Silversun Pickups - There’s no secrets this year

Droney, middle-of-the-road rock with repetitive lyrics and irritating nasal vocals. They’ve been compared to Smashing Pumpkins, I can only presume this is due to their grungey sound and has nothing to do with their lyrical capacity or limited musical variation. It’s not especially bad it’s just not good either.

Review by Louise Morris

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

The latest single from the energetic New York trio shows a dramatic shift away from their earlier sound of infectious guitar driven punk which had become more sophisticated by their second album with less yelping. Though Karen O’s gasping vocals are still there the vitality with which she sang before seems deadened by the overriding synths. 'Zero' has a distinctively 80’s feel apparently influenced by Joy Division, which is being reproduced everywhere at the moment, though I never thought the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s would be a band that would follow the crowd.

Review by Louise Morris