Rock/pop

The latest releases reviewed

ROONEY Calling the World  Cherry Tree/Geffen ***

Every band wants to write a melody that sticks and a chorus that catches you right in the throat, but there are dangers for those who dabble in the dark art of pop immediacy. Here's an LA quartet who come across as America's answer to The Feeling, but who too often fall into the TV-friendly rut of The Rembrandts. On the title track, for instance, the band trundle along nicely, getting into a most pleasurable pop groove, then spoil it all with a trucker's gear-shift, that climactic key- change so beloved of Westlife and Josh Groban. After that, it's hard to listen to such singalong tunes as I Should've Been After You, Are You Afraid?, Tell Me Soon and the current single, When Did Your Heart Go Missing? without wondering when the song is going to take a sudden detour down cheesy boulevard. www.rooney-band.com KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: When Did Your Heart Go Missing? I Should've Been After You

VARIOUS A Kind of Awe and Reverence and Wonder Twisted Nerve ****

The Manchester label set up by Badly Drawn Boy is still in business, but the sounds you'll hear from it these days are a whole lot different. The label is now marshalled by eclectic DJ and Finders Keepers label honcho Andy Votel, and this sampler is proof that his predilection for progged-out folk and psychedeleic flourishes of every hue now constitute the word according to Twisted Nerve. Those who've recently fallen under the spell of Voice of the Seven Woods will find much to cheer on this album. 808 Stater Graham Massey's sideproject Toolshed leads off, thundering down a Balkan highway with brassy, trippy horns a-blowing on every side. There's also much to admire in the beautiful folk tones of Magpahi, the simple bluesy purr of Liftmen, and Voice of the Seven Woods. Few of these acts have form, but that's sure to change. www.twistednerve.co.uk JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Magphai, To Sing with Joy from Out a Sorrowing Heart; Toolshed, I Rooster II

DECLAN O'ROURKE Big Bad Beautiful World N4 Records **** 

Three years on and Declan O'Rourke continues to burrow deep beneath the surface with songs that belie his relative youth and whisper of a sensibility that's been around the block more than once. That belly-deep voice finds its perfect foil in Brian Byrne's lush orchestral arrangements, and his minuscule lyrical curveballs (such as those lurking in Just to Be Friends) recall the sublime storytelling trickery of Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. What really sets O'Rourke apart, though, is his philosophical reflections: thought-provoking insights that plant a great big question mark over everything he does. Silly Days, with its sweeping cinematic reach, is O'Rourke's latest spellbinding calling card, once again channelling matters celestial to make sense of the terrestrial. A slow burner with a long life programmed in its DNA. www.declanorourke.com SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Silly Days, Just to Be Friends