The latest releases reviewed
THE SPOOK OF THE THIRTEENTH LOCK The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock Transduction Records ****
There be spirits and spooks aplenty in this debut from a Dublin band named after a poem about a haunted canal lock. And there be lyrics that reference Redcoats, croppy boys, Christchurch and the brave pikemen of Pimlico. If you think you've stumbled upon the best blend of post-Radiators/Pogues and (yes, believe it or not) the Celtic goth of Virgin Prunes, then it's even more of a surprise to discover how much we have missed such a mix. The Spook lads, however, have more in their arsenal than reference points; they play their instruments like (what else?) men possessed, aware of but not in servitude to history and experimentation. The final track,
The Ragged Rock - with its nerve- shredding vocals mutating into a krautrock mind-bender - is one of the best pieces of contemporary Irish rock music we've heard in an age. www. thirtheenthlock.net - TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks:The Partisan, The Ragged Rock
SCARLETT JOHANNSON Anywhere I Lay My Head Atco/Rhino ****
Scarlett Johannson's debut album is a collection of bold covers from Tom Waits's later career (from Swordfishtrombones through Real Gone). Despite Waits's blessing, the album will be cursed by his fans - Johannson's electro-pop version of I Don't to Want Grow Up is particularly sure to offend. Her unusually low smoky croon, supported densely textured, dirty production by TV on the Radio's David Sitek and backing vocals by David Bowie, infuse her covers with a rare yearning that embodies perfectly the gut-bucket troubadour's hobo romanticism - especially Town With No Cheer, Falling Down, I wish I Was in New Orleans and No One Knows I'm Gone. Johannson and Sitek's original Song for Jo promises even more in the future: Anywhere I Lay My Head is an impressive debut. www.rhino.com - JOCELYN CLARKE
Download Tracks:Song for Jo, No One Knows I'm Gone
VETIVER Thing of the Past Fat Cat Records ****
Often pegged as Devendra Banhart's touring band, Vetiver have created some very fine folk
in recent years. Album number three is a heartfelt homage to their influences but, as covers albums go, it's far from obvious. Roll on Babe, written for Ronnie Lane of The Small Faces, is a bittersweet roadtrip ballad that captures the lazy summer feel of most of the tracks. Hook and Ladder, a lightly strummed foot-tapper, turns out
to be a Norman (Spirit in the Sky) Greenbaum number. The mood is predominantly country, including an early Hawkwind country-rock hybrid, Hurry on Sundown, but the big coup is an appearance by Vashti Bunyan, who makes Dia Joyce's Sleep a Million Years her own. Vetiver have put their own stamp on some obscure classics; fans will be scurrying off to unearth the originals. www.vetiverse.com- SINÉAD GLEESON
Download Tracks:Sleep a Million Years, Houses
ELEANOR MCEVOY Love Must Be Tough Mosco Disc ****
Launching her latest collection with a surprisingly jazz-tinged cover of the Jagger/Richards Mother's Little Helper, Eleanor McEvoy goes against the grain yet again. That unmistakeable voice, that determinedly undiluted accent trip-hop across the rooftops of self-penned, pitch-perfect pop (Love Must Be Tough) and then lollop across a songbook that's littered with gemstones borrowed from Butch Hancock, Rodney Crowell, Nick Lowe and Terry Allen. McEvoy's facility with everything from Tex-Mex country (He Never Spoke Spanish to Me) to the straight up three-chord trickery of I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n Roll) is a timely reminder of what sets a musician apart: a hunger for exploration and a deep-seated talent for exploring the darker corners of both music and life. www.eleanormcevoy.com - SIOBHÁN LONG
Download tracks:Shame on the Moon, Love Must Be Tough
EL PERRO DEL MAR From the Valley to the Stars Memphis Industries ***
Sarah Assbring long ago sussed out how to turn a sigh into a heartbreaker. The Swede's second album is full of moments that morph from gossamer coos into ethereal and melancholic patches. There's even a choir and orchestra on this record, adding oomph to songs that deal roughly with themes of heaven. However, there is a sizeable "but" to all this. For all the studied loveliness and beautiful swathes of sound, very little is going on beneath the surface.
Many of Assbring's songs meander aimlessly at the same pace without any real sense of purpose. When she does hit the target - How Did We Forget is the song the rest of the album seeks to emulate - you're left wondering what might have been if all the tracks had been exposed to the same quality control. www.myspace.com/ elperrodelmar - JIM CARROLL
Download tracks:How Did We Forget
ISLANDS Arm's Way Rough Trade **
There's no shortage of new bands coming out of Montreal, but Islands are no arrivistes, having first surfaced in 2006 with a glorious debut, Return to the Sea. What happened between then and now (the departure of founding member Jamie Thompson and the recruitment of new musicians) may go some way to explaining the leap in tone and production here. Return to the Sea had an upstart quality, all ragged edges and cockiness, but Arm's Way has a little too much spit-and-polish. With Neil Thorburn firmly in control, it feels less like a band and more like an extended solo project. It's not short on infectious numbers, including the eastern European pop march of Pieces of You and the Indie calypso of J'aime Vous Voire Quitter. But for all its pockets of charm, it's a tad overcooked. www.islandsare forever.com - SINÉAD GLEESON
Download Tracks:I Feel Evil Creeping In, Pieces of You
ATLAS SOUND Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel 4AD ***
It would seem that Bradford Cox has more than enough neuroses for two bands. While his Deerhunter outfit concentrate on perfecting hazy noise-rock, Cox uses his Atlas Sound alter-ego to exercise softer musical muscles. To accompany the album's lush ambient patterns and sweetly bruised dream-pop, Cox turns to childhood illnesses and experiences for his themes. Thus, in the midst of swelling soundscapes and intricately sculpted, slow- motion bursts of psychedelic noise there are kids narrating spooked- out tales (A Ghost Story), an ode to an old friend (Winter Vacation) and reflections on the fallout of teen relationships (Cold as Ice). What's most remarkable about this approach is the ease with which Cox picks apart deeply personal insights and rejigs them to fit the sweep of the album - without over-egging the emotion. www.myspace.com/ bradfordcox - JIM CARROLL
Download tracks:A Ghost Story, Cold as Ice
MUDCRUTCH Mudcrutch Reprise Records ***It's never too late to go back - until it is. Who knows what triggered Tom Petty to call up his pals from the original Florida band who made that fateful journey with him to the west coast more than 30 years ago. Mudcrutch didn't work out, but the bones of it - Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench - formed the spine of the Heartbreakers. And so last year Petty joined music teacher Tom Leadon (55) and drum teacher Randall March (58) and Mudcrutch finally got to make their debut album with Petty on bass, apparently his original instrument. There are lots of other 1970s references: covers of the traditional Shady Grove, truckers' favourite
Six Days on the Road and the Byrds' Lover of the Bayou; Petty's doggedly tongue-in-cheek retro tunes; the sleeve artwork. At its best Mudcrutch gives Petty a new platform and allows others the chance to realise a dream they thought dead; at its most indulgent it's still worth a listen. www.mudcrutch.com - JOE BREEN
Download tracks:Orphan of the Storm, Shady Grove, House of Stone
