The latest releases reviewed

AIMEE MANN
@#/&*! Smilers
Superego
*****
The new album from the thinking man's favourite piece of cerebral crumpet has slipped through the net. That means it will effectively receive little or no publicity, but will instead filter out to those on the lookout for highly intelligent pop music. @#/&*! Smilers, Aimee Mann's first proper studio album in three years, finds her in a typically corrosive frame of mind. Melodically it's probably Mann's best to date. The songs are blissfully rich in warm, dark and melancholy rhythms, while lyrically she nails down the mix of sharply drawn character studies and cool, detached observations with assured blows of the hammer. It remains a pop music tragedy that Mann continues to elude mainstream success, but with edgy, infinitely assured albums such as this, what discerning music fan would dare to complain? www.aimeemann.com
TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: Freeway, Little Tornado, Looking for Nothing

THE SUBWAYS
All or Nothing
Infectious Records
***
The group responsible for the catchy Oh Yeahare back after three tough years. Billy Lunn's surgery to remove vocal chord polyps threatened to leave him voiceless, and his split from longtime girlfriend and bandmate Charlotte Cooper would have broken up most groups. But heartache was amicably put to work, informing the best tracks on All or Nothing- the angst is audible. With Butch Vig producing, doses of beefy grunge are feathered with dreamy sunbursts of Californian harmonies. Lead single Alrightand the heartbroken Strawberry Blondeembody what works best about All or Nothing: accessible tracks that are exuberant and sincere. Weaker songs share a sameness that can grate, but the band's live reputation precedes them, ensuring that festival fans will be glad that The Subways decided to resurface. www.myspace.com/thesubways
DEANNA ORTIZ
Download Tracks: Alright, Always Tomorrow, Strawberry Blonde

WILD BEASTS
Limbo, Panto
Domino
****
If ever there was an aptly titled album, Wild Beasts' debut is it. The Leeds based four-piece occupy an in-between musical niche that is devilishly funny and steeped in theatrics. Mostly this is due to Hayden Thorpe's unforgettable vocals, which are pitched somewhere between Antony Hegarty's falsetto and the emotional histrionics of The Associate's Billy McKenzie. Surprisingly, it doesn't overshadow what the rest of the band get up to, which is a vaguely new romantic line in nostalgic pop. Underneath all the tongue-in-cheek antics beats a melancholic heart and some fine songwriting. Vigil for a Fuddy Duddyhas a last-song-of- the-night feel, while Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyantsis indie dancefloor perfection. Wild Beasts are the kind of band Morrissey would love.  www.wild-beasts.co.uk/
SINÉAD GLEESON
Download tracks: Vigil for a Fuddy Duddy, Woebegone Wanderers

SOCIETY OF IMAGINARY FRIENDS
Sadness is a Bridge to Love
SOIF Music
**
There is something curiously appealing and yet distinctly offputting about the new album from Society of Imaginary Friends (SoIF); it's like a baby proffering a gurgling smile after vomiting up its midnight feed. Formed from the mainstays (Chris Brierly, Louise Kleboe and Alfie Thomas) of the rather good Band of Holy Joy, this side project revolves around the avant-garde operatic vocals of Kleboe; her voice is an acquired taste, neither pop nor opera. And yet there is definitely something here - their modus opera(ndi) is to transform folk and film soundtrack- type music into something singular, specific and, occasionally, quite affecting. Lyrics are both dreamlike and nightmarish, borne out of unexplained mysteries and obvious despair. Strange? Yes. Compelling? Not sure. Different? Definitely. www.societyofimaginaryfriends.com
TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: Nursery of Light and Dark, Flower on the Wall