ROCK/POP

The latest releases reviewed

THE BLIZZARDS

Domino Effect

Universal

***

Over the past four years, Ireland's Blizzards have proven that assured, amusing but ultimately effective punk/pop isn't necessarily the preserve of the Americans. You could argue that their regular producer, Michael Beinhorn (who steered the band's sound on their debut album,

A Public Display of Affection, and who has also assisted along the way Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hole and Soundgarden), had a hand in defining the band's chirpy musical character. Yet you could counter-argue that no producer could work magic if the band weren't such diligent achievers and writers of very solid pop/rock.

The Blizzards' follow-up to their double platinum debut ploughs the same but different furrow; the songs are equal parts propulsive and poppy, occasionally prone to mistakes (the shards of faux-funk doesn't suit them), but overall as good as we have come to expect. Earth-shattering the music is not, but when it's this accomplished it doesn't need to be. TONY CLAYTON-LEA

Download tracks: Money Doesn't Buy you Class, Postcards

ROSE KEMP

Unholy Majesty

One Little Indian

****

Sometimes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; it just chooses to roll acres away. Rose Kemp's family tree is rooted in seminal British folk music (her parents are Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp of Steeleye Span) and Rose's first recordings were in the folk tradition.

For Unholy Majestyshe has swapped an acoustic guitar for an electric one and taken an altogether more goth-rock view of life.

Unencumbered by impenetrable lyrics, Kemp's extraordinary voice, similar to Amy Lee of Evanescence, commands the assembled parts like a circus master, whipping heavy rock guitar, massive drum breaks and vibrating chords into an exquisite unit.

Traces of Kate Bush, Sigur Rós and Massive Attack appear at intervals, and the result is an elemental album of undeniable barmyness, beauty and a bit of Black Sabbath - mental and magnificent. www.myspace.com/rosekemp  CLAIRE LOOBY

Download tracks: Saturday Night, Nature's Hymn, The Unholy

FRIENDLY FIRES

Friendly Fires

XL

***

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Friendly Fires live in some boho communal squat with various DFA types. Their debut sounds like something you'd hear pumping out of a sweaty New York basement, rather than music made in their parents' garage in St Alban's.

Others have tried with varying success (The Rapture do it well, Hot Chip not so much lately) to unite dance punk jerkiness and indie melodies. Friendly Fires aren't breaking any new ground on this turf, but they offer an alternative angle, thanks to a large current of funk coursing through these 10 tunes. On Boardis dancing and doesn't care who's asking; Photoboothpings between scratchy guitars and pulsing basslines.

The collective sonic picture is of heady house parties soundtracked by three guys who want to tell stories you can dance to. Count us in. www.wearefriendlyfires.com SINÉAD GLEESON

Download tracks: Jump in the Pool, On Board

THE GUGGENHEIM GROTTO

Happy the Man

Shellac

***

Inasmuch as The Guggenheim Grotto have never been able to write an original tune to save their lives, they've seemed cut from pretty much the same banal cloth as The Frames, Damien Rice and co. The release in May of a new single, Waking Up in America, suggested that recent Stateside publishing successes had led the Irish trio to sign a formal pact with the devil in the middle of some nondescript American highway.

But that dreadful song's surprise absence on the band's second album is the first of many reasons to throw out such a conclusion as premature and unfair.

Happy the Manplays it safe melodically, but this time round, The Guggis achieve a new, John McGahern kind of ordinariness: unspectacular, but gently and genuinely memorable. Give it a chance. www.guggenheimgrotto.com DARAGH DOWNES

Download tracks: The Girl with the Cards, The Dragon

VOLCANO!

Paperwork

Leaf

****

Where do you start with a band like Volcano? Attempts to box and label the Chicago three-piece will prove fruitless. Describing them as Muse in meltdown is a start, but what they've delivered with Paperworkis an even more elaborate and melodydriven follow-up to 2005's Beautiful Seizure.Weaving together strands of art-rock, noise-rock, math-rock and wilful experimentation, Paperworkcould easily fall into a pit of hifalutin' pretentiousness.

However, Aaron With's breakneck, shape-shifting vocals ensure there's never a dull moment (unravelling his astute lyrics on Fairy Taleand Slow Jamis well worth the effort). Drummer Sam Scranton also deserves praise; just when everything appears to be falling apart, his intricate rhythms pull it all back into shape with disarming ease.

This is eclectic and unruly but consistently engaging. On paper it shouldn't work, yet brilliantly, it does. www.volcanoisaband.com BRIAN KEANE

Download tracks: Tension Loop, Slow Jam, '78 Oil Crisis

FUJIYA & MIYAGI

Lightbulbs

Full Time Hobby

****

With Fujiya & Miyagi, the groove is truly endless. As on 2006's shimmering Transparent Thingsset, this time around the Brighton collective don't conceal their affection for Krautrock's driving momentum, but they do add some new spices to the blend.

Their lyrics, always wry and dry, are now even more refined and pointed, with Dishwasherand the title track prime examples of how vocalist David Best examines the mundane minutiae of domestic life.

The tracks themselves are craftily layered with subtle melodic touches to further enhance their dancefloor appeal. In other hands, F&M's sassy sounds, slightly ironic detachment and references to Lena Zavaroni and porcupines might become a mite trying after a while.

But their ability to keep the motor running through all this does pay off. www.myspace.com/fujiyaandmiyagi JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Knickerbocker, Uh