The latest releases reviewed.
THE DON RAMOS PLAYERS The Don Ramos Players Banquet **
Three guys from various parts of south-east England, each of whom has played in a zillion bands before, come together under an indie-hardcore-punk banner, and deliver an album of shouty, riffy tunes that fall into the cracks between Minutemen, Minor Threat and Stiff Little Fingers. The trio have been compared to punk icons Hot Water Music; there are certainly flashes of invention and individuality in such songs as Inkjets & Toners, Skyscrapers and Over, Under, Sideways, but the gruff, spluttering vocals of John Wright and the dull, thudding drums of Daniel Smith start to wear you down after a while. Additional shouting from local hardcore heroes Dave House and Mark Pavey add unnecessary plod. These songs should make you punch the air, but they just leave you drumming your fingers. www.hellodonramos.co.uk KEVIN COURTNEY
Download tracks: Contretemps, Inkjets & Toners
YOUNG GALAXY Young Galaxy Arts & Crafts ***
Another week, another perfectly formed release from Canada's Arts & Crafts label. Young Galaxy belong to a relatively incestuous music scene that has spawned the likes of Stars, Feist, American Analog Set, Broken Social Scene and many others. Young Galaxy's Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless are former members of Stars, but any similarity stops right there; the pair's roots are firmly planted in western Canada's frontier landscape, and the band's debut reflects just that in a series of elemental swoops and swipes aimed - specifically, it would seem - at relieving life's many moribund pressures. The music is aural Aurora Borealis: colourful, melting psych swirls this way and that, beautifully pitched, undulating and underpinned by blissful dual harmonies. Any resemblence to a holiday in Heaven is entirely deliberate. www.younggalaxy.com TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: The Sun's Coming up and My Plane's Going Down, The Alchemy Between Us, Embers
PHIL CHEVRON Songs From Bill's Dancehall B&J Music ***
Post-Radiators and pre-Pogues, Philip Chevron worked with the noted singer Agnes Bernelle, who in turn introduced him to the works of Brecht and Weill. "Something about their songs connected in my mind with the brash assertiveness of the punk milieu of my own musical world," Chevron writes in the sleeve notes to this re-release of an EP first recorded 25 years ago. As Chevron virtually Sham 69s his way through Song of Mandalay here, the connection between the songs of Brecht and Weill and the visceral energy of punk become very clear. All the five tracks here are from the 1929 show Happy End, they're all a delight, and they're all exuberantly performed by Chevron. Listening to this, you can hear where he got some of The Radiators' Ghostown from. It's just a shame this is so short. BRIAN BOYD
Download: Song of Mandalay, Bilbao Song
CARUSO The Watcher and the Comet Sad Opera Records ***
Shane Ó Fearghail, formerly of well-loved band The Brand, rejoins the Irish singer-songwriter club with Caruso's debut. The Watcher and the Comet is a simple, human affair built on solid lyrics, acoustic guitars and emotionally charged vocals. Occasionally one hears a plaintive street busker quality that's reminiscent of early Aslan; this works both for and against them: there's touching urgency but also a lingering sameness.
On the upside, such tracks as Jesus I Can Try and the slow- burning, Frames-like Satellite are beautifully layered and thoughtful, distinguishing Caruso from the crowd. If you enjoy surfing the aural wave of contemporary Irish talent (Dempsey, Rice, Casey, Hansard), try this lot on for size. www.myspace.com/carusoie DEANNA ORTIZ
Download Tracks: Jesus I Can Try, It's for the Birds, Satellite
