ANTHEM RED - Dancing on the Dishwasher (The Company With The Golden Arm)

Without knowing the full story this might seem like a strange one. A bloke from Essex reviewing a Canadian band that are on a German label? Released in 2006? WTF indeed. But this record has recently grabbed me by the ears and demanded attention so much so that I am demanding yours: this might well be the best pop-punk album since 'Goddamnit' by Alkaline Trio. Maybe. Every song is amazing. The vocals are fantastic. The lyrics are sharp and memorable. And the tunes are huge. This band were born from the ashes of Sixty Stories who were good but this is a wholly different proposition. Truly awesome. If the proposition of Leatherface/Jawbreaker/Fifth Hour Hero tuneage done right floats your boat you simply must not go another second without hearing this. It's not the easiest record to get hold of in the UK but you can stream it here . Enjoy.

WHY? - Alopecia (Tomlab)

Latest effort from the former cLOUDDEAD man here and it's full of pleasant surprises. Taking on the form of a brilliant avant-garde mix of indie-rock, hip-hop, electronica and even pop it's quite overwhelming at first, but the strength of the tunes and the lyrical hooks (see: "Billy the Kid did what he did and he died" ad infinitum) keep you listening, and eventually it all starts to make more sense. Stand out tune for me though is the incredibly indie-pop Fatalist Palmistry which sounds more like Teenage Fanclub than any hip-hop and is a cracking tune. Why? Who cares when it's this good...

Sorry.

POLAR BEAR CLUB - Sometimes Things Just Disappear (Red Leader Records)

Decent debut album from these young Americans here. Sonically they're riding along the cusp of melodic rock similar to Hey Mercedes and punkish post-hardcore reminiscent of the much missed Small Brown Bike. They drop the ball on occasion; Another Night In The Rock is a misguided stab at radio rock that nearly hits Hoobastank territory via Glassjaw which is an odd combination. But the double whammy of the driving Hollow Place and the rousing The Bug Parade (loving the 'minutes away but miles apart' refrain at the end of this song) more than make up for it. They look like fun from the live footage I've seen as well... hopefully they can make it over to the UK at some point.

VIA AUDIO - Say Something (Side Cho)

Myspace gets a lot of stick but if it wasn't for the social networking site I would never have heard this band; I received a friend request from them a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised that they were pretty good rather than the usual dirge that would normally greet my ears. Via Audio have produced a really solid debut record here that reminds me of many great bands over the course of the eleven songs on offer here. From joyous boy/girl harmonies like Mates of State, through eerie Cursive-esque ballads and even Weezer style scuzzy rock, this is a criminally under-rated release and is deserving of your time for sure.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - Ire Works (Relapse Records)

I was there, man. Reading 2002. Well, I'd actually been watching Death Cab For Cutie play to no more than 200 people as they opened the NME stage that day, and then literally ran to see how DEP on the Main Stage at Sunday lunchtime would be received. I was met with a blistering rendition of 43% Burnt as singer Greg Puciato hurled a bag of his own shit into the audience, which was hurled back at him. So then he smeared the shit over his lovely new white t-shirt. I was both horrified and highly amused. Death Cab had been so nice and polite as well...

It's the new DEP album! Here's my background on them: I'm going to make as massive generalisation here, and say that the majority of people that like DEP's favourite stuff is from Calculating Infinity. Hearing that as a wide-eared 19 year-old was awesome. An interesting, inventive metalcore band?! Their stuff stuck more in my head than contemporaries such as Cave-In and Converge and I still don't know how the hell in Christ's name they actually write their songs.

So they did the EP with Mike Patton which was decent enough and then came out with Miss Machine, of which most reviews and comment seemed to focus on the introduction of electronica. For me the electronica sounded a little clumsy in places but had potential, and the real exciting introduction was the fact that they had written songs with proper rock riffs and choruses! This was a great development and complimented the trademark mathy chaos very well indeed.

Anyway... what does the new album bring to the table? Well, the jazz-ish rhythms and riffs remain in place and sound like no other band. I don't understand how anyone could criticise them for continuing to do the chaotic stuff because it still, eight years after I first heard the band, sounds so impressive. Opener Fix Your Face is the obvious example of this (and features Calculating Infinity vocalist Dimitri Minakakis on backing vocals too).

But there are 2 other excellent elements of Ire Works that I like. One is the introduction of an almost Jesus Lizard-esque rock'n'roll feel to some of the songs. Listen to the intro of Milk Lizard (Lizard in the title, eh? Coincidence? Hmmm!), it's total rock'n'roll fun. There are other little riffs that pop up all through the album too and it's good to hear them engage the listener in such a way.

The other enjoyable thing about the album is the much, much improved electronica element. I really didn't enjoy stuff like Phone Home from Miss Machine, it sounded like pseudo-Nine Inch Nails guff and was a waste of time. But something like Sick on Sunday is great, melding Squarepusher-esque dynamics into the band's sound rather than opposing it and standing out like a sore thumb. And the glitchy bits of When Acting as a Wave sound fucking brilliant. More please!

So, if you like the Dillinger Escape Plan trademark sound, you will enjoy this album. They've sorted the electronic stuff out, the riffs are still ridiculous, they have proper songs now and properly rock them out and it's a huge rollercoaster of a listen. However, if you're not a fan, this isn't going to change your mind. Good shit!