The summer is always a little devoid of good music. It’s the only reason Kate Nash is getting any press at the moment, some shrewd marketing from her label there. Anyways, we’ve got a whole host of singles this week vying for your money. Most of them are acts just bubbling away under the surface of recognition, but we’ve also got the welcome return of Sheffield’s favourite son, Richard Hawley.

Attacking the senses first up this week are The Courteeners, this week’s post-Libertines fodder. Though they sound very much like The Jam, lead singer Liam Fray has Weller’s snarl, their lyrics deal with the more mundane side of life like taking drugs and trying to be cool. Cavorting is the title, but I was a little tired by their pretention’s of grandeur by the end.

Something a little fresher are The Soundcarriers. I Had A Girl is the perfect soundtrack to the summer, now that it’s arrived. Dreamy, Californian melodies and harmonies, it’s rich in the summer of love vibe and feels like a flowery stream washing over you. It’s a glorious sunshine filled song, with the B-Side Without Sound building on this Mama & The Papa’s feel that sounds, in today’s climate, as fresh as the morning dew. Lovely.

Back to the streets now with Innocence from Autokat. The dirty riffs and thumping drums really do mark this out, the hazy vocals seem to give this track a retro feel and one steeped in late night trawls through a city. It’s really rather good and Autokat have definitely marked themselves out as someone to watch. Hailing from Manchester, they’re more influenced by New Order than the current crop of indie-boys with guitars and it makes a welcome change.

This week also see’s the second release from The Beep Seals. Another British band that are looking beyond our shores for influences. Stars is like the bastard love child of the Super Furry Animals and Pavement, a twisted indie-pop song that bounces along with harmonies, organs and a thumping bass line. Nice.

DFA’s latest darlings Prinzhorn Dance School release the, quite frankly bonkers, Crackerjack Docker. These guys show a lot of potential and sound unlike anything else out there at the moment. It’s hard to see them get quite the same following as LCD Soundsystem, their songs are completely deconstructed. The odd, stream of conscious lyrics that seem to be made up of random thoughts and sayings are accompanied by nothing more than a bass, guitar and drums that sound so minimal that you probably wouldn’t notice them if they weren’t there at all. It’s just plain different. And I like it. And it would be single of the week if it wasn’t for…

The return of Richard Hawley. The man from Sheffield who has a voice that doesn’t seem to fit with his exterior is back with Tonight The Streets Are Ours. It’s all you’d come to expect from one of Britain’s finest, and still under-rated, songwriters. The music seems to have been beefed up a bit, there’s some luxurious strings in the background that bring to mind romantic strolls along a river, steeling kisses under a clear night sky with the stars acting as a blanket. Yes, it’s that good. It does, however, raises expectations for the forthcoming Lady’s Bridge out in a couple of weeks.

mp3:> Richard Hawley: The Nights Are Cold (acoustic)
[From Late Night Final; out now on Setanta]