Morrissey

Throwing My Arms Around Paris

This really is a beautiful song and so well sung by Moz it seems churlish to try to find any fault at all. He's had something of a roller coaster ride managing his post-Smiths career, but this should propel him back to where he belongs; being played on every radio station you tune into. At well under 3 minutes, it is a master piece of understated pop brilliance, leaving us wanting to hear the rest of his forthcoming album. It is co-written with Boz Boorer again, and was first heard a couple of years ago when Morrissey was undertaking his 'Greatest Hits' tour. He clearly knew back then it would be a hit on day!

Christine Brain

Pulled Apart By Horses

I Punched a Lion In The Throat

I love these guys. They have stage antics; their equipment malfunctions; they malfunction; they are dysfunction personified and are quite frankly one of the best live bands in Leeds at the moment. Now I've kissed their collective lovely arses... the new single. Do not, repeat do not look for the re-imagining of music here; you will not find it. The riff is pure Senser circa early nineties complete with energetic pull-offs (ha) by James, the vocals are bellowed into a tin box by Tom, making some sort of tribute to Steve Irwin and his beast-taunting brethren and Lee and Rob just hold it together. Then they all get bored of it halfway through, change the riff and Tom goes off on one about “Ultimate Power” like some kind of drunken motivational speaker. Knowingly kleptomaniac and almost the stupidest thing on the single... apart from 'The Crapsons,' which is something about cats. More pull offs from James (he loves to pull off), more getting the Led out... a series of rock clichés proudly displayed by lads who don't care as long as they can make noise. The production separates the white of the riff from the yolk of the vocals and it isn't a patch on their live stuff but its crude silly fun nonetheless. Cathartic pop idiocy.

Rob Wright

I Only Date Models

One Day

I can't remember where I saw it, but someone (possibly with too much free time) has developed software that can compose original music in the style of any classical composer. Simply feed it a representative sample of their work, and it will analyse the structure, the phrasing, the dynamics; indeed, all the components that are indicative of the artist's work. When performed one after the other, it was nigh on impossible to tell the computer's effort from that of the composer it was mimicking. Imagine, then, a similar program that could distil the entire 'emo' genre down into four minutes of hide-behind-your-fringe teen angst; given a healthy dose of Jimmy Eat World and the delay-heavy guitar work of The Edge, the product of such an invention would undoubtedly be this track. There's nothing wrong with it – like the computer, they've followed a winning formula. But that's the danger with something tried and tested – the results are guaranteed to be the same every time.

Jon Cooper

The Yalla Yallas

Retaliation

Good old Rob Galloway. Does anyone round here do a nicer job for us nowadays when it comes to punk with a sociopolitical purpose? And good work from Dempsey, Grinder and Delahunty as well: tight, thrashing, bashing bunch that they are. The time's going to come though when the material has to move away from the themes that have sustained it so far – but for now let's all do some enjoying while it's still in such fine fettle.

John Hepworth

Deltasound

Dust Can Explode

Dust Can Explode is the follow-up to the well received, if unimaginatively titled EP1 and EP2, and is thankfully given a proper name this time. Deltasound are a shining beacon of North East excellence, and have really captured their epic, all-conquering sound on sound on these two tracks. The stand out contribution is, as ever, the vocal manoeuvrings of singer Jonjo McNeill, but the exciting, driving music provided by the band comes a close second. There is an album in preparation I understand, which they will hopefully finish, in between their frantic gigging schedule, having played the length and breadth of the country since they came together at the end of 2007. Sounds like it'll be worth the wait.

Christine Brain

Sky Larkin

Beeline

Having already featured in NME and headlined Huw Stephens' 'Introducing…' tour, Sky Larkin look to be a band with a bright future. 'Beeline' is a breezy yet muscular effort, which crams a lot into its 150 seconds. The strong female vocals are ably supported by the heavy guitar work and give Sky Larkin the sound of a PJ Harvey/Yeah Yeah Yeahs crossover. The debut album 'The Golden Spike' is due out later this year and if Sky Larkin can reproduce songs of the quality of 'Beeline', then they could be one of the best 'new' bands of 2009.

Joe De Saules

Rifle Fire Rifle

The Doppler Effect

'The Doppler Effect', the new single from Rifle Fire Rifle, is to say the least a very interesting attempt at what can only really be described as a post-hardcore cum indie sort of genre. Like a cross between 'At The Drive In' and 'Biffy Clyro', this song has many ideas throughout, interwoven into something quite enjoyable. The song isn't over-littered with lyrics, occasionally cutting to a short musical interlude. The vocalist Phil Keogh, stretches and strains his voice pretty much to the limit, not always effectively or tunefully, but full marks for the emotion. The only major let down when listening to this single is the very poor quality of the production, which is a major shame, because I imagine this band to be a really good live prospect. Track 2, 'Born To Exile', is also an unexpected pop gem. In contrast to 'The Doppler Effect', the song gets straight to business, sounding very similar to the newer Fall Of Troy material. Track three 'Rio De Janeiro', starts with a low-fi clean guitar sound which quickly breaks back into distortion, and then into that old 'Fall Of Troy'/'Biffy' sound we heard in the past two tracks. Again, this is just good old fashioned pop music, but they do it damn well. In conclusion, this band is good; their songs are energetic and interesting, but seen as somebody's botched up the production on this record, you'd probably be better off seeing these guys live.

Justin Myers

Just Handshakes

Operation Daybreak

This cheery-sounding foursome from Leeds' first single offers a bit of a twist to the typical indie theme: the combination of bubblegum girlie vocals and pop-punk riffs interposed with some edgy keyboard notes on 'Operation Daybreak' make them sound a bit like the result of a rebel member of The Pipette's running away to join Hot Hot Heat. As far as proficiency goes, they're more than promising - there's a clear aptitude shining through the restricted production. Quirky, energetic, and catchy as anything, this is an impressive debut.

Cat Millar

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