Far from being an inter-album stop-gap, this EP represents nothing less than the fruits of a musical brain that simply doesn't know how to stop creating goodness.

It's the Bostonians' simplicity that's most endearing though, and this is a terrific, hangover-inducing return to form.

Put simply, this is another wonderful release from a brilliant band.

Their songs, while essentially playful and lovable--more so than ever on Vs Evil, the San Francisco band's 10th album, which features near-lounge music moments--have a hard centre and are often tricky to parse, thanks in no small part to Satomi Matsuzaki's lyrics.

Lonesome guitars wend their way through the shimmer of rising heat, synth swells collapse into dust and a plaintive violin calls to a long-lost lover, all of which twines itself together to form a rich experimental drone that's as vast, lonely and unending as the desert images they conjure.

The way they put together their country-rock is rarely less than tasteful with some nice moments, like the sinuous guitar riff of 'Calamity Song'. Only on 'January Hymn', though, where they capture the stillness and melancholy of winter beautifully, do you forget to check the joinery.

It's still apparent that Mogwai have, once again, produced a record of astonishing subtlety.

Whitechapel are one of the best and downright annihilating bands their field.

A lofty debut effort indeed.

This is perhaps BTBAM's most compact, streamlined effort to date, and despite the convoluted, sci-fi indebted concept which forms its lyrical foundation (Google it), this is a seriously aggressive half hour of power.

Circa Survive have managed to stay both relevant and utterly compelling – not just surviving but thriving.

It all combines to make Citizen’s gloomiest, most atmospheric record yet--and also one of the most disturbing of the year so far. It’s a memorable journey.

A stunning opener to the album, its dynamic range, gleaming melody and driving anthemic nature exemplify what this band was always all about.

Continuing where the dark grooves of 8's Nude With Boots left off, The Bride… exhibits the perfect marriage between the Big Business boys and Melvins main-men King Buzzo and Dale Crover.

Trouble is, after one listen it becomes evident that MB hardly benefit from further investigation – they’re just another hipster band who got lucky.

There's enough excitement and progression here to make Chasing Ghosts a worthwhile look.

While A Nation Sleeps is typically impassioned, excellent stuff that marries wretched, raw aggression and political indignation with massive melodies that are just on the right side of cheesy.

It’s the newfound multi-layered vocals of Mike Hranica and Jeremy DePoyster that give tracks like ‘War’ and ‘Sailor’s Prayer’ a compelling dexterity of textures and allows each track to venture into previously uncharted territory with the utmost conviction.

Beastmilk have created a seductively dark slab of post-punk which manages to not take itself too seriously, while still being brilliant enough for it not to become comical. And that’s a fine balance.

Closing with the smart anti-hymn 'Glory Hallelujah', England Keep My Bones never falters. The soundtrack to this summer? Screw that--these songs will be soundtracking many of our lives for years to come.

Ferocious and beautiful--Funeral For A Friend sound more like themselves than they have done in years.

True, at an hour-plus, only myopic fans would contest Forgiveness drags a little by the end, albeit brightened by penultimate Pavement-a-like ditty 'Water In Hell'.

The eagerly anticipated album from London based indie-rock three-piece The Joy Formidable far exceeds all expectation.

Is ninth record ‘Everything Will Be Alright In The End’ in the same league as 1994’s Blue Album or its follow up ‘Pinkerton’? Not quite, but it gives it a good go.

Ixora is an impressive revival that shows there’s life in these stalwarts yet.

It adds up to another deft, mature and utterly addictive release.

Those of thinkers Catherine Keller and Gaston Bachelard--are more complex than you might at first imagine, making Asleep On The Floodplain an album whose surface you can lazily drift upon or one into which you can dive as deep as your lungs will allow.

Rave Tapes is a diverse and supremely confident record.