Latest releases reviewed

Eugene Hutz and his nine-strong band of Ukranian, Israeli, Russian and American gypsy punk rockers made a splash last year with their Start Wearing Purple anthem. Thanks to that tune's success and some fantastically wayward live shows, the band's soundclash of punk, metal and Balkan folk finally found a modicum of mainstream traction. Super Taranta!,their fifth album, provides several examples of a band valiantly standing out in the most day-glo manner possible. Producer Victor Van Vugt perfectly catches the band's feverish energy and rough-and-tumble approach to choruses. While their debts to The Clash, Manu Chao, The Pogues and Les Negresses Vertes are clear, the new album is as much about the politics of multi-cultural partying as it is about devilish, vibrant music for moshpits and muddy festivals. www.gogolbordello.com - Jim Carroll

Download tracks: Super Taranta!, My Strange Uncles from Abroad

New York city native Thomas Truax has been out and about for several years now, making his presence felt in Ireland through support slots with Duke Special. Like Mr Special, Truax shares a love of old instruments, but goes one step further by making his own: you'll hear of the Sister Spinster, the Stringaling and Hornicator before too long, believe me. As for the music on this, his third album, well, you might be hearing that also before the end of the summer. It is, however, something of an acquired taste: songs such as If We're Gonna Go Crazy, You Whistle While You Sleepand A Notice of Eviction to a Closet Full of Skeletonsare a little bit affected, a little bit overtly whimsical, a little bit awkward and a whole lot interesting. Think Leon Redbone crossed with Dr Who and you're getting there. www.thomastruax.com - Tony Clayton-Lea

Download tracks: If We're Gonna Go Crazy, You Whistle While You Sleep

A ruminant gestation is writ large on American-born, Louth-based singer-songwriter Lisa Hake's debut. Bearing an uncanny vocal resemblance to Aimee Mann, Hake's horizon is every bit as wide as Mann's, encompassing everything from domestic violence to medieval feminism ( Man-Made), from unrequited love ( Foxglove)to the human tragedy that was the Kursk submarine accident ( Faint of Heart). Hake's unforced style suggests a lifetime's exposure to everyone from Neil Young to Chrissie Hynde and Sandy Denny, yet her (at times predictable) arrangements would feel right at home in radio-friendly popdom. James Blennerhassett's double bass and cello add hugely to this atmospheric, if at times muddily produced debut. Music that'll seep deep into the veins given half a chance. www.lisahake.com- Siobhán Long

Download tracks: Riddle, Love Is What's Left

Out of the Ashes Solomon Music ***

Pity the rock band that hangs around for fame and fortune to be thrust upon their shoulders. These things may happen to Louth-based Eyeslave, but they seem the kind of band that prefer to take control of their destiny, go with the flow and take their chances. As we know, the world is a cruel place, but this album is so rooted in the right rock'n'roll moves it would be a pity if it didn't gain a foothold, let alone a leg-up on the international music ladder. There is no reinvention of the wheel here, no ground rules broken, but the quality and strength of the songs easily match the ambitions behind them. Eyeslave take as their template Foo Fighters, Feeder and other eminently granite-hard yet melodic rock bands; the result is a batch of accessible, credibly anthemic songs that ache for radio play and yearn for large venues. www.eyeslave.com- Tony Clayton-Lea

Download tracks: Older, Shine, Until Tomorrow

Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965-1970 Castle Music ***

In the latter half of the 1960s, it seemed that every young British person was hanging out in Hyde Park, smoking the grass and babbling gibberish about about "colours in the mind". No wonder recession quickly followed. But beneath the kaftans, sitars and patently silly lyrics about orange bicycles and green tambourines, there was a palpable intent to push out the sonic envelope. This four-CD box set moves from the sublime (The Fleur De Lys's Colours) to the ridiculous (Australian Playboys' woolly take on Baa Baa Black Sheep), tracking Brit psychedelia's evolution from the beat clubs to the be-ins, as it inevitably morphed into prog-rock. The compilers have avoided the obvious tunes such as Granny Takes a Tripand Rainbow Chaserin favour of some real underground nuggets by The Kinks, Marc Bolan, Incredible String Band, The Deviants and The Small Faces. After four CDs, though, you'll have a dose of psychedelic psickness. - Kevin Courtney