This weeks rock and pop releases reviewed
CASS McCOMBS
Catacombs Domino★★★★
If ever there was a soundtrack for long, hot summer nights, this is it. Californian Cass McCombs finally hits the nail on the head with his fourth album, a collection of lingering acoustic songs that blend simplicity with just the right level of quirkiness. McCombs has been doing the rounds for some time, but this sounds like his "right here right now" album, in which the singer's erstwhile moodiness has been replaced with a smirk – even, in places, a smile. Part of the reason for this stems from his background: solitary travelling the US, playing open-mic nights. The album title, of course, is a pun on his surname but, perhaps inevitably, it reflects a particular mindset – the songs here are also a network of dark, cool places in which to take refuge. Even in the sun. www.cassmccombs.com TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: Dreams Come True Girl, Executioner's Song
THE LOW ANTHEM
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin Bella Union★★★★
They may hail from the smallest American state, but Rhode Island's The Low Anthem make music with a mighty big heart. After supporting Lisa Hannigan on her US tour earlier this year, the multi-instrumental trio's profile was boosted sufficiently to re-release their second album internationally. Oh My God, Charlie Darwinis effectively a folk album that embraces both soft, harmony-saturated lullabies ( Charlie Darwin, Cage the Songbird) and boisterous bar tunes (a cover of Tom Waits's Home I'll Never Be). Both musical strands are deftly tied together by a lyrical stream that's grubbily poetic and often comparable to Josh Ritter's better material. The understated moments are where The Low Anthem resonate loudest, but this is a gorgeously well-rounded affair. www.lowanthem.com LAUREN MURPHY
Download tracks: Charlie Darwin, Home I'll Never Be
TODDLA T
Skanky Skanky 1965★★★★
Sheffield has always produced a fine line in electronic sounds, and Tom Bell is one of the newer recruits in recent years. As Toddla T, the Steel City producer makes sprightly Dayglo party music that is high on fun, energy and diversity. That last attribute is key – it's hard to know just what Bell has left out. Skanky Skanky may be built according to a dancehall blueprint, but it also zips through bassline house, electro, hip-hop, dub, techy beeps and r'n'b in a manner not seen since Basement Jaxx were first lighting up south London with similar carnival carry-on. One of Bell's main tasks, then, is to keep all the giddiness on the right tracks, and he does so effectively and with vigour. The guest MCs (including Roots Manuva and Benjamin Zephaniah) may provide a lot of the wise and witty chatter, but it's Bell who makes sure the boom lasts for the whole affair. www.myspace.com/toddlat JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Safe, Goin' Off, Rice & Peas
PLACEBO
Battle For The Sun PIAS★★★★
You can't argue with Placebo's staying power. Even after 15 years, 10 million album sales and two drummers, rock's top androgynes refuse to exit stage left. It is quite shocking to report that their sixth studio album is not merely their freshest since 1998's Without You I'm Nothing, but their best yet. The break with Virgin Records seems to have rejuvenated Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal. Battle for the Sunfeels more like an evenly weighted singles collection than the tired, filler-laden effort we were entitled to expect. For sure, the boys still compose tunes to the sound of one guitar string plucking, while Molko's every lyric continues to be vetted for comprehensibility by a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language. And let's not kid ourselves that his twang would get him past the audition stages of Britain's Got Talent. But forgive them their trespasses. This album's a stonker. www.placeboworld.co.uk DARAGH DOWNES
Download tracks: Kitty Litter, Ashtray Heart
WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS
These Four Walls FatCat★★★
The humorously named Edinburghers were picked up on MySpace through their friendship with fellow Scots Frightened Rabbit, although their hybrid of post-punk and post-rock is several degrees more earnest. The quartet marry euphoric passion with surges of power on the opening track It's Thunder and It's Lightning, and incursions into funkier territory (the uber-danceable Roll Up Your Sleeves) and multi-sectioned rock anthems ( Keeping Warm) are equally appealing. Adam Thompson's accented vocals add authenticity, proving that WWPJ aren't simply content to emulate their American idols. It's their propensity to stick to the jaded quiet-intro-to-dramatic-climax formula, however, that makes These Four Wallsa very good debut, but not a great one. www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks LAUREN MURPHY
Download tracks: It's Thunder and It's Lightning, Roll Up Your Sleeves
NOUVELLE VAGUE
3 Peacefrog★★★★
On their first two albums, this French collective re-upholstered some of the finest moments of punk and new wave. The trick was simple: re-imagine the tunes in a bossa- nova style. The results were at times astounding – stripped of their abrasive snarls, the songs held up and became different but no-less beguiling entities. Thankfully, the format hasn't changed much. The breathy female vocals and the lounge-bar backing are used to great effect on songs such as Depeche Mode's Master and Servantand Talking Heads' Road to Nowhere. The band find new sonic nooks and crannies not evident on the originals. The only complaint is that their version of The Sex Pistols' God Save the Queendoesn't really work. But when they turn their attention to Violent Femmes' Blister in the Sun, they really play to their strengths. Warning: this is not a novelty record – it's a classic of accomplished bossa nova pop. BRIAN BOYD
Download tracks: Master and Servant, Blister in the Sun
