Back in stock: Indie/Alternative

Review: Originally released in 1982, A Flock Of Seagulls' eponymous debut album heard them burst on to the new wave scene with advanced songwriting and catchy guitar laps and lyrics. With Phil Spector hailing the album as 'phenomenal', perhaps for somewhat conforming to his wally production technique, the band ended up being venerated near-timelessly for their quasi-electronic synth tunes like 'I Ran' (clock the use of early electronic drum pads in its breakdown). This is new wave at one its best pop-centric peaks.

Review: Billy Nomates is coming off the back of a hugely acclaimed album in 2002. That was the self titled work on Invada Records and now she follows it up with a new EP that has already had heavy plays on BBC 6Music. Billy even stepped in for Iggy Pop on his show and impressed with her selections. Here the artist develops her unique sound and unflinching lyrics and says of the music that it is "predominantly about communication breakdowns; personally, mentally, physically. A strange thing to happen while communication has never had so many channels. Perhaps we need a direct line."

Review: A veritable time capsule of a bygone era that now seems enviably innocent - fallout of Thatcherite politics, economic crises, and wars in the Middle East aside. Perhaps not too dissimilar from today, then, irrespective of your personal feelings towards Happy Mondays the baggy Mancunian swagger-ers did contribute one of the most distinctive voices to the Madchester and indie-acid crossover era, and one that oozed an air of disassociation from mainstream politics of the day. Adding to the sense of this being a period piece, Balearic Beats comprises four remixes of Ryder et al's original work, three of which from one of the leading figures in the dominant narrative about house music arriving in the UK - Paul Oakenfold. The tracks are low-slung, hypnotic, and have an atmosphere that's as thick as the air on a Mediterranean evening.

Review: Panda Bear aka. Noah Lennox is best known for his formative membership of experimental pop surrealist troupe, Animal Collective. But the Panda Bear alias itself is nowadays of almost equal stature, similarly blending psychedelia, folk, electronic and ambient influences for further, less-restrained takes on the sound. Here on 'Reset In Dub', Lennox reunites with Peter Kember - a former member of the influential space rock band Spacemen 3 - and legendary dub producer Adrian Sherwood. In dubwise style, Sherwood comes through to remix all nine tracks on Lennox and Kember's prior collaborative LP Reset, amounting to a multi-layered, adventurous retake.

Review: If only we knew then what we do now. Few times does the phrase feel more appropriate than when discussing R.E.M.'s debut EP - you didn't buy it in 1982, and now original pressings are likely to fetch a sum. Still, we can't all be winners, although any astute ears should have quickly picked up on the potential of these then-unknowns.

Following first single Radio Free Europe, Chronic Town, which comprises five tracks of ever-so-slightly-weird, jangling, up-tempo alternative indie rock 'n' roll packing post punk sentiments, set the stage for the band's most glorious days that ensued. Landing in 1982 on I.R.S. Records, the troupe would stay with the label for some of their most critically acclaimed landmark albums, and for many it's this era and sound that best explain the greatness of a crew known for reinvention and listlessness.

Review: Dublin band Sprints quickly return to the fore after the success of their recent highlight 'How Does The Story Go?' This new EP is destined to be heard loud at beer swilling festival main stage all over the world. It has powerful riffs, plenty of fuck you energy and sizeable choruses that will connect on a large scale. Karla Chubb's spoken-sung vocals bring an alt-rock feel with a critique of modern existence served up next to an exploration of what it is to grow up queer in the modern day.

Review: If you're not up for words like "lovely", "blissful" and "gliding" on record then this one may not be for you. Then again, we'd sooner recommend trying it on for size than skipping past outright, as Tennis prove themselves to be every bit as compelling and captivating as they are seemingly sitting - or more accurately lackadaisically couching out - on some fluffy cloud overhead.

It's perhaps unsurprising that Tennis is married couple Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, who wrote the nine-tracker while doing what some couples fantasise about, and others think of with fear as to whether it would wind up with one of them killing the other. Four months is a long time to be at sea with your partner, but in this instance it seems to have only united them. Balladry but of particularly exceptional quality, it's hard not to feel jealous at the ties that clearly bind this wife-husband duo.