The latest releases reviewed
CHERRY GHOST Thirst For Romance EMI ****
Cherry Ghost is the working name of Simon Aldred, who is from the rock'n'roll outpost of Bolton, north- west England. Aldred sets the bar high for himself by listing his two main influences as Mahalia Jackson and Johnny Cash, but on this debut he has marked out some interesting new territory for himself. Uniting all the songs is Aldred's clever way of merging shameless 1980s pop with the type of bleak Americana that characterised the work of Smog and Sparklehorse. Opener Thirst for Romance is a jaunty ride that sounds like Mercury Rev on a sugar rush, while single People Help the People is the sort of song that might have helped Richard Ashcroft sustain his solo career. There are bucketloads of musical ideas here; Aldred has a very good vocal delivery and, all in all, this is one of the most promising debuts of the past few years. Well worth investigating. www.cherryghost.co.uk BRIAN BOYD
Download tracks: Thirst for Romance, People Help the People
ELVIS PERKINS Ash Wednesday XL Recordings ****
Elvis Perkins has a tragic backstory. His father, movie star Anthony Psycho Perkins, died of an AIDs- related illness; his mother was on one of the flights that crashed into the Twin Towers. In the hands of a lesser songwriter, every track on this album would carry heavy references to both incredible deaths and their ongoing echoes. But Perkins is a new talent way above the current sludge of American semi-acoustic singer- songwriters. He merely tempts us to visit dark placesrather than banging us over the head with poorly realised concepts. There is a sense of mortality in his quasi- religious imagery, especially on the title track and in the opener, While You Were Sleeping. And his tunes have a pace and sharp snare-snap that acts as a fine counterpoint to the vague Dylanesque stream-of- consciousness lyrics. Elvis lives! www.elvisperkins.net/ PAUL MCNAMEE
Download tracks: May Day!, While You Were Sleeping
MIRACLE FORTRESS Five Roses Secret City/Rough Trade ****
Miracle Fortress is the trading name for Graham Van Pelt, yet another musician who calls Montreal home. Unlike some of his fellow citizens from that city who are intent on reinventing the big music (and indeed, the music he creates with wacky pop crew Think About Life), Van Pelt favours a different set of diagrams for his solo sound. Five Roses is wonderfully pitched ambient space-rock, a set of songs layered again and again with dreamy effects, luxurious textures and symphonic peaks and which resounds throughout with the spirit of the Brians Wilson and Eno. Van Pelt's attempts to channel his inner Pet Sounds sometimes turn into a bit of a pastiche. But his aim is surer on Next Train and Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart, and he strikes pop gold each time. www.miraclefortress.com JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart, Next Train
THE BROKEN FAMILY BAND Hello Love Track and Field ***
There are few recognised country/ folk/pop bands operating out of the UK. Cambridge's Broken Family Band are perhaps the best known. Not that you'd think it from this new album (their fourth), which largely eschews the countrification of their previous records and aligns itself firmly in the areas previously mapped out by Pavement, Violent Femmes, The Pixies and The Shins. The material, then, is far louder and more frantic than we have come to expect, but thankfully a change of direction doesn't equal an awkward shift in quality control. Certain songs sound like brisk Britpop (Leaps), while others benefit from a slow build-up to a climactic rush (Seven Sisters). You Get Me and So Many Lovers, meanwhile, refer back to the band's country/folk leanings. All told, a mixed lucky bag of solid tunes and sturdy music. www.thebrokenfamilyband.com TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: Seven Sisters, You Get Me
CRESCENT Little Waves Fat Cat ****
Four years after the release of their exquisite By the Roads and the Fields, Crescent return with a beautiful and idiosyncratic fifth album. Combining the post-punk experimentalism of their earlier albums, the Bristol post-rock quartet chart new territory with their unique brand of dystopian alt.folk. Recorded at home, in a cinema and in a forest, Little Waves features Matt Jones's worn vocals roiling over circular melodies, sinuous percussion (including gamelan), pulsing lo-fi electronica, and warm found sounds (bird song, old phonograph recordings, tape hiss) - a nod more to 1960s new music than contemporary new weird. Little Waves is a beautifully wrought collection of intensely introspective acoustic songs that reveal a singular power and expressiveness with each listen. www.fat-cat.co.uk JOCELYN CLARKE
Download tracks: Little Waves, Drift
