Rock/Pop

Latest CD releases reviewed

A CAMP

Colonia Reveal Records ***

Sweden's Cardigans may or may not be pulled apart by this stage, but the band's lead singer, Nina Persson, is nonetheless soldiering on with A Camp, her on-off solo project. A Camp's 2001 debut was a revealing insight to Persson's singular lyrical and vocal range: each came across as melancholy, introspective and subversively seductive, the tales of woe compelling and fraught with inner tension. Eight years on and we find that solo Persson has eased up a bit, and pulled in the emotional reins without substituting substance for style - the content of the songs seeps historical/geographical imagery from the Belgian Congo and the New York Bowery via the Namibian desert. Mood-wise, the music is lighter, too, with downbeat reveries replaced by cerise girl-pop and subtle shades of punk rock. Smart. www.acamp.net

TONY CLAYTON-LEA

Download tracks: The Crowning, Love Has left the Room, Chinatown

THE VIEW

Which Bitch? 1965 Records *

Since the success of their debut album, Hats Off to The Buskers, this teenage Dundee foursome have been partying hard - and it shows. This hastily slapped-down second album could easily have been made by a bunch of buskers after a night out on the town. It's an incoherent pea-soup of half-baked rock'n'roll jams, wobbly skiffle workouts and rabble-rousing twaddle, with trite lyrics that look at the world through thick beer goggles. One Off Pretender is like The Proclaimers doing a drunken karaoke of West End Girls, Distant Doubloon is like a stoned school production of Pirates of Penzance, and Double Yellow Lines staggers up a creative cul-de-sac. With the only half-decent song, 5Rebeccas, having already stalled at number 57, it looks as if The View are looking at one hell of a hangover. www.theviewareonfire.com

KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: 5Rebeccas

TITUS ANDRONICUS

The Airing of Grievances XL Recordings ****

Is folk-punk about to make a major imprint on 2009's musical terrain? The niche popularity of bands such as Gogol Bordello, Beirut and DeVotchKa in recent years would certainly suggest so; now come young New Jerseyites Titus Andronicus. Although well-versed in rabble-rousing tunes that could soundtrack a lairy funeral wake, the quintet's bookish moniker can't be discounted, either. The dichotomy of boisterous heartland rock and the plethora of literary references is further emphasised by Patrick Stickles's throaty vocals, a gruff snarl that nods to Shane MacGowan, Joe Strummer and even Johnny Rotten in parts. It's sloppy, rambunctious and certainly imperfect, but an effective mix of air-thumping anthems and woozy shoegaze makes this an endearing debut. www.titusandronicus.net LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks: Arms Against Atrophy, Albert Camus

THE WELCOME WAGON

Welcome to the Welcome Wagon Asthmatic Kitty ***

There's no mistaking the handiwork of Sufjan Stevens on this one. The Welcome Wagon are Brooklyn Presbyterian preacher Rev Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique. That curio alone would warrant some attention for this album of intricate, feel-good folk songs, on which the pair sing their hosannas with great gusto. Add in the enigmatic Stevens, though, as album producer, engineer, sleeve designer, musical collaborator and label boss, and it amounts to something else entirely. Besides attracting attention for the Wagoneers, Stevens also brings his musical smarts to the project, turning simple folk songs such as But For You Who Fear My Name or Up On A Mountain into sparkling gems. The best moment here is Sold! To The Nice Rich Man, the nearest the album comes to really cogging the Stevens playbook. www.myspace.com/welcometothe welcomewagon JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Sold! To The Nice Rich Man, Up On A Mountain

ANDREW BIRD

Noble Beast Fat Possum ***

Fans of Andrew Bird might hitherto have known the Chicagoan as something of an experimentalist, but his fourth solo album reveals his most mainstream work yet. Assistance from members of Lambchop and Wilco means that the multi-instrumentalist's baroque pop is furnished with a more organic feel, some tracks even intimating an affection for 1970s pop and alt-country. Ironically, this change of tack causes an inevitable monotony and it takes the beautifully weird electronica of Not A Robot But A Ghost to provide some much-needed contrast. His lyrics remain as incisive and intelligent as ever, but perhaps the omission of several meandering tracks would have made this beast more powerful than noble. The bonus disc of instrumentals is quite lovely, though. www.andrewbird.net LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks: Not a Robot But a Ghost, Oh No

The Time of the Assassins Ryko **

As the wait for a new Strokes album goes on, solo projects from individual band members continue to appear. Bassist Nikolai Fraiture’s Nickel Eye project joins a list that already has Albert Hammond Jr’s brace of solo albums, Julian Casablancas’s My Drive Thru collaboration with Santogold, and Fabrizio Moretti’s lovely Little Joy album from last year. Here, Fraiture is joined by Regina Spektor, South (the act once signed to Mo Wax), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and a few others for an album of downbeat, folky ennui. Fraiture’s monotonal voice and these minor-key, one-dimensional songs are as far removed from his day-job as it is possible to get (something that all the Strokes’ sidelines have in common). It’s highly unlikely that Fraiture will be allowed to take over the microphone on the basis of this sadly flat and underwhelming affair. www.myspace.com/ officialnickeleye

JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Providence RI, Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye