Rock/pop

The latest releases reviewed.

JOHN HAGGIS Back to Christiana Granny It's OK ***

Since his major-label adventures with Cork's Emperor of Icecream came to a close in the late 1990s, John Haggis has followed an interesting path. Now based in Waterford, he has helmed a rake of releases and compilations, overseen this summer's Irish Green Gathering fest in Co Wexford, and helped out on many Deise releases. Back to Christiana is an album with plenty of fizzle, a warm-hearted collection of songs with roots in several gene pools. Haggis's predilection for the more melodic side of shoegazing is still there, but there are also fiercely dramatic pop notes (The Game of Race Cars), psychedelic country notions (Dirt Road), and an abundance of good, strong ideas (Boy Solider & Invisible Man). Haggis and his collective should continue to flex their music-making muscles at every opportunity. www.myspace.com/reverendjohn haggis JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Boy Soldier & Invisible Man, The Game of Race Cars

NEIL YOUNG Chrome Dreams II Reprise ***

With his fourth album in as many years, Neil Young is a tireless role model for active age, and Chrome Dreams II sees the old groaner strapping on his Fender for a mixed bag of folksy tunes, country-rock ballads and extended rock jams. If you can't recall Chrome Dreams I, that's because the 1977 album was never released. Thirty years later, Young has dipped into his creative archives for this shiny new collection. He's joined by old bandmates, including pedal steel player Ben Keith, bassist Rick Rosas and Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina. The centerpiece is the 18-minute Ordinary People, with its pumping brass section and guitar work from another Crazy Horse cohort, Frank Sampedro. Its tale of drug barons and corporate fatcats overshadows the serviceable Shining Light, Beautiful Bluebird and Ever After. Spirit Road provides another highpoint, but the penultimate jam-out of No Hidden Path meanders off into nowheresville. www.neilyoung.com KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: Ordinary People, Spirit Road, Shining Light

THE URGES Psych Ward Stomping Ground ***

London has The Horrors, and here's Dublin's revenge: psyched-out zombie rocker complete with all the horrorshow ingredients: the devilishly swirling Farfisa organ, the bendy guitar twangs, the singer who howls like a teenage werewolf at a beach party. The Urges may lovingly recreate the primitive garage punk sound of the 1960s, exemplified by The Count Five, The Electric Prunes and the 13th Floor Elevators, but they avoid becoming too cartoon- like, sidestepping the schlock and focusing on the flipped-out mentalism of Read the Signs, You're Gonna Find Out, The 13th Floor and So Uptight. Recorded in glorious analogue in deepest Spain, Psych Ward is an 11-track shot of retro adrenaline and old-fashioned paranoia. They may be sucking on the rotting flesh of classic garage psychedelia, but at least The Urges have spawned something rivetingly unhinged. www.myspace.com/ theurges KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: It Ain't Right, You Don't Look So Good, The 13th Floor

SUNSET RUBDOWN Random Spirit Lover Jagjaguwar ****

Few indie rockers do prolificacy as well as Montreal's Spencer Krug. The singer-keyboardist seems to believe in spreading the love and has had a hand in such acts as Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, and Swan Lake. On the evidence of Random Spirit Lover, though, Krug may well find himself spending more time on Sunset Rubdown business. Of course, degrees and shades of Krug's handiwork with his other sweethearts can be spotted on this album, but only traces. Instead, his distinctive vocals and the band's endearing, occasionally ramshackle but always intriguing approach to sonic textures combine for hugely engaging sounds. Despite the occasional drift towards grandiose lyrical waffling, the wonders of Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns, Up on Your Leopard . . . and The Mending of the Gown make this one a keeper. www.sunsetrubdown.net JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns, Up on Your Leopard . . .