Joe Pernice: Big Tobacco (Independent)

Summer's here (honest) and Joe Pernice has come along to help spread the sunshine. Which of those two statements holds some truth? The former, believe it or not. Pernice, in his second solo outing from the Pernice Brothers, looks at half-empty glasses once again but this time around the downside symphony is a highly attractive late-night cocktail of twisted regret and gothic imaginings. Pernice's name has been mentioned in the same sentence as Brian Wilson and Nick Drake, but the American, while never reaching the same heights, manages to forge a style which borrows from both. This features his whispered reflections over indie/countryish arrangements and big melodies swollen with the weight of the world. For light relief he offers the colourful ballad Bum Leg, but generally we rest our expectations on the sounds of intriguing songs such as Second Semester Lesbian or Prince Valium.

- Joe Breen

Vigilantes of Love: Audible Sigh (Compass)

I can't understand how I haven't bumped into the Vigilantes of Love before as this collection is their umpteenth but having made their acquaintance, I won't be as remiss in the future. Essentially a three-piece alt.country band, they are led by guitarist and chief songwriter Bill Mallonnee who co-produces with the excellent Buddy Miller (is this man capable of putting a foot wrong?). The Vigilantes lead with their chin. These guitar-soaked songs recall family and friends, the poor, and the dispossessed. Mallonnee infuses them with honest passion and serious mission and no little skill with solid support from the likes of Phil Madeira, Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller's wife, Julie. The sound is live, full of jangling guitar, bursting harmonica and a voice straining at the leash. A little predictable perhaps, but certainly worthy and rarely dull.

- Joe Breen