Roots

The latest releases reviewed.

BEK-JEAN STEWART Junior Years Laughing Outlaw ****

This album kicks off with a sound like a Bonnie Tyler wannabe and then muscles into more meaty, complex territory, complete with sparring guitar licks and bitter reflections with righteous abandon. Bek-Jean Stewart is a Sydney singer- songwriter, drummer, guitarist and survivor of a tough childhood. Stewart's mother bought her a guitar to keep her out of trouble - "it was really the only good thing she ever did for her," her bio bitterly recounts. She namechecks The Replacements, Neil Young and Aimee Mann as musical influences for this affecting recounting of her journey through a dysfunctional adolescence. Assisted by bass player, producer and partner Grant Shanahan, Stewart receives fiery assistance from guitarists Matt Galvin and Eddie Kairouz on what is a deeply felt and well-realised album of Americana influences. www.bekjeanstewart.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Trainwreck, Love Come Near, Couldn't Turn My Back

DR STRANGELY STRANGE Halcyon Days Hux Records ***

Where do we place these refugees from reality in the pantheon of Irish rock? Dr Strangely Strange was born out of TCD in the hippie era of the late 1960s, a particularly Irish strand of the psychedelic folkiness personified by The Incredible String Band. They were whimsical, funny, unfailingly amateurish and loved by a coterie which relished their gentle sense of the bizarre and their ability to harness public school education, mild rebellion, Protestant hymn and blues riff into a unique musical exotica. Nine of these tracks from their two albums hark from that era, resurrected from a record company vault. The discovery led Tim Booth, Tim Goulding and Ivan Pawle back to the studio last year to record three more tracks, including the softfocus memoir that is the title track. Halycon Days is well packaged, with copious sleeve notes. The Strangelys were a one-off remembered with affection, and this epilogue is a timely reminder of innocent days. www.huxrecords.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: HMS Avenger, Cock-a-Doodle-Doo, Halcyon Days