Latest releases reviewed

HAYSEED DIXIE
Ace of Spades Cookin' Vinyl
***

Har-de-har! It's Motorhead's big hit, done in a hillbilly bluegrass stylee by these self-confessed shitkickers from Alabama. Laugh? I nearly married my sister. Still, it ain't as good as Rodeohead, and didn't Weird Al do polka versions of rock hits years ago?

THE PRODIGY
Hotride XL Recordings
**

Liam Howlett's left Keith on the shelf, but he's brought out someone madder, badder and more dangerous to know: Juliette Lewis. She wants you to ride in her beautiful balloon, but don't go with her - she'll surely burst your bubbles.

JANIS IAN
At Seventeen Cookin' Vinyl
**

This was the anthem for wallflowers when I was going to my school disco. Everytime it came on, you'd be guaranteed a slow dance, maybe even a snog, because none of the girls wanted to be the one left standing on her own. 'Course, you'd never call them up afterwards.

BLUE
Curtain Falls EMI
**

They've had ten Top 10 hits - will these r 'n' b boys end up whupping Westlife's ass? This one samples Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise, but can't touch Coolio's Gangsta Paradise. And what's this obsession with the word "bounce"?

YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Y Control Polydor/Fiction
****

After the sublime Maps, here's another gorgeous, messed-up tune from Karen O, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase. "I wish I could buy back the woman you stole," sings Karen in a voice like a torn-up prom dress. We say yeah yeah.

ASH
Renegade Cavalcade Infectious
***

Tim Wheeler's got a Flying-V, and he's gonna use it. This is off their way-heavy Meltdown album; luckily, Ash never let the melody get lost under the guitar riffs and thumping drums. This one gets the devil's horns-up.

BLINK
The Tiny Magic Indian Serene Records
***

OK, kids, there was once this short wizard from Calcutta actually, this song seems to be about a restaurant in New York, where the Blink boys have been hanging out lately. Like a good Madras curry, this rockin' tune gets you jumping like a whirling dervish.