Ego War - Audio Bullys Here they are, the new pretenders to the throne of geezer rock. Audio Bullys are the raw sound of the suburbs, two blokes, loud, lively and in yer face. Their lyrics tell small-scale tales of street corner life. Their music is an explosion of punk with house and ska with rap. It's an unstoppable mix as vibrant and diverse as London itself. Me, I was hooked by the latest single, The Things, and now I'm addicted to the sheer audacious variety of this new album. If The Streets don't come back soon with some new material, I'm defecting. Brilliant. chart position: 19
Paper Monsters - Dave Gahan This is the solo debut album by the Depeche Mode lead singer who died in 1996. Clinically, at least. You can hear an echo of Dave's descent into heroin addiction in the lyrics, that's for sure. What you won't hear are any echoes of the squeaky clean Basildon boyband pin-up from 20 years ago. It's more reminiscent of Depeche Mode's more recent guitar based angst, which is no bad thing. High points are the latest low-crawling single, Dirty Sticky Floors, and the plaintive Bono-esque Hold On. I wondered if he'd get the balance right, but I just can't get enough. chart position: 36
Gay Bar - Electric Six Just a single this time, but what a single. The natural successor to Blur's Song 2, it's a two minute slab of scream-along rock theatre. It's getting tons of radio play because it's short, so expect the hook to be lodged deep within your brain before long. The lyrics are almost incidental, almost outrageous, but don't quite make sense. Apparently there are already 5-year olds out there happily singing along with the chorus without a clue what the words mean. If you'd like to experience Gay Bar with Viking kittens (and who wouldn't), click here. Love the flying guitarist. chart position: 5
