New Bloods, Alaska in Winter and Giveamanakick among this week's reviews.

NEW BLOODS
The Secret Life
Kill Rock Stars
***

Even more surprising than the scarcity of non-white women in punk is the gigantic, glorious racket New Bloods (Osa, Adee and Cassia) make with just three members. Their nearest musical ancestors are The Slits, albeit with added violin. Not only do this Oregon trio favour the riot grrrl reggae and tribal tics of their predecessors, they do it with the same rough-around-the-edges approach. Osa's violin adds an extra dimension, running amok through eerie high notes and chaotic dips. A big part of its charm is the way it captures a rehearsal room rawness that gets under your skin. Fast Asleep is all about the cheap drum kicks, and murky bass dominates on Oh Deadly Nightshade. Barely 24 minutes long, it's fresh and furious. The demo feel might be too unpolished for some, but the sheer vim is hard to ignore. www.myspace.com/thenewbloods SINÉAD GLEESON

Download Tracks: Fast Asleep, Oh Deadly Nightshade

JESSE MALIN
On Your Sleeve
One Little Indian

Viewed by some as the unlucky Stan Laurel to Ryan Adams's Oliver Hardy, Jesse Malin has been around the block a few times in his various guises as subdued singer-songwriter, alt.country guy and Clash-influenced punk.

When an artist releases an album of cover versions, it's assumed that they are experiencing a fallow spell or that they want out of a record contract, but there's nothing here to suggest any drop in quality control.

His choice of covers ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous: when he tackles Louis Armstrong's Wonderful Worldit's a decidedly ho-hum moment; when he undertakes The Hold Steady's You Can Make Him Like You, however, it's sheer class.

Blending awe and a spirit of adventure in songs from the likes of Paul Simon, The Ramones, Nilsson and Elton John might just get Malin that high profile he deserves.

Download tracks: Do You Remember Rock'n'Roll Radio?, You Can Make Him Like You

TONY CLAYTON-LEA

THE ENVY CORPS
Dwell
Vertigo
**

When the conspiracy theorists have done proving that Jackie shot JFK, they should turn their attention to a more pressing issue: does Thom Yorke have an alibi for The Envy Corps' major-label debut album? Singer Luke Pettipoole's intake-of-breath histrionics sound so like Yorke it's hard to believe they're not the same person. Granted, Muse's Matt Bellamy has already got away with it on this front, but will the record-buying public have room in its heart for a second Thom Thumb? Pettipoole's Yorke problem only reflects his band's deeper identity crisis: they're not from England, they're from Iowa. As a result, even the best songs here - Rhinemaidens, Keys To Good Living, Rooftop- seem haunted by inauthenticity. Almost as soon as this album has grown on you, it will start shrinking again.

[  www.theenvycorps.comOpens in new window ]

Download tracks: Rhinemaidens, Keys To Good Living

DARAGH Ó'DÚBHÁIN

ALASKA IN WINTER
Dance Party in the Balkans
Regular Beat
****

Brandon Bethancourt didn't have to look far for the name. The New Mexico native wrote most of his debut album during a winter spent with a laptop and a couple of Dostoyevsky novels in Alaska. That location probably accounts for some of the more isolated moods and atmospheres on the album ( The Homeless and the Hummingbirdsand Don't Read Dostoyevsky, for example), but it's the contributions from old friends back in Albuquerque - particularly Beirut's Zach Condon and A Hawk and a Hacksaw's Heather Trost - that make this release a must-hear. Whether it's Trost's bitter-sweet violin introducing The Beautiful Burial Flowers We Will Never Seeor Condon's vocals on Close Your Eyes - We Are Blind, the pair embellish Bethancourt's fragile songs without stealing the limelight from him.

[  www.myspace.com/alaskainwinterOpens in new window ]

Download tracks: Close Your Eyes - We Are Blind, The Homeless and the Hummingbirds

JIM CARROLL

GIVEAMANAKICK
Welcome to the Cusp
Monkey Heart
***

Buck-wild energy and headstrong abandon have always fuelled Limerick duo Giveamanakick on record. This time, though, Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler have added some width and depth to the plot. You can hear that on Spring Break!, a track with fantastic wallop, oodles of atmosphere and a tightly coiled sound. Indeed, it's when GAMAK take the time to draw out the menace and tension - as in

I Dream of Shavings- that their third album threatens to turn into a really good piece of work. However, for the most part, the duo seem keener to put the pedal to the floor and produce waves of two-dimensional noise. It's all good fun, but a set of outside ears would have detected the subtleties and brought these to the fore. A good record, but you know - and they know - that they are capable of much more.

[  www.myspace.com/giveamanakickOpens in new window ]

Download tracks: Spring Break!, I Dream of Shavings

JIM CARROLL

JOHN SPILLANE
My Dark Rosaleen & The Island Of Dreams
EMI
***

He's carved a niche writing melodic, compelling, simple songs. John Spillane's latest collection continues to mine that boyish innocence, by which he seeks the universal in the particular: in childhood memories, early and unrequited love, and his declared love for mother and country. Spillane is at his best when his delivery is unforced and lyrical: There Was a Manand Not My Lovetrickle and flow with hypnotic ease. Gortatagortand Beautiful Ballincolligare too force-fed to stand the test of repeated listening, though, and Ireland Free, despite its genteel harmonies, is determinedly simplistic, revisionist doggerel masquerading as romantic history. A borrowing from the late poet Michael Hartnett proves more successful, in The Ghost Of Billy Mulville.

[ www.johnspillane.ieOpens in new window ]

Download tracks: Not My Love, Dark Rosaleen

SIOBHÁN LONG

DAWN KINNARD
The Courtesy Fall
Kensaltown
***

Everybody needs an angle. So here is Kinnard's: a Baptist preacher's daughter from rural Pennsylvania, she cut hair for a living while spending her spare time touring the country on her Harley, where she learned the roots of roots music. She was discovered by KT Tunstall's manager and brought to Blighty, where she recorded this very promising if uneven collection of originals. As the time seems right for husky-voiced blondes (see Duffy), she's got the zeitgeist on her side as well as a killer voice with real presence and an ability to squeeze every last ounce of emotion out of it (cue her fine duet with Ed Harcourt on Clear the Way). There are bits of folk, blues, pop, prog rock, soul and country in the mix, but the voice is the real deal and she knows how to use it. And when songs like the steaming Fortunetellermatch it she is quite something.

[ www.dawnkinnard.comOpens in new window ]

Download tracks: All in Your Head, Fortuneteller, Clear the Way

JOE BREEN