After our hiatus last week (we hadn’t received any shiny silver discs via the Postie) we’ve got a bumper crop of stuff to make up for it. Mostly new artists, some of them worth spending your hard earned dosh on whilst others should be avoided like the plague.

Kick starting this weeks round-up is Paul Steel with Your Loss. Seemingly getting endless play on MTV2 at the moment, it’s like witnessing the birth of Supergrass again. I’m not saying this is bad, it’s an enjoyable romp through Beach Boys harmonies, 60’s guitars and sunshine rhythms, but I can’t listen to it without the nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that I’ve heard this song before…

There’s no nagging suspicion here though. This is just bloody tedious. She’s So Lovely by Scouting For Girls. For some reason, even the band name offends me. As for the song, it’s so repititious as to be pointless with the added element of being completely annoying. The Spice Girls reunion excites me more than this pile of steaming horse shit.

This is something a little out of the blue though, Malakai with their debut EP, cunningly titled EP1. It’s a mix of a whole host of influences from the Wild West (opening track The Battle) to a reggae inspired take on a debate in the Houses of Parliament (Words Like Humble). When playing it, it feels like a breath of fresh air. Processed beats walk hand-in-hand with regular drums, the vocals shift in pitch whilst the ideas flood from your speakers like a tsunami. An impressive start… let’s hope they can maintain it.

I Was A Cub Scout continue their plan for world domination with the single Our Smallest Adventures. Their bouncy beats, cheery keyboards and angular guitars can do nothing but put me in a good mood (which is what I need today). Reminding me of a more simplistic Maccabees it should cross, not only musical, but world boundaries as a means of creating peace across the land. Lovely.

Something a bit more Radio 2 now as Stephen Fretwell releases the single Scar as a taster for his new album. Nothing to get excited about, it’s a perfectly executed song with some nice acoustic guitars, his voice hinting at some deep emotional trauma just underneath the track which has a folk tinged country feel to throughout. All very pleasent.

Now this has got a bit more bite. Paramore release Hallelujah off their recent album Riot! Whilst it might not be the most original take on the whole Emo scene, it’s got some nice riffs in it, but I just can’t quite get past the fact that it sounds like Avril Lavigne fronting a more aggressive rock act… Oh well, I guess I’m getting old.

Interpol return with a single of *ahem* Mammoth proportions. The second helping from current album Our Love To Admire, the band have rarely sounded so vitriolic and spiteful with Paul Banks spitting out “that’s enough with this fucking incense” against a backdrop of soaring guitar and skull bashing drums. It sees the New York miserablists dumbing down the usual moody atmospherics in favour of a full on assault of the senses. A highlight from the album and a hands down single of the week.