Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg (4AD)

When art school student Tom Dowse heard fellow scholar Florence Shaw articulating her thoughts in a darkly sardonic manner, he invited her to join his band, and she agreed as long as she didn’t have to sing. So after two well-received EP’s, we now have an album of raucous post-punk, with Shaw’s acerbic observations of her life on top, and while this might sound inaccessible, it really is surprisingly good.      

    
Dry Cleaning - Scrapyard Lanyard

The Green House Band - Ocotillo (Self-released)

Denver sextet The Green House Band are an old-fashioned rock band, fronted by the soulful vocals of Marlee Sacks, and with their roots firmly in US soul, funk and Americana. The review I read sold this as a folk album, which it most certainly isn’t, but it was so good that I kept it anyway, as sometimes you just need to listen to some well-played rock music from a no-frills band who know exactly what they’re doing.      

    

The Green House Band - Another World

John Myrtle - Myrtle Soup (Sad Club)

London-based singer/songwriter John Myrtle has released his debut album of 60’s-tinged indie/folk, and the songs articulate his feelings about his time spent in lockdown, questioning (perhaps too much) the things that matter to him. Once of these things is making soup, which is referenced on instrumentals ‘On The Hob’ and ‘Soup’s Up', but the rest of the songs are all finely-honed 60’s-influenced pop.      

    
John Myrtle - Get Her Off My Mind

Green Diesel - After Comes The Dark (Talking Elephant)

This is Green Diesel's fourth album, but their first as a five-piece, with the addition of ex-Galley Beggar drummer Paul Dadswell. All members have written at least one song, and they add in some traditional pieces, all played in a style that mixes Steeleye Span with early Genesis and Caravan. The Greg Ireland original ‘Follow The River’ defines their sound, and shows what a great progressive-folk band they are.    

       

Green Diesel - Follow The River

Matt Berry - The Blue Elephant (Acid Jazz)

Comedian Matt Berry has had a concurrent career as a singer/songwriter since his first album ‘Jackpot’ in 2000, and unlike some comics, who treat their music as a joke, Berry takes his extremely seriously, and his tenth album is a fine collection of his musings. He plays all the instruments himself bar the drums, and he painted Joseph Merrick for use as the cover, resulting in what could be his best album to date. 

    
Matt Berry - Aboard

Possum - Lunar Gardens (Idee Fixe)

You can almost tell from their album titles of ‘Space Grade Assembly' and 'Lunar Gardens’ what Possum will sound like, and you’d be right, with their music being a great mix of psyche, garage and prog, topped off with a healthy dose of space-rock, and that's the focus for this album. The urgent garage rock of their debut has given way to trippy psychedelic workouts in amongst the driving riffing, and it's all great stuff.      

    

Possum - Clarified Budder

Mt. Misery - Once Home, No Longer (Prefect Records)

The Hartlepool trio belie their name by delivering a great summery indie-pop album, filled with catchy hooks and uplifting ballads. Comparisons have been made to Teenage Fanclub, but there’s a gentle mood here that isn't always evident on TF songs, added to which there's a US West Coast vibe to some tracks, so you end up with an album that’s perfect to use to wind down after a hard day at the office.      

    
Mt. Misery - The Dreaming Days Are Over