ROCK

BabyBird:"Ugly Beautiful"

Echo ECH CDII (71 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 2511

At the last count, Stephen Jones is said to have written more than 400 songs; and at least one of them, You're Gorgeous, has pierced the public's heart and stirred up a bit of a storm in a tank top. Ugly Beautiful is BabyBird's debut album proper, following a series of home recorded releases, and it's a charming, sometimes chilling collection of pop tunes, each one reflecting a different facet of Jones's dirt encrusted world view. The album mixes killer kitsch with kitchen sink psycho drama, adding in some acidic black humour just to stir up the blood a bit.

Candy Girl has a lascivious, fruity flavour, and Atomic Soda is spiked with icy irony. Jesus Is My Girlfriend mixes God lust with a mellow Black Grape groove, but I Didn't Want To Wake You Up swings ominously on a sliding guitar lick, as our protagonist tries to live with the consequences of his murderous factions. There's some dirty navel gazing in songs like 45 And Fat and Too Handsome To Be Homeless, and a mock William Burroughs tirade against the popular music market, of which Jones is now an integral part. And very welcome he is, too.

Space:"Spiders"

Gut Records GUTCDI (53 mins) Dial-a-track code: 2621

Liverpool band Space have a similarly bizarre lyrical bent as BabyBird, but their sound is more Beatles meets Spaghetti Western. The charm and arrogance is there in bucketloads, and it's backed up, by some original ideas and an absolutely bonkers outlook. The Fab Four might have dropped acid way back then, but nobody has invented a drug that could inspire such weird songs as Mr Psycho, Lovechild Of The Queen and Kill Me. Perhaps there were some household chemicals left lying around the house. The most recent single, Neighbourhood, introduces us to a cast of transvestites, serial killers and Saddam Hussein impersonators, all living in a street which would make Brookside Close seem quiet and peaceful. The two previous hits, Me And You Vs The World and Female Of The Species are here also, each one a deadly little love story which comes to a sticky end. There's always room in the bathtub for Space's creepy crawly style of sex, death and rock'n'roll.

Lightning Seeds: "Dizzy Heights"

Epic 486640 2 (43 mins)

Dial-A-Track Code: 2731

Ian Broudie hit the dizzy heights of terrace fame when, in collaboration with Baddiel and Skinner, he scored a Number One hit with last summer's soccer anthem, Three Lions. This album follows through with a dozen direct hit tunes, each one stuffed with heavenly hooks and melodies that fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Broudie can do this sort of thing in his sleep by now, but he avoids the soporific option, injecting his tunes with even more exuberance than before, and co writing some of the songs with Terry Hall (Imaginary Friends, What If. . . Like You Do), Nicky Wire from the Manic Street Preachers (Waiting For Today To Happen), and BabyBird's Stephen Jones (Sugar Coated Iceberg). The Beatles influenced descending chord sequences are all present and correct along with some bouncy Beach Boys vocals, but overall, Dizzy Heights sees the definitive Lightning Seeds sound taking flight.

Fine Young Cannibals: "The Finest"

Ffrr 828 854.2 (52 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 2841

So that's it, then - no more Cannibals, fine, young or otherwise. After spending a few years trying to concoct a follow up to The Raw And The Cooked, the trio have finally been taken off pop's menu, with only the current single, Flame, to rekindle the interest in their soulful beat sound. This collection will have to do as a replacement for the never to be new album from FYC, but since it contains such classics as She Drives Me Crazy, Johnny Come Home, Good Thing and I'm Not The Man I Used To Be, along with hit covers of Suspicious Minds and Ever Fallen In Love, there should be a few hungry people willing to take another bite.