pop

Motley Crue: New Tattoo (Motley Records/Beyond)

Whoh, dudes! The Crue are back, as dirty, depraved and dumb as ever, and poodle-rockers everywhere will rejoice. The only thing most of us know about Motley Crue is that Pamela Anderson's hubby was the drummer, but America's cartoon metalheads were already notorious before Tommy and Pam made their legendary home movie. The bould Tommy now fronts his own bandue, but singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist Mick Mars are present and politically incorrect. The music is the usual cod-metal codswallop, with songs such as Hell On High Heels, Treat Me Like The Dog I Am, 1st Band On The Moon and Punched In The Teeth By Love throwing all the usual rock monster shapes, the most inspired thing being a cover of The Tubes' White Punks On Dope.

The Yo-Yo's: Uppers & Downers (Sub Pop)

These slick-haired rockers from the UK have been championed by Kerrang! and Metal Hammer, and have signed to Seattle label Sub Pop, the roster which brought us Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden - but they're punky rather than grungy, sounding like a collision between The Clash and the MC5. The Yo-Yo's take the heads-down, no-nonsense, headbanging boogie approach on songs such as 1,000 Miles From Me, Time Of Your Life and Out Of My Mind, mixing hard-rock riffs with raucous vocal harmonies until everything turns into a rock'n'roll riot. It's a solid combination of rough-edged guitar assault and catchy punk-pop melodies, but I suspect that such psychobilly anthems as Sunshine Girl and Out Of My Mind would come across better live.