Helicopter Girl: How To Steal The World (Instant Karma)
Jackie Joyce is the eponymous whirlybird, and though her debut album may not steal the world, it will certainly beguile quite a few of its citizens. A lithe, exotic specimen of Scots-Ghanaian parentage, Joyce has "superstar" written all over her leopardskin catsuit, and her feline voice (reminiscent of Portishead's Beth Gibbons or Moloko's Roisin Murphy) gives a claw-sharp edge to songs like Escape Cloud, Individual and Subliminal Punk. A mix of slinky beats, scratchy acoustic guitars and inventive programming add to the overall appeal, making this a sure-fire coffee table classic. Helicopter Girl has already been a hit on the web, featuring in the Peoplesound.com charts, but now that she's been let loose on the real world, expect the fur to fly.
Coldplay: Parachutes (Parlophone)
The current Britpop crop is cluttered with weedy alt.rockers and Radiohead wannabes, so the arrival of Coldplay is a welcome breath of cool, calm air. If you've heard the current single, Yellow, you'll know there's more to Coldplay than reheated indie angst, and this album confirms that the young Londoners' passion is 4-real. It seems like ages since four musicians gelled together so organically (The Smiths come to mind) and it's been awhile since a young singer has drawn real emotion from his voice without resorting to anguished whining. Chris Morris has a voice which comes across with candid clarity, and his slightly posh inflections work to devastating advantage on songs like Don't Panic, Spies and High Speed. With an average age of 21, Coldplay have created a masterful, mature debut.
Sgt. Rock: Live The Dream (Wiiija)
Armed with an arsenal of breaks, beats and bleeps, Sgt. Rock comes thundering out of his Tooting bunker with dancefloor domination in mind. With one track entitled The Most Fantastic Thing You Ever Heard, you can surmise that the Sarge is not lacking in self-confidence, but the stripped-down house beats and filtered funk basslines of Supadickie, Yeah Word Party and the current single, We're In Heaven, rarely rise above the rank-and-file beat brigade. The problem lies in the military precision and mechanical execution of the Sarge's tactical techno assault - there's plenty here to shake your bootcamp to, but precious little to win over your soul. The big advantage with Sgt. Rock's straight-laced approach, however, is that it leaves lots of room for would-be remixers.
The Bloodhound Gang: Hooray For Boobies (Geffen)
These are the guys responsible for "the mammal song", which topped the Irish charts last month and made The Discovery Channel a household name. They're loud, they're foul-mouthed and they're proud, revelling in the scatalogical humour of their puerile lyrics. Songs like I Hope You Die, Yummy Down On This and Magnum Cum Nada should appeal to the naughty schoolboy who lurks behind our inner bike sheds, but they're hardly likely to hold our attention past post-adolescence. Led by the comic touch of singer Jimmy Pop, The Bloodhound Gang milk every double entendre for all it's worth (which isn't much), tossing in some cheesy Eurotrash disco into their hardcore and hip-hop pastiche, and coming up with the musical equivalent of a Farrelly Brothers comedy: fast, funny but ultimately dumb.
