The latest releases reviewed

AIDEN, Conviction, Victory, **

Only the strong survive, and Aiden frontman Will Francis should know: 10 years ago, at the age of 15, Francis was a homeless heroin addict trawling the streets of Seattle. Now (and, indeed, for the past few years) he is a poster boy for impressionable goth-punks who find the likes of My Chemical Romance a tad over- reaching. There is a lot here that shouldn't be instantly dismissed, however; the band strike a decent enough balance between sleazy romanticism (think Placebo's lesser moments) and sturdy ambition (think the U2s of this world). And

yet, overall, there is little of true originality - stock guitar riffs and I-used-to-be-dysfunctional-but-

I'm-all-right-now lyrics plough the usual musical furrows. At the end you're left wondering whether Aiden/Francis is the real deal or just another poser. Interestingly, the CD sleeve namechecks a long list of equipment manufacturers, as well as the band's favourite tattoo parlours.

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Download track: Teenage Queen

TONY CLAYTON-LEA

THE ENVY CORPS, Dwell, Vertigo, **** 

With an energetic, passionate sound and a lead singer who sounds like a happier Thom Yorke, The Envy Corps are an Iowa indie group that we'll be hearing much more about. Having opened for The Killers on the Sam's Towntour last year, Dwellis their first major-label album. Thankfully, they brought their game. Lead singer Luke Pettipoole's voice soars from gentle sadness to giddy heights, showcased in both album opener Wires and Wooland the folkier Before the Gold Rush. Pettipoole sings with optimistic melancholia, the sort that characterises a heartfelt life. With melodic guitars, floating vocals, memorable hooks and subtle lyrics, any comparison to Radiohead and Coldplay is more about influence than emulation. The Envy Corps hold their own, and you can hear them loving it. www.myspace.com/theenvycorps

Download tracks: Wires and Wool, Rhinemaidens, 99,100

DEANNA ORTIZ

SONGS OF GREEN PHEASANT, Gyllyng Street, Fat Cat, ****

It may have been Sheffield schoolteacher Duncan Sumpner's fragile, four-track kitchen-table recordings that first piqued interest in his work, but the songs and arrangements were the real magnetic attractions. The recording machinery has changed for his

third album, yet it's the power and panache of Sumpner's songcraft that will really hook you. Gyllyng Streetwas written and recorded on the fringes of the Peak District. Songs such as Boatsand The Ballad of Century Paulare cloaked in engaging atmospherics and brittle soundscapes created by Sumpner and a small cast of players using minor-key instrumentation and noises that have more in common with Talk Talk and The Blue Nile than they do with the folk standards that were once Sumpner's touchstones. More than anything, it's his warm voice that really carries these intricate, ambitious songs.

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Download tracks: The Ballad õf Century Paul, Boats

JIM CARROLL

FOY VANCE, Hope, Rubyworks, ** 

Co Down native Vance grew up in Oklahoma and his childhood was steeped in the soul, blues and gospel of the southern states. With a voice that runs the gamut from Richie Havens to Ray Lamontagne, Vance is already halfway to that soulful state, but sadly this debut album feels like it's not even a quarter of the way there. While such songs as Be with Me, Treading Water, Gabriel & the Vagabondand Indiscriminate Act of Kindnessshowcase Vance's fine, bluesy voice, the laid-back, lo-fi acoustic delivery sells the package a little short. Vance recorded these 15 songs in a cottage in the Mourne mountains, and there's certainly a hearth-fire glow to Shed a Little Light, Doesn't Take a Whole Day, First of Julyand If Only You Could See Yourself Like I See You. But it sounds more like a great demo than the great album it should be. The guitars, pianos and voices set a rough, rootsy tone, but the songs really need all the other soul ingredients to round them off.

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Download tracks: Shed a Little Light, Hope, Peace and Love

KEVIN COURTNEY

THE DRAGONS, BFI, Ninja Tune, ****

It's some story. Back in Malibu in the late 1960s, the three Dragon brothers recorded this psychedelic soul album between surfing sessions during downtime in a Hollywood studio. But with none of the record label suits in LA prepared to take a punt on it, the brothers reluctantly left Blue Forces Intelligenceto one side and took up session work with the likes of The Beach Boys. Some 37 years later, record collector and Ninja Tune stalwart Strictly Kev comes across the album and flips over what he hears. You can understand his excitement: BFIis full of ideas, imagination and intrigue. Beyond the fascinating sonic bewiggery that will remind some of the Silver Applesand United States of America, it's the ease with which the band squeeze out all these funky, jazzy grooves and infectious tunes that will really get you humming. Prepare to blow your mind.

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Download tracks: Cosmosis, Food For My Soul

JIM CARROLL

RILO KILEY, Under the Blacklight, Warner Bros, ****

Years ago, you'd have seen former child actors Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett on some TV drama or other, but nowadays you're more likely to hear their music playing on such shows as The OCand Dawson's Creek. Lewis and Sennett are the Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of US alt.pop, crafting the kind of songs that would have been playlisted on daytime radio back in the good ol' FM days. Following the band's third album ( More Adventurous), Lewis took time out for last year's solo country-soul effort, Rabbit Fur Coat, and she returns to Rilo with renewed vigour, her confident voice taking full command on the glam-soul stomp of Silver Lining, the decadent disco- funk of Moneymakerand the FM pop power of Breakin' Up. Sennett's striated guitar lines nicely underpin her voice, which effortlessly moves from Aimee Mann airiness on Close Callto a Linda Ronstadt lilt on the teen rebel ballad, 15.

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Download Tracks: Silver Lining, The Moneymaker, Breakin' Up

KEVIN COURTNEY