Latest CD releases reviewed

THE STREETS
Blinded by the Light 679 Recordings
***

Mike Skinner can't top his blinding summer hit, Dry Your Eyes, but here's another episode from his urban odyssey in which our hero necks a few too many tabs and ends up seeing little fairy lights twinkling around his head. Sorted.

THOUGHT TRAWLER
Bush's Bitches www.thoughttrawler.com
**

They've been put together by Sugar Club dude Oisin Davis, they sound like Black Sabbath crossed with Oasis, and they've got a message for all you pop kids: Bush is baaad, mmm-kay? You won't have to pronounce their tongue-twisting name at the record shop - just download it free from the above website.

THE BEES
Chicken Payback Virgin
***

It's the new dance craze - funnier than the funky chicken, madder than the mashed potato, and crazier than the camel walk. Will everyone be frugging along to this grungy go-go tune from the Isle of Wight wildmen? If they hear it on a TV ad, they will.

MINNIE DRIVER
Everything I've Got in My Pocket Liberty
***

Since Juliette Lewis started a band, all the Hollywood stars are swopping their luxury trailers for dingy tourbuses. Minnie has written her own sultry songs, and recruited members of The Wallflowers and Pete Yorn's band, so she's one serious indie woman - Maria Doyle Kennedy meets Aimee Mann.

DEEP DISH
Flashdance Positiva
**

It's the first single in six years for the Washington, DC dance duo, but clearly they still know what clubbers want: a nice, cheesy sample from a 1980s movie. Another giant leap (with legwarmers) in the evolution of dance music.

JIMMY EAT WORLD
PAIN  Interscope

The Arizona powerpop rockers have been trying hard to eat the world, but so far they've only managed to nibble at its crust. Without Good Charlotte's eye-catching hair, or Weezer's wonderfully catchy songwriting, they just sound like Foo Lightweights.

GRETCHEN PETERS
Tomorrow Morning Curb

Not to be confused with Redneck Woman Gretchen Wilson, this Grammy-winning gal purveys a gentler, more cerebral style of country - her songs have been covered by Faith Hill, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Martina McBride and Bryan Adams. They'll be queuing up again when she releases her new album, Halcyon.