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The Shortwave Set - Glitches 'n' Bugs (Wall Of Sound) OUT NOW

T: Sounds like the kind of thing Ian Broudie would have written in the mid-nineties.

N: I like this band just from spying their very name, and it would have been dreadful if it had turned out that it was something less. Well I'm pleased to report SWS are every bit of that something special their name had suggested to me. A little bit quirky, with melodies that get into your head and hang around. But it's not all as it would at first appear. Check them out, your very well being may depend upon it.

T: The weird thing is, to me they're just "quite good", which seems completely at odds with your over excitement.

N: I can see we're going to have to beg to differ. 8/10

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dorp - London Out There (Caned And Able) 17/11/2008

N: You made a comment (off camera) that we always sem to be reviewing this band. Well their exposure is certainly working, and their music, the sort that gets right in your face.

T: True. Another winner. 8/10

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burningpilot - Accelerate (Transgressive) 17/11/2008

T: Well, despite the "sounding like Mark E Smith and Terry Hall" comment in the album review, it has to be said he sounds like David Byrne on this one. Still, another worthy artist to champion so it hasn't affected their brilliance.

N: A great single, the immediacy this one possesses is quite remarkable...

T: Thanks David (NB - This joke won't make any sense to you if you were A) Born outside the UK or B) under 35)

N: ...and C) misleading people that it was a joke in the first place.

T: David Coleman?

N: Putting him to one side for a moment, this band demonstrates that, with the right composition, it's not always necessary to fill a song with so many words that it'll make your head spin.

T: Great stuff. 9/10

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Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy (Black Frog/Geffen) 22/10/2008

T: Speaking as someone who could never understand what all the fuss was about Guns N' Roses, even when they were supposedly relevant, I suppose I'd better let you go first.

N: I'll be honest, I like this rebirth of GNR. I am, however, disappointed that this is a threadbare band and their mainstay guitarist Slash is no longer with them. In fact, neither is anybody else. Why not have made this The Axl Rose Experience and, er, actually perhaps this is a little too close to something else far more relevant.

T: If I put my prejudices to one side, I will admit that I prefer this song to anything else the band has put out previously, probably because Axl doesn't actually sound like the whiny schoolboy brat he did on everything else they've released.

N: OOooohh! Aprons at dawn!

T: I'll overlook that. But you'd better hope Rose isn't reading this, otherwise you're for it.

N: Although that said, I think we both appreciate the change in direction of this single. Let's rock! 7/10

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She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? (Double Six) 03/11/2008

T: Whether Zooey Deschanel was inspired by Scarlett Johansson's album of Tom Waits covers I don't know, but her outfit's Phil Spector like production certainly hints that this was the case. Anyway, I like that old sixties girl band sound, so it appeals to me, but I'm not so sure about my mentor.

N: I'm not your mentor!

T: Sorry, I meant "mental".

N: That's more like it. But surely this is the Watson Twins' lost Spector recordings?

T: Isn't that a good thing?

N: Let's just settle on "retro". 7/10

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Less Than Jake - Abandon Ship (Cooking Vinyl) 03/11/2008

N: Rod Hull and emo.

T: Hilarious Nick. But strangely enough, you're bang on.

N: Billed as ska-punk allstars, Less Than Jake might be overstating themselves, as this is definitely emo with a brass section.

T: Though to be fair, they normally ARE ska-punk. It's just that on this occasion, they're more "bra-punk".

N: Are you suggesting this gives you a lift?

T: No, I'm saying it's flat. 4/10

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Psapp - The Monster Song (Domino) 03/11/2008

T: The word "twee" was made for this song. Like a cheesy version of Elastica, but where's the Stilton?

N: Phew. For me, it's more Saint Etienne, but I can't see the French coastline, but I'm unlikely to see the French coast line from here, Stilton's more likely, but the clouds are too low. 6/10

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Little Jackie - The Stoop (Curve Records/Parlophone) 03/11/2008

T: One of the more surprising revelations of the year, Little Jackie make music that crosses genres and appeals to a wide audience. Full of bad attitude and with a confident swagger that you can't help bouncing around the room to, "The Stoop", as you probably knew last time it was released, is a classic pop single.

N: I don't know what she's singing, but I always find myself singing along. Whether our vocals would match exactly, I doubt, but it's a breezy number with conviction and a slick stance. I'm sold. 9/10

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The Holloways - Sinners & Winners EP (The Orchard) 27/10/2008

T: Ian Holloway took Leicester City down.

N: But what's that got to do with this?

T: I'm just saying, the name makes me think of him.

N: Really, is that something you should perhaps get help with?

T: Oh alright then, perhaps the real reason I'm not over enamoured is because it sounds like the Kooks. And that's disappointing, because I quite like a fair bit of the stuff this band's put out in the past.

N: A jaunty, poppy and altogether accessible slice of social commentary, if perhaps it's been done before. 7/10

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