Rock/Pop

The latest CD releases reviewed

LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION Falling Off the Lavender Bridge Domino ***

Two years ago, Devonte Hynes was making big noises with Test Icicles. When the band finally disbanded

he made a confession: that he never wanted to be an art rocker and that his heart belonged to folk and country. With his new project, Lightspeed Champion (named for

a comic strip character he created in school), Hynes finally gets to scratch that musical itch. It's a revelation to see him effortlessly morph from pop punk stylist into a troubadour.

Falling Off the Lavender Bridgeis heavy on ballads, but any lovey dovey tendencies are countered with humour and arch commentary.

Saddle Creek's Mike Mogis produced the record in Omaha, backed by various members of Bright Eyes and Tilly and the Wall, which helps explain the anti-folk perfection of Galaxy of the Lost's and hazy opus of closer Midnight Surprise. www.lightspeedchampion.com - SINÉAD GLEESON

Download tracks: Galaxy of the Lost, Midnight Sunrise

BLACK MOUNTAIN In the Future Jagjaguwar ****

If Black Mountain were just another throwback to the classic underground rock of the late 1960s/ early 1970s, you'd smile, admire their chops and quickly move on.

But these five Vancouver musicians are easily worth second, third and fourth glances because they throw a lot more than retro shapes.

It's their ability to temper heavyweight epics with prog, blues and psychedelic asides that makes their second album such a blast.

Even when they're showing off with a 16-minute spacey wig-out (Bright Lights), you're wowed by the musicianship and power on display. Elsewhere, alongside the hirsute grooves and psych fringes, Stormy High works up a majestic head of steam and Queens Will Play has a ghostly, spooky undercurrent. Throughout, Black Mountain return again and again to the dark side to perfect their theories, themes and mantras.

Ambitious, confrontational and hugely atmospheric. www.blackmountainarmy.com -  JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Queens Will Play, Stormy High

THE MARS VOLTA The Bedlam in Goliath Universal ****

The fourth studio album from the Tex-Mex prog machine had a scary genesis: guitarist Omar Rodriguez- Lopez bought a ouija board for vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala.

The damn thing got medieval on them, sending out strange messages from beyond, causing mayhem in the studio, and generally putting a curse on the sessions.

The band considered abandoning the album, but instead buried the board and redoubled their recording efforts to counter the curse. They seem to have succeeded - Goliath is a rip-roaring burst of nu- prog that not only soundchecks Yes in their pomp and King Crimson at their most 21st-century schizoid, but also sucks death metal, math-rock, Tropicalia, jazz and post-grunge into its roiling vortex.

Whatever Cedric is banging on about on Aberinkula, Wax Simulacra and Soothsayer, he does it with the force of a man possessed, while Omar delivers a masterclass in breakneck guitar virtuosity. www.marsvolta.com - KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: Wax Simulacra, Tourniquet Man, Conjugal Burns

CLUB 8 The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming Fortuna Pop ****

A best-kept secret until now (albeit a best-kept secret with six albums), Club 8 and their slate of dreamy, melancholic Swedish pop is long overdue a rapturous reception.

Five years have passed since their last venture, but the fundamentals remain sound. Karolina Komstedt sings, Johan Angergård plays the instruments, and the songs are drop-dead gorgeous pop nuggets in the old-fashioned sense.

Club 8 have never hidden their affection for C86 indie's sensitivity and tweeness, but their hearts have usually also been in the groove.

Here, there are endless opportunities to swoon as Komstedt coos sweetly about the perils and anxieties that ensue when good love goes bad.

This time out, though, such tracks as Whatever You Want and Football Kids are hoisted on acoustic pop frames rather than electronic scaffolding, making this album even more delicate and tender than previous works. www.club-8.org - JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Whatever You Want, Football Kids

THE SECTION QUARTET Fuzzbox Decca  **

The upside: LA's Section (string) Quartet are virtuosos and, collectively, there's enough energy and vim to break away from their obvious classical training.

The downside: their speciality is covers of alternative music. Yes, another classical combo who feel it's oh-so- post-modern to tackle Radiohead and The Strokes - which it was about five years ago.

Radiohead have been through the reggae, lullaby and electronic music mill of covers, and even the band themselves must be sick of yet another "reinterpretation" of their work.

Here, old and new non-conformists are given a four- stringed makeover, from Bowie to Soundgarden, Led Zeppelin to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It's not a new idea, nor are the song choices original. While there's a certain competency to it, you have to wonder what the point is and who it's being aimed at. www.thesectionquartet.com - SINÉAD GLEESON

Download track: Paranoid Android