The return of Alan Wilson’s The Sharks has been greatly anticipated by the rockabilly and psychobilly fraternity, and what a worthwhile wait new album ‘Infamy’ is proving to be. If it had not been destined for the music world, then a large proportion of ‘Infamy’ could have passed for a criminology thesis concerning the causes and effects of crime, due to its tip of the hat references to the criminal underbelly of society. Despite the darker tones of the lyrical content, ‘Infamy’ is not without considerable humour as ‘House Of Wax’ gives the impression of a silent black and white film complete with hapless victims hotly pursued by a relentless killer, whereas ‘She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster-Man’ conjures up much hilarity with its sweetly seductive girl group vocals and lines offering, ‘Now the monster was weird and just a little unreal, seemed kinda short of that sex appeal’. The swinging rhythms of ‘The King Of London’ and ‘I Can’t Believe You’re Back’ details the infamous exploits of Roy ‘Pretty Boy’ Shaw and Ronnie Biggs respectively, leaving the upbeat tempo of ‘Breakin’ Bones’ to shift theme (Evel Knievel of all things!) along with the intimate ‘Desert Diamond’ making this a true return to form.

Criminally overlooked last year, Susanna Hoffs’ ‘Someday’ is a delightful mixture of low-key pop (‘November Sun’), slightly jaunty brass (‘Picture Me’), and filled with string-laden wonders such as ‘One Day’ and ‘All I Need’. Having recently resumed duties with The Bangles to much critical acclaim, Susanna Hoffs reveals enough depth and talent here to make this solo career a full-time project. As it stands, ‘Someday’ is a glorious album that is worthy of anyone’s attention.

‘A Hundred Nights Like This’ is a timely reminder of the kind of melancholic indie pop Neil and Tim Finn conjured up when Crowded House weren’t offering, musically, one of their more uplifting compositions. This remains an album suited to the wee small hours as lead vocalist Jon Arne Bjørnstad often sings in a hushed tone and complemented by strings and occasional faint splashes of brass instrumentation revealing a sense of longing and reflection concerning past relationships. Album opener ‘Going For A Song’ perfectly sums up the mood here, with its sense of trepidation and call for resistance when love comes to town, whereas former single ‘Romeo’ adds some bite with its tetchy guitars and cleverly-crafted lyrics eking out a wry smile during; ‘Romeo, you’re letting down the show, You’re getting awful slow boy, We’ll have to let you go, You showed such promise at the start’. As far as debut albums go, ‘A Hundred Nights Like This’ is an intriguing body of work drowning in a pool of tears as love is clearly murder.

Slightly distraught at the notion that Superfamily could change their synths for an all-out electric album consisting only of guitars, the band thankfully offer no such thing as ‘All American’ sees the band sink further into the quagmire of early eighties New Romantic pop, which is a welcome relief to the ears of FLW. In fact, Norway’s Superfamily could have supplied the soundtrack for the BBC smash hit TV drama ‘Ashes to Ashes’, with many being none the wiser as to the actual era this band inhabit.

Sure, there are nods to the band’s back catalogue with ‘Don’t Say A Single Word’ which is trademark Superfamily, but no less compelling as a result, but it is the manic delivery – reminiscent of prime era ‘Associates ‘The Affectionate Punch’ and ‘Sulk’ – of title track ‘All American’ which really arouses the senses and flexes its anxieties concerning the threat of Americanisation on a global scale.

Where this fourth effort differs from previous Superfamily releases is that the reins are slightly tightened in terms of a less-is-more approach due to the minimalist, ‘I’m On Your Side’ and more restrained, ‘Some Girls’. If anything, it’s time to transmit this ‘All American’ frequency to more distant shores so that the band can reach the stellar heights their music clearly deserves.

A welcome return for Christel Alsos with arguably her best album to date in the form of ‘Presence’. There is a more relaxed feel to the recordings but this does not mean Alsos’ emotions are any less fraught as once more she parades heart on sleeve reflecting on the remnants of relationships long since sailed. There are shades of Bristol’s Portishead on opening tracks ‘Remember It Now’ and ‘Conquer’ that adds to the ethereal qualities heard throughout,  whereas ‘Falling’ offers a slightly more upbeat tone and ‘Follow Me’ reveals its folk roots. It is left to ‘Found’, however, to literally bring this body of work emotionally to its knees as Alsos reiterates; ‘Oh, there is a place for me, Oh there is a place for me’ in an attempt at self-reassurance despite the open wounds of the vocal delivery giving the game away.

The Hoodoo Records imprint conjures up some more magic with the double whammy that is ‘Eddie Cochran’ and ‘Singin’ To My Baby’. With a 16-page booklet providing detailed information coupled with several rare photos, both albums not only provide a healthy dose of Cochran’s well-known numbers (‘C’mon Everybody’, ‘Summertime Blues’, ‘Mean When I’m Mad, ‘Completely Sweet’’) but the bonus material also throws up some wonderful delights such as ‘Twenty-Flight Rock’ and ‘Boll Weevil Song’. Outside of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran was definitely one of the pioneers of rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll music as these two albums provide an introduction and timely reminder of the genius at work.