Rock / Indie Recommendations October 2014

Review: World Music, the first album by this mysterious, Swedish-based voodoo collective was both a riot and revelation, paying homage to both African music and a mightily hedonistic imperative, and creating a feverish psychedelic racket that was equal parts '60s beat movie score and dancefloor mayhem. Moreover, any doubts as to whether this shadowy outfit would be able to follow up such a moment have been cast to the four winds by the release of Commune, which takes all the jam-heavy wig-outs, ritualistic chaos and vibrant atmosphere the band have become known for, and offer a still more frenzied and diverse collection of infectious bangers that defy both description and belief. All hail the Goat.

Review: With a momentum built initially by word-of-mouth alone and further abetted by a surprise Mercury win, Alt-J have built a formidable reputation for themselves as no less than a Radiohead-in-waiting, with a melodious sleight-of-hand allied to a questing and mischievously experimental side. This Is All Yours, despite seeing the band slimming down from a four-piece to a three-piece after the departure of bassist Gwil Sainsbury, sees their fresh and inventive approach showing no signs of abating, with vocal textures and rhythmic invention locking horns with samples and melancholic charm to create an arresting yet nuanced record with its gaze firmly set forward.

Review: It's taken the Canadian garage-punk duo Death From Above 1979 a full ten years to get around to following up their incendiary debut album You're A Woman, I'm A Machine yet by the sound of The Physical World, they haven't lost a dash of the urgency, punk rock spirit, dancefloor energy and casual rock 'n' roll swagger that made that record the mid-noughties sensation it was. The fact remains that there's been no other band in the interim that's been able to unite the world of the over cranked amp stack with the hedonism of the club with quite such effortless cool and reckless abandon, and on the evidence of the riot of riffage and energy overload that The Physical World is, they've lost none of their spark a decade on.

Review: Banks arrived shrouded in mystery a year or so ago, the lack of information surrounding her contributing to an enigmatic aura that functioned as a kind of feedback loop for an instant fanbase entranced by her confessional, razor-sharp avant-soul torch songs. Although the enigma may have slightly lessened, the LA singer's sultry talents sound just as powerful as they did on her emergence, and the release of Goddess sees them crystallise into a confident statement of intent that establishes her as an artist worth taking very seriously. Emotionally raw yet seductive in their electronic soundscapes, these songs pack a punch that belies their smooth surroundings, and her deep, sophisticated voice always sounds engaging rather than overly stylised. That album title may just be less cheeky than it seems.

Review: Arriving from the Artubus scene in Montreal, Canada, Tops take a cottage-industry sensibility and ally it to a pastel-shaded AM radio aesthetic. As Picture You Staring reveals, the results are an oddly addictive pop confection that's equal parts stylish elan and filmic sweep, allied to a deftness of touch and melodic nous that marks Tops out from other indier-than-thou contemporaries. The band are a self-sufficient unit, engineering and producing their own records as well as making their own videos. This can't help but be clear by both the individuality of their approach and the originality of their sound. With melancholy touches balanced out elegantly against party-hearty spirit, Tops are carving out their own unique furrow in the indie-pop field.

Review: The days when The Kooks initially made a name for themselves as the better-mannered and more freshly scrubbed younger brothers of the post-Libertines 2000s indie rock demi-monde may be somewhat distant, but the band have not let the fickle mistress of fashion bother them unduly, instead satisfying a large global fanbase with a series of albums that combine easy charm and upbeat song craft as well as rock classicism with innovation. This was never clearer than on 'Listen', on which a new drummer and a hip-hop producer in the London-based Inflo result in a new sound that combines their Beatles/Stones swagger with a new loose-limbed fixation with groove, marking a brave new dawn for this perpetually youthful troupe.

Review: This debut solo release from the mercurial singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a bare-bones and rather personal project, with these recordings dating from 2006 and 2007 and now released on Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas' label, along with a booklet of sketches from the singer herself. Yet despite the very lo-fi production values and the frequently threadbare instrumentation, which locate this as almost a New York-derived version of Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs, the emotional resonance and captivating intimacy of these ditties make this a strangely beguiling and addictive collection-fuelled by yearning and melancholy yet with an uplifting quality derived from such creative alchemy. Karen O has always been at her best when dealing with heartache, and it therefore follows that she's on top form here.