Merchants and Thieves Guardian Angels ***

The music business can be tough. It likes to discover new faces, lionise them, and, if they don't deliver to order, drop them. Them's the rules. Sandi Thom, a young Scottish singer- songwriter, got the full treatment a few years ago with a No 1 hit, I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair). Following a succession of underachieving releases, her record company pulled the plug. Now she's back with an earnest self-released third album, her newfound wisdom tinged with bitterness. But this rocking blues collection, pugnacious and sharp as it is, won't have record company execs crying over the one that got away. Anchored for the most part in a 1960s/1970s white blues band haze, Thom's songs lack the kind of melodic sparkle that could set them apart, the exceptions being the acoustic blues of Show No Concernand the rousing Belly of the Blues. See sandithom.com

Download tracks: Show No Concern, Belly of the Blues