Riding a wave of sea shanty rock ‘n’ roll, Folk Grinder breathes life into a steadily increasing tired indie genre. Armed mainly with an acoustic guitar, accordion and piano in order to transmit their tales of love, loss and regret, Koozie Johns and Miro Snejdr remain two souls lost at sea. Nowhere is this more evident than the lure of ‘England Dreaming’ stretching out its nostalgic embrace to the simply gorgeous ‘Old Habits (Can Be Hard To Kick)’, complete with backing vocals, and ‘If You Need A Little Love’ tugging at the heartstrings. Despite such magnificence on display, it is left to the deeply personal ‘Halfway Home’ to offer some salvation from the choppy waters Folk Grinder has experienced and will no doubt continue to find themselves adrift in.

Shimmering in the summer sunlight despite being engulfed by personal anxieties, the aptly titled ‘Intro’ reveals the first insight into the world of Alfred Hall. The following set of songs suggest nothing but a promising debut album as ‘Wilderness’ is steeped in a mixture of gentle and often uplifting melodies sighting such contemporaries as Hurts and the often forgotten It’s Immaterial as among possible influences. ‘Too Young’ is simply gorgeous in its execution with its sparse arrangements echoing The Blue Nile’s classic ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’, whereas ‘Somewhere Beautiful’ is exactly a depiction of what it says on the tin. If Alfred Hall can maintain the consistency shown throughout this first offering, then the future certainly looks bright for the boys from the wilderness as the neighbours of Drammen have something new to gossip about over the garden fence.

Ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha finally dusts down the guitar to return with only his second solo offering after his debut back in 1998. That is not to say that Iha has not been a busy man during the intervening years due to various sound projects but it’s ‘Look To The Sky’ which really puts him back on the musical map. In fact, initial first impressions suggest that Iha has hardly been away, as guitars jangle and images of long-gone hazy summer days are projected (‘Summer Days’). Despite residing in a comfort zone of sorts, this does not diminish the qualities of ‘Look To The Sky’, as the sizable gap between first base and second has been long enough to give this sophomore release the gloss of a debut.

On its first release, ‘Generation Terrorists’ was issued in a fanfare of slogans and rants concerning social, political and cultural issues, but more notably for the pronouncement that the band would disband after this debut album. Thankfully, the Manic Street Preachers decided to stay the course and the rest is history. This time around, ‘Generation Terrorists’ has arrived under a fanfare that is more attuned to pipe and slippers than the previous angry incarnation. However, for those who missed out on this timely release during the early nineties, then there is much to delight in here, whether it’s the rifftastic ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ or the epic finale, ‘Condemned To Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘Generation Terrorists’ still manages to evoke levels of passion not found in many of the band’s contemporaries.

If I had to define melancholy, then I would have to say The Blue Nile’s ‘Hats’. Perfection exemplified in a variety of ways, ‘Hats’ was the long-awaited follow-up to ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’, which is also receiving the reissue treatment, as the band truly delivered their masterpiece. As far as late-night albums go, ‘Hats’ is the only one you’ll ever need as it’s true, happiness can be found in sadness because despite the despondency often heard throughout this body of work (look no further than ‘Let’s Go Out Tonight’ or ‘From A Late Night Train’) there is something gorgeously wonderful about the downbeat tone being expressed here, rendering this release as simply essential.

It’s reminiscent of a pneumatic drill hammering away before this album storms the barricades in a three pronged attack consisting of ‘Pissed Off And Slightly Offended!’, ‘March Of The Swan Elite’ and ‘Cult Of The New Beat’ as wave after wave of guitars and a white noise of vocal histrionics are simply relentless. There is no time to come up for air as Blood Command has found their conduit as a means of venting their anger at the social constraints of society and all those willing to conform. Cocking a sideways snipe at the aristocracy but also the cult of celebrity, the above mentioned ‘March Of The Swan Elite’ sets a clear intention of where this five-piece from Bergen wish to find themselves in the wider scheme of things: ‘Don’t ever let us in, cause we must keep you out’. With great insight, intelligence and showing glimpses of possible future musical direction with the more melodic ‘High Five For Life’ and sublime double-header of ‘Here Next To Murderous’ and ‘True North, Blood Command is shaping up to be a band with special promise, just as long as they can keep out the social sycophants for long enough.