Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Tickle Me Pink (Young & Lost)
Any record that starts with a violin and acoustic guitar strumming and then the lyrics “Tickle me pink I’m rosy as a flushed red apple skin” gets my vote! Sounding a little Devendra Bernhardt in places and Larrakin Love in others, crazy Indie-Folk lives. Original, off the wall madness. The B-Side Cold Bread sounds like they’ve used Tom Waits Rain Dogs rhythm section and is equally brilliant!

Foals - Hummer (Transgressive)
The Brighton buzz band come up with a foot-tapping post-punk guitar tune that Josef K and A Certain Ratio would be proud of. Bringing the sounds of early 1980s indie up to date has never been so much fun. Nab one while you can, they are going to be massive.

Gethin Pearson & The Scenery - Hang On, Hang ON EP (TPF)
First track Lost at Sea sounds like the best track Bright Eyes have never recorded and is head and shoulders above anything on their latest Cassadaga album. The remaining three tracks are chipper fare too with backing band The Scenery filling the sound as well as any set of musicians on the Saddle Creek roster. “Local boy does well” should be posted in the windows of all the newsagents around South Wales. Recommended.

Shins - Australia (Transgressive)
Second single off the latest album sees the Shins in trademark poppy form. With their usual quirkiness, there is no actual mention of Australia throughout the song. The B Side of the 7” is a double-groove affair which means its hit-or-miss whether you get Polytechnic or Jeremy Warmsley murdering a Shins favourite.

LDN is A Victim - LDN is a Victim (Happy Shopper)
Heard lots about this record without actually hearing it before buying. Its basically a jab at trendy London types such as The Streets, Klaxons, Jamie T, nightclubs etc.. Its about as relevant to someone in South Wales as Laver Bread, Rugby and the Transporter Bridge are to Cocker-knees. Avoid unless you live within the M25 zone, are under 16 or preferably both.

Red Jetson - The Unravelling (Try Harder Records)
If you can imagine the nasal tones Danny from Embrace fronting a moody guitar band in  the vein of iLiKETRAiNS then you can guess what this sounds like. Pleasant enough but going nowhere fast. The name of their record label says it all........

The Strange Death of Liberal England - A Day Another Day (Fantastic Plastic)
This would be better titled  “Another Day, Another Arcade Fire copy band”. Enough said.