Joy

added irritating keyboard sound over the top.

I guess we’ll have to wait for the next Vines/Yeah Yeah Yeah/Hives/Darkness/Kings of Leon/whoever’s next up for their five minutes record for salvation then.

Visit www.thestrokes.com if you happen to have been living down a well for the past 2 years

>JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALEROS – COMA GIRL
Ah the eternal question – worthy tribute or barefaced cash-in? We seem to have been spared the usual deluge of best ofs and unreleased material that tends to follow the death of such an influential icon as Joe, and if the press release is to be believed (which, given the usual content of these things, probably shouldn’t) this was going to be released anyway, having been recorded in the months leading up to his sudden death, before being finished by the surviving members of The Mescaleros.

I’ve never really got into The Clash beyond the odd dance at the local indie disco to ‘London Calling’, and this seems to pretty much match Joe’s general output with The Mescaleros – fairly straightforward rock, with chugging guitars and his instantly recognisable vocals dragging what would otherwise be a fairly average song above the hordes of imitators that he ahs picked up over the years.

So, back to my original question then, and while this is by no means Joe’s best, or a vital addition to anyone but an ardent fan’s record collection, as these things go it’s thankfully lacking in syrupy sentiment, and obviously hasn’t been quickly tacked together to make a quick quid.

For more information, visit Hell Cat Records at www.hell-cat.com

>CHICKS ON SPEED - WE DON'T PLAY GUITARS
Multinational art/music/fashion icons COS return after a lengthy absence with a track that shows what The Macarena might have sounded like had it been the result of a collaboration between PiL and Kraftwerk. Keyboards and electronic percussion pulse around the Chick's laconic vocals, before Canadian frugmeister Peaches turns up for a quick cameo unleashing an axe frenzy of widdly soloing that Slash would be proud of.

Go to www.chicksonspeed.com and buy everything from their online shop

>THE BOXER REBELLION - WATERMELON
We like this. It's dirty like The Jesus & Mary Chain dressed as PJ Harvey. B-sides suck though.

>ATHLETE - YOU GOT THE STYLE
There are few things that depress me in the world of music as much as the Mercury Music Awards. Set up as the 'credible' alternative to the Brits, the formula for nomintaions always follows a depressingly similar pattern: A couple of established indie bands (Radiohead + Coldplay), a 'serious' r'n'b/urban artist (Dizzee Rascal), something folky (always Eliza Carthy), something ethnic (Nitin Sawney), and finally a new upcoming guitar band, which this year takes the eargratingly irritating form of Athlete.

If you've heard any of their work you'll know what to expect - chirpy, quirky tune, vaguely funky bassline, singer that sounds like he's attempting Coldplay at his local karaoke. I thought we'd wiped bands like this out after the Britpop cull.

>FIN - WAKING UP ON A SUNDAY
Now this is quite pleasant. Pretty tune, nice singer, shimmery guitar part over the top. It's hardly going to set your pulse racing, but at least they imitate Radiohead & Coldplay better than most.

>ENGERICA - TRICK OR TREAT
The last time I came across Engerica was supporting Fonda 500 & Mclusky in Brixton. They were abysmal - I'd been told pretty good things about them - The Junket meets Idlewild - but what we got was Green Day crossed with Placebo, all fronted by one of the most irritating 'performers' I've ever come across.

On record though, I can kind of see where they were coming from, 'My Demise' particularly sounding like a sped up version of the Pecadiloes. It's still a little raw around the edges, but a vast improvement on what I'd seen.

>TEN SPEED RACER - FIFTEEN
Not what I expected I must say - what with the name & cover art (ooh, pubic hair, how controversial), I was expecting soem kind of vaguely arty punk outfit (I never read press releases before listening to the CD, so I wasn't ready for the "gently layered vocal harmonies & textured riffs"). Instead we get Idlewild (new chimy guitars & heartfelt lyrics version rather than old jump up and down screaming your lungs out version) on radio friendly opener 'Fifteen', which is nice in the kind of way that doesn't make you switch to the next track, but doesn't really affect you in any way. Second track 'Cowboy President' is a wild west stompalong that raises the tempo & quality of this single immeasurably, before insufferably drippy ballad 'Was It A Moment?' takes both down to rock bottom.

Find more at www.redflagrecords.com

>THE BARBS - MASSIVE CRUSH
Woo yeah! B52s boy/girl vocals! Rogers Sisters beats! Electric Six riffs (without the lame arsed attempts at toilet humour)! Garage rock that for once doesn't take itself too seriously, but still remembers that it's the tunes that count. Buy this record now.

www.thebarbs.co.uk has more

>JANE'S ADDICTION - JUST BECAUSE
Just because Perry Farrell's vocals soar around the walls and low ceilings of my student flat like it's the Albert Hall.
Just because the guitars chime and rumble in all the right places.
Just because this does stadium rock better than Aerosmith ever did.
Just because at a difficult time in my life it bought a smile to my lips, even if just for a couple of minutes.
Just because the sleeve's a cool twirly kalaedoscopic thing which kept me amused while listening to the turgid shite of the Star Spangles' CD.
Just because... Just because.

Want more reasons? Go to www.janesaddiction.com

>THE GA GAS - BREAKING AMERICA
My my, is that a little anti-Bush sentiment I detect? Nice to see a band with the balls to come out with lines like "They're flying towards you, They're breaking America" (although I might be getting completely the wrong end of the stick). Anyway, as far as the music goes, it's pretty radio friendly - reasonable vocals, chiming guitar intro that doesn't sound a million miles away from the Jane's Addiction single, and a big chorus with a bit where all the instruments drop out leaving just the vocals. B-side 'Sex' then goes on to blatantly plagiarise Garbage's 'Queer', before mutating into the kind of stadium rock chant along that usually accompanies WWE wrestlers on their way into the ring.

www.thegagas.com for more

>BIKESHED - WE DON'T PLAY THOSE GAMES AROUND HERE
Not sure what kind of games it is they don't play, but the kind of games Bikeshed do play are cheaplyrecorded, fuzz-tinged space-punk disco games where everyone drinks cider and jumps up and down maniacally until they collapse thorugh exhaustion. These games take place in a land of flourescent mountains where Steve Lamacq is king, and the Evening Session is broadcast 24 hours a day on every single radio station; a land where space guns and toy megaphones are considered appropriate instrumentation, and enthusiasm and experimentation are the most important attributes of all good music. Don't know about you, but that sounds a lot more fun than hopscotch to me.

Join the game at www.hitchhiker61.co.uk

>BADWATER - BLACKLITE
Blacklite starts of as a thing of intricate, ethereal beauty; bass and chiming guitar intertwining to create an incandescent melody, before cranking up the volume for a proper rock chorus. Quite what happened after this point I'm not sure, as the next two tracks, 'Killing Me' & 'Bad H2O' serve up bland trad dad-rock at its least inspiring, before the irrideemably awful 'www.com' adds a touch of poorly worded technophobia to the insipid mix. Back to plan A chaps.

>TRIPLE PROCESS - ROYAL MONACO
'Royal Monaco' - makes you think of grand, pompous, orchestral parades doesn't it? Maybe a bit of classical, or at least something with a bit of austerity to it. What we get instead is indie rock with added bleepy bits, and a singer who seems torn between Morrissey and the bloke from Space, namechecking Joey Ramone & name dropping Sleater Kinney song titles, which is probably for the best.

http://tripleprocess.com has downloads of all these tracks & more