Bright Sparks

A great, pulsating, vibrant racket.

a mess of teenage angst, lust and pop culture references

They've thrown everything into the mix, good, bad and indifferent.

The next Goo Goo Dolls.

Songs About Nightmares draws on the astonishing vocal ambition of Rottin, who seems to be tire very quickly of presenting his voice in a straight manner.

The Millipedes are a surprisingly low camp tumble of 50/60s b-movie garage rock, fuzz-pop, bubblegum ballads and,erm, ska.

Tracks can become a woozy, slightly drugged plod at times, reminding one, (if we’re going to be fashionable) of Amon Düül 2’s Yeti played at 16rpm, or the Fugs after about 16 pints of mild.

At first glance it might seem odd for a Brighton duo to be appearing on Sheffield’s finest label. But Katsen deal in the sort of now vintage electropop that has long been appreciated in South Yorkshire.

They chuck in some Cobain vocals and a handful of Mudhoney riffs and white noise before giving reverance to all things Black Sabbath at any opportunity and it all gets a bit noisy

Maybe a bit too wilfully eccentric, but for all my journalistic pedantry, I kept listening. They definitely have something.

Everything is unobtrusive, nothing is mixed to jump out at you; in some ways it’s brilliant soundtrack for a lethargic morning.

Hypnagogues starts with Sweden, a monotonous Ted Chippendale-as-boffin monologue over a sort of speeded up, droney Church of Anthrax backing.

In fact it’s been a long time since a female vocalist gave off such a ‘fuck you’ vibe.

My Lord, what a great LP this is. The title is pretty self-explanatory, 4 young ladies are drawn from different parts of the planet to showcase their individual talents, one after the other.

Imagine what it would be like if Interpol knew what it would be like to smile and wear something other than black?

There’s nothing remotely “Joy Division” about them, which is a refreshing turn of events in today’s rock marketplace and cause for celebration in itself

Even when covering Ohio the lads still somehow manage to musically surpass Young by miles..

And I’ll tell you something else, these are bloody good pop songs, simple direct, fearless and possessing a pop kick to knock you into next week.

the sound of a band full of promise