There's nothing groundbreaking about the guitar trio's arrangements, but there is a haunting immediacy across a range of styles, from the droll polka "Baby Shaker" to the sprightly two-step "A Desperate Cry for Help", a pastiche of Johnny Cash's glum fatalism.  Full text...

Illinois trio The Beauty Shop, provide a light but punchy dose of alt.indie, countrified and spaced out with clean rattling guitars.  Full text...

Four years is a long time from which to return to the party with just half an album and this seems like an odd gamble for the Illinois band whose earlier efforts have been highly praised.  Full text...

In fact it is actually a selection of tracks taken from the band's debut and second albums, which never saw the light of day on this side of the Atlantic.  Full text...