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Pete Doherty is many different things to different people; musician, junkie and to some genius. Shotter's Nation has led me to think of him as a kind of musical archeologist sifting through the topsoil of modern indie and digging deeper into the veins of music that can be carbon dated to the sixties and seventies, what some might term a golden age of British music. Doherty, and Babyshambles, appear to have taken the raw core of various bands dotted throughout the strata of rock history and melded them to form a sometimes anarchic, sometimes brilliant and sometimes incredibly dull alloy of the last thirty years or so of this island's musical heritage. Throughout Shotter' Nation there are clear nods (or direct lifts - the type of which not seen with such a lack of shame since... well since Therapy?'s shameless...) to the Kinks. A few basslines that could claim to be 'influenced' by The Cure and I don't know why but it strikes me there is a vauge undercurrent of the Manic...

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Whilst X-Factor is winning the TV ratings war in the search for the perfect pop act, Hybrid has released yet another genre-busting album combining orchestral backing and dirty complex breaks with pop vocals and melodies.

Should the thousands of hopefuls be looking to the Swansea-based dynamic duo for inspiration, or is their new album I Choose Noise not quite what the judges are looking for?

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With a title like Screwing You On The Beach At Night, there are no suprises in the Bloodhound Gang’s latest single. With puerile lyrics (“I would show up for our pottery class, Dressed like a pirate with John Water's mustache, On a unicorn that shits your name in stars”), the band stick to what made them popular in the first place—catchy songs and crazy lyrics. This single is one of those tunes that will stick in your head after a few listens, although it is somewhat generic and if you do find yourself humming the tune, I doubt you will be able to identify where the song is from. The video for this single is where things get fun. A remake of Chris Isaac's famous video for 'Wicked Game', named VH1's 'sexiest video of all time', the Bloodhound Gang version is a typicaly satirical take on the video, made in the same style as the original but with Jimmy Pop acting his usual self, leading to a great video. You can compare them yourself below thanks to youtube. There is also a...

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I had real trouble reviewing this album. I kept putting it on with the full intention of sitting down, listening and critiquing. Problem was, I just kept 'forgetting' to pay attention. Okay, the first couple of times could be put down to tiredness/restlessness/having something on your mind. The 8th or 9th time? Let's face it, my life just isn't that interesting (or eventful). The promotion leaflet I received with the CD stated that, lyrically, the album dealt with the trials and tribulations of life "...whilst presenting an upbeat way to survive and get through it all". That, I'm afraid, is a lie. This album is not upbeat. It has, altogether, one tempo. That tempo is 'dirge'. The opening track, Stay, was a strange amalgamation of Muse-like progressive rock, 80's electronica (complete with 80's sounding lead vocalist) and James Bond theme. In fact, alot of the album listens like it was written for the dark and rainy action sequences of films like Batman Begins. ...

St Andrews folk pop

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King Creosote, the alias of Scottish musician Kenny Anderson, is an enigmatic troubadour, a sort of rural Dylan drunk on traditional folk balladry yet swimming in a DIY indie sea. Without sounding anything like them, King Creosote's Home In A Sentence reminds me of 4AD's early Red House Painters, all gently wistful yet with a melancholic edge. Anderson is no where near as epic but Home In A Sentence is a sauntering wander through music's softer parts, sort of like a tea and biscuit instead of a pint of bourbon. A memorable strum, Home In A Sentence is out this week on The Beats record label. http://www.kingcreosote.com/

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Bald-headedly riffing their way onto the opening slot of the night, the rhyming-based vocal assault and "Old English"-fonted logo of Vendetta serve to pretty much perfectly set the tone and attitude of more or less every band on tonight's bill at The Barfly. A walking catalogue of Biohazard merchandise, the members of Vendetta really wear their influences on their sleeves... And chests, and backs, and guitar straps... Despite not exactly brimming with originality in the name, image and sound departments, the five lads from Peterborough more than make up for this with an abundance of raw aggression, precise playing ability and a knack for well-structured songwriting that is a rare find in a style of music that is often too focused on churning out constant chugging metal rage to ever stop and consider just how well one brutal riff is connecting to the next. Don't get me wrong, Pink Floyd they ain't, but Vendetta's barrage of brutality is presented to the listener in a manner...

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This is dirty Indie-pop with an Alarm sound updated into the noughties. It is marching music overlaid with guitar riffs and an under-produced quality that ensures the band retain an underground feel to the music that will appeal to some listeners. The band moved to East Berlin in December 2006 following an offer of studio time in return for playing in a club. They packed their belongings and went to Germany wanting an adventure. On arriving they moved into a squat without electricity or running water and knuckled down into writing and recording new material. It is often the case in art that the best comes from times of hardship and difficulty. Certainly Myriad Creatures have given us a track that is memorable and stomping. Myriad Creatures have become well known in Germany due to energetic live performances and guerrilla gigs. They have attained much airplay in Germany and are now resident at Café Zapata in the heart of the Tacheles Arts Centre. The period of hardship has...

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This is a wicked tune. I love the energy of it. I love the slightly sneering, Billy-Idol-meets-Johnny-Rotten, vocalist. I love the way the music rages like it’s a Pop-Punk ball and everyone’s invited. I love that it made me bounce about my living-room like a rabbit on speed, yelling along with what words I could. I even love that I can’t quite figure out most of the lyrics. I know, it’s a shocker – I’ve finally found a song I’m singing praises of. It shocked the hell outta me too but every time I put His Lyrics Are Disastrous on I couldn’t fight the urge to tap my feet. Then sort of chair-dance. Then get up and jump about. Then shout-a-long in a vaguely in-tune way. Jakobinarina, as I’m sure you’ll know from reading Foxgloves review of their debut album The First Crusade, (which, incidentally, I also think is excellent) are an Icelandic pop-punk band populated by slightly deranged teenagers and fronted by a singer with a vaguely Germanic accent who smacks of the...

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This is Athlete’s third album. 9 months in the making it is finally making an appearance in the shops (released at the beginning of September), some 7 months after the recording finished and the production began. It has a lot to live up to as Athlete are one of those rare bands whose second release, Tourist, (the release that is widely believed to be the most difficult one) outperformed and outsold their successful debut offering. However, given such a successful second release in the album Tourist, left Athlete in perhaps an unenviable position when trying to make a third album which needed to be at least equal to Tourist given the 3 year gap and that the band have been out of the music magazines and touring circuit. The ambient mood of Athlete’s songs give them a distinct quality that takes them away from the group name that is usually used to describe them – Britpop. Athlete are a band who are not as easily defined by this word as so many other British Indie bands of...