This week's Rock/Pop CDs reviewed

THE PHANTOM BAND
Checkmate Savage Chemikal Underground★★★★

The Phantom Band's debut album is a rare diamond in the rough. While many first albums are as perfectly pitched as this, few have the same vibrancy or determination to try out every toy in the shop. What's most laudable is that the Glasgow band's willingness to chop and change between electro-rock, straightahead indie, gloriously ambitious Americana and oddball Krautrock boogie works. Such unorthodoxy often results in a dog's dinner, but the Phantom Band's sure touch and awareness of the need for melodic pop glue makes this a thriller. The fact that a freaky sonic boom such as Left Hand Wavecan share a pew with the folky euphoria of Island, the uplifting classical cadence of Folk Song Oblivion and the sweeping, majestic experimentation of The Howlingmakes for an album that bursts with smart fervour. www.myspace.com/thephantombandpage  JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: The Howling, Left Hand Wave

MARNIE STERN
This is it And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That Kill Rock Stars ★★★★

There will be sparks. Marnie Stern is the axe-hero whose In Advance of the Broken Armdebut brought forth a chorus of "hurrahs" from the reviewing gallery in 2007 for its mixture of little-girl-lost vocals and heavyweight rock riffs. Album number two This Is It . . .continues Stern's adventures in the land of the shredders, albeit with tunes trumping over riffs this time around. That said, there's still plenty of finger-tapping hellfire and brimstone on show as Stern revs up and goes for broke again and again. Shea Stadium is a throat-ripper of a track, while Transformerand The Package Is Wrappedhave monstrous melodies that balance those moments when Stern seeks to become indie rock's Yngwie Malmsteen. Some day, all guitar solos will be as technicoloured as these. www.myspace.com/marniestern1 JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Shea Stadium, The Package Is Wrapped

VAN MORRISON
Astral Weeks: Live at Hollywood Bowl EMI ★★★★

On its release in 1968, Van Morrison's Astral Weeksbombed. Its largely improvised jazz-folk stylings and weird, mystic lyrics were simply too out of sync with prevailing moods and tastes. It took 31 years for the album to go gold, and it is now firmly established as one of the most enthralling and resonant albums of all time. Not having got much of a chance to air these songs live first time around, last November Morrison gathered together as many of the original musicians as possible for a live rendition at the Hollywood Bowl. The results are astounding: although the songs are played out of order, all concerned breathe new air into their interpretation, with Sweet Thingand Madame Georgeboth benefiting greatly from these new takes. Two non-album tracks, Listen To The Lionand Common Oneare also here as encores. A sublime offering for fans and newcomers alike. BRIAN BOYD

Download tracks: Sweet Thing, Madame George

MORIARTY
Gee Whiz But This is a Lonesome Town Naive Records★★

The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" works both ways. The name Moriarty might conjure up a bequiffed upstart intent on emulating his 1980s idol, or a group of pretentious academics who happen to make music on the side. In reality, this Franco-American quintet is neither. They may dress like curious characters from a 1930s bohemian theatre troupe, but theirs is an uncomplicated concoction of cabaret-style folk and blues. There are several attention-grabbing moments on this debut – most notably the intense Deep South-set Americana of Whiteman's Ballad– but the main defect is its monotonous sound, a feature that not even lead singer Rosemary Moriarty's Joan Baez-like quaver can alleviate. Ambitious, but ultimately very ordinary. www.moriartyland.com  LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks: Animals Can't Laugh, Whiteman's Ballad

WARREN ZEVON
Warren Zevon Asylum/Rhino Records★★★★★
The pace of life may provide little room for reflection, but the past can hold hidden or neglected riches. So take an hour or so to go back to 1976 and the official debut of Warren Zevon. The late American singer-songwriter (he died from cancer in 2003) had a turbulent lifestyle. His songs, sweeping in melody but brilliantly pared down in arrangement (thanks to Jackson
Browne's production), describe him navigating a decadent Los Angeles with wild abandon and a large helping of regret-filled romance. There is an openness, a vulnerability, about these songs that sets them apart. They also include two classics in his LA epic Desperados Under the Eavesand the addict's lament Carmelita, plus a host of other gems that manage to defy time's withering hand. This Rhino two-CD package includes a bunch of out-takes and alternates for the anoraks among us. www.rhino.com JOE BREEN
Download tracks: Carmelita, Poor Poor Pititful Me, Frank and Jesse James

THE FRAY
The Fray Epic★★
This Denver quartet did serious business with their debut album How To Save a Life, and the follow-up sees them on a mission to save the whole world from throwing itself off the top of a building. Led by piano-caressing singer Isaac Slade, whose vocal style blends one part Thom Yorke, two parts Gary Lightbody and a smidge of Chad Kroeger, The Fray do a neat line in super-sincere power-balladry, the music working its way up the emotional scale, and the lyrics totally understanding what you must be going through. The piano-centric sound conjures up unwelcome visions of Marc Cohn and Vanessa Carlton, but while Slade's piano-chord progressions are depressingly predictable, and the mid-tempo tone wearisomely uniform, tracks such as You Found Meand We Build Then We Breakshow that he's adept at building on a melodic theme. www.thefray.net KEVIN COURTNEY
Download tracks: You Found Me, Never Say Never

SKY LARKIN
The Golden Spike Wichita Recordings★★★★

It may be grim oop north but Sky Larkin are determined to contest that stereotype. The Leeds trio's debut is as far removed from their Yorkshire roots (and Mic Christopher's melancholic record of the same name) as is humanly possible, yet there's something inherently British about their female-fronted indie-pop. These tunes err on the side of brevity, yet the occasional swirl of discordance ensures that there's substance at their core, too. Perhaps that's due in part to producer John Goodmanson; having cleverly harnessed the wild, youthful exhuberance of Fight Like Apes in 2008, he applies the same logic to this top-notch collection. the result is an album of fizzy, carefree somes that are both ridiculously listenable and maddeningly catchy. www.weareskylarkin.com LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks:  Fossil I, Beeline, Keep Sakes