Shuffle

Kevin Courtney's guide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB
Ice Cream
Modular
****

OK, so you've made love and listened to Death From Above - now you want a nice, cool, mint-flavoured Magnum. This London lot are the bomb and will give you all the sexy electro-disco beats you want. Get a lick of this at www.myspace.com/ newyoungponyclub.

THE TWANG
Either Way
B-Unique
****

Ouch - their name makes you wince, but these baggy Brummie boys are planning to pluck the indie crown from under Oasis's noses. Here's a baggy resurrection song, vocalist Phil Etheridge giving us the lowdown about looking at the bright side of life. Hear this future anthem on www.thetwang.co.uk.

HALVES
Halves EP
Hite
***

Here's a Dublin crowd who realise that if you're gonna do the post-rock Mogwai-Sigur Rós thing, then there's no point in doing it by halves. Halves go the whole 9.675 yards on this lavishly packaged and lush-sounding debut EP, going from ambient soundscapes to all-out aural assault on Burial on a Windfarm, Tony Hart's Revenge Theme and Take Exact Revenge. Hear the latter at www.myspace.com/ ahomeforhalves and go see 'em at Crawdaddy next Tuesday.

KAISER CHIEFS
Everything Is Average Nowadays
B-Unique
***

Reality TV, chav chic, footballer's wives and post-Britpop band with predictably catchy tunes - everything sure is pretty mediocre these days. Ricky and his troupe encapsulate the crushingly ordinary in a snappy three-minute soundbite. Listen at www.myspace.com/kaiserchiefs.

WILLY MASON
We Can Be Strong
Virgin
***

He may be a bit of a baby Arlo, but young William is fast maturing into a formidable force of a folkie nature. Okay, he's still got cringy lines like "chasing their tomorrows", but with a strong tune and guest vocal from Roseanne Cash, this will keep the campfires burning. Hear it on www.myspace.com/willymason.

COLM LYNCH
Two Bullets & A Gun
Universal
***

Watch out Glen and Damien - the new high priest of raggle taggle has got you in his crosshairs. Luckily, Colm doesn't actually have two bullets and a gun, but he does seem to have a direct line to the spirits of Dylan and Mike Scott. Download six tracks free from www.colmlynchmusic.com.