Japanese Voyeurs have a new album and plenty of tour dates in the pipeline, which means someone must think they’re doing all right. I remain to be impressed.

Remember when Jane’s Addiction weren’t a stadium-rock parody of the band they started out as? Middle Class Rut strip that down to the basics, and it rules.

Cyberpunk alt-rock quartet Zeropunk are nowhere near as good as they think they are… but they think it hard enough that they might just get away with it.

Much-lauded grunge revivalists Dinosaur Pile-Up roll into Manchester, proving themselves to be capably raucous and angsty, but regrettably samey.

Newport prog-grungers Blue Gillespie aren’t the jazz outfit that their name implies; low-slung nihilist alt-metal is the sound of Synaesthesia. Get yer bleak on.

Page Hamilton’s back again; I didn’t hear the last two Helmet albums, but I’ll bet my bruised and paper-cut balls that they weren’t as good as Seeing Eye Dog.

Newport outfit Spiridion mash up Deftones and Tool very successfully on their self-released debut A Moment Of Clarity. Give ‘em time, and they could be awesome.

This is the fourth studio album by Superbutt. They’re big in their homeland of Hungary, you know… and by all merits, they should be fairly big over here, too.

Californian garage noiseniks Thee Oh Sees are a lot of fun to watch while they make their revivalist psyche-pop pastiches, but not as much fun to listen to.

Another band with J Mascis in the line-up? No prizes for guessing Sweet Apple‘s Love & Desperation is bluesy rock all through, then… but what’s the story?