CD reviews.

The Morning After Girls ( Shadows Evolve

From Melbourne springs this gift from The Morning After Girls. Their debut album is a screeching, smutty mix of rousing, psychedelic guitar fuzz.

Nodding to the sleazy, spaced-out greatness of The Velvet Underground, this album slices through the ears with a frightening crash of feedback, gripping the listener with a searing scorch of hazy, power-driven sound waves.

Shadow Evolve presents the record-buying public with a groaning shuttle launch of tracks, ranging from the blinding, thrashing blitzkrieg of Fireworks to the beautiful subtlety of Lazy Greys, which sounds an awful lot like the dreamy Dandy Warhols track Godless.

Gift-wrapped in a scalding blaze of high voltage and tied with a satin ribbon of exotic distortion, this is one parcel worth opening.

ESTHER BEADLE 

Single Reviews: The Streets ( Never Went to Church

There is a dramatic departure in the theme and style of Never Went to Church, The Streets' follow-up to When You Wasn't Famous.

Mike Skinner converses over a simple piano medley and a leisurely-paced beat, with poignant lyrics about the abyss felt with the recent passing of his dad. Skinner has, as usual, come up with his unique take on the world, with a fantastic preamble: "Two great European narcotics ( alcohol and Christianity. I know which one I prefer."

Even though it is a nice and thoughtful piece, I find it a strange and curious option as a single release because it lacks that extra little something that makes it a standout song.

It is a fine effort in lyrical expression but an unexpected choice to release. Never Went to Church is out on June 5.

NARINDER PURBA

The Kooks ( She Moves In Her Own Way

Appropriately for a band named after a Bowie album track, the sound of The Kooks is unmistakably British.

The breezy melody and bittersweet lyrics of She Moves In Her Own Way recall The Kinks and the more sensitive side of Britpop ( early Boo Radleys, for instance.

It was also quite refreshing to hear the clipped, lilting vocals delivered in a regional accent, as opposed to some ludicrous, cod-American squawk.

That said, the influences on the single are so prominent that there isn't much room left for anything new, and while She Moves In Her Own Way is perfectly pleasant to listen to, it hardly compels the listener to run about the streets singing its praises.

RICHARD FARRAGE

The All-American Rejects ( Dirty Little Secret

I don't wish to sound cynical, but The All-American Rejects (or at least their label) seem less concerned with the quality of their music than with flogging it to middle-class teenagers who think wearing a Good Charlotte T-shirt would be, like, totally outrageous.

I'm sure they'll be hugely successful in this mission though, as powerpop single Dirty Little Secret, clearly constructed with the moshpit in mind, is as infectious as it is unpleasant.

This is like a guilty pleasure without the pleasure. I think I need a cold shower.

RICHARD FARRAGE