The latest releases reviewed
LAMBCHOP Damaged City Slang **
Revered far beyond their worth for quite some time now, Nashville's extreme and nominal alt.country ensemble Lambchop (governed by benign dictator Kurt Wagner) have been throwing the same ambient sonic shapes for at least three albums. The truth is, Wagner's clearly compulsive thing - minimalist and dolorous music sidling up to monotonously intoned, ostensibly abstract prose-like lyrics - has become virtually a caricature. Judging by the material here, it's unlikely that Wagner is planning to alter his modus operandi any time soon, and in fairness there are many thousands of people worldwide who wouldn't want him to. It's a pity, nonetheless, that such an innovator as Wagner is slowly but surely failing to see beyond his own creative parameters, and can't distinguish between tried and tested and plain old tired. www.lambchop.net Tony Clayton-Lea
THE IMMEDIATE In Towers and Clouds Fantastic Plastic ****
Immediacy is the operative word on the crackling debut from this Dublin band, who sound refreshingly unlike a Dublin band. Trying to pin down their influences isn't easy because the album moves like quicksilver through a dizzying range of ideas, and the band members all swap vocal and instrumental duties, making them even more elusive to easy categorisation. If you listen hard enough, you can detect a certain mod aesthetic in such songs as Don't You Ever and Stop and Remember, but it's filtered through a forward-looking songwriting lens which puts the music far beyond retro. Sometimes the band are so busy being inventive, they forget to put in a chorus, but songs such as Aspects, Big Sad Eyes, A Ghost in this House and Can't Stop Moving are packed with enough hooks to make up any deficit. The title track is a skyscraping climax to an album that rarely falls short of its own ambitions. www.theimmediate.tv Kevin Courtney
THE DEARS Gang of Losers V2 **
When The Dears' No Cities Left album appeared in 2004, the world thought they'd finally found a replacement for The Smiths. It's ironic, then, that as the band find themselves supporting Morrissey in Marley Park, their follow-up is as far from Mancunian angst as you can get. No act wants praise for sounding like an imitation of someone else, but Gang of Losers sounds like a different band, and it's not a good thing. Melody, such an integral part of their epic sound, is given a back seat in favour of rock-out predictability and there's a stale, samey whiff about things. Murray Lightburn's brawny vocals are a highlight, particularly on Ballad of Human Kindness, but much of the material doesn't afford it the opportunity it deserves. Perhaps the constantly changing line-up contributes to the overall inconsistency, but Gang of Losers is an off-form disappointment. www.thedears.org Sinéad Gleeson
PARIS HILTONParis Hilton Warner Bros **
It may surprise some that the celebrity party girl is launching herself as a pop singer - they'd probably call her something else that rhymes with "singer". Hilton's debut CD (oh, dear, does that mean there'll be a follow-up?) boasts squeaky-clean production values but probably won't outsell her grainy porno video. Top hitmakers such as Scott Storch have been drafted in, and Paris is keen to underline her hi-gloss sex appeal in such songs as Turn It Up, Fightin' Over Me and a cover of Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy. Hilton sounds fine when she's cooing breathily into the mic but is quickly exposed as a rank amateur when called upon to actually string a few notes together. In a world where every Big Brother contestant has an album out, however, that's hardly a handicap. Kevin Courtney
CERYS MATTHEWS Never Said Goodbye Rough Trade ****
Cerys Matthews was laying ghosts to rest when she released her debut solo album in 2003. Cock-a-Hoop, homespun, ebullient and countrified, was an acoustic record that announced Matthews had gotten over her booze and breakdown troubles. It also said she was many miles from the laboured, brash indie of Catatonia. It was never destined for chart glory, so this time she's upping the ante. Never Said Goodbye is somewhere between her two incarnations with an eye on sales. Standout Morning Sunshine is a multilayered retro pop gem, moving towards a joyous chorus; only Ruby hits a rare bum note. On this form, people will stop referencing Catatonia soon and talk of Matthews as a songwriter of merit on her own. An uplifting and well-crafted release. www.cerysmatthews.info Paul McNamee
UNION OF KNIVES Violence and Birdsong Relentless/EMI ***
With traces of Underworld, Death in Vegas and Radiohead in their dance-rock-pop mix, you would be forgiven for thinking this Glasgow trio are the vanguard of the nu-nineties revival. Dual vocalists Craig Grant and Chris Gordon, and sound/beats man Dave McClean cut albums for other bands while putting together their debut; the experience shows in the skilful grafting of rock sounds on electro rhythms and ambient atmospherics. Opposite Direction sets the off-road manifesto with help from guest vocalist Orlaith Prendergast; Operated On sits somewhere between Radiohead's Idiotheque and U2's Discotheque, and the pumping beat of Evil Has Never hints at wicked pleasures to come. Sadly, the album is undermined by regular descents into MOR dance (Taste for Harmony could easily morph into I Will Survive) and too many meandering instrumental interludes. www.unionofknives.com Kevin Courtney
