razz rocks: soundcheck.

The Just Joans - Hey Boy...You're So Sensitive

THIS is the latest mini-album from the Motherwell group named after Scotland's greatest agony aunt, Joan Burnie. As ever the music is clever and whimsical, but with that Lanarkshire grit at its core so it doesn't sound twee. Kicking things off is the title track - a love song between a ned and what sounds like a student librarian. It's a match made in heaven sounding like mid-tempo ground between Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian. Next up, What Do We Do Now?, is a tartan kitchen sink drama that has the genius of Squeeze's poetry in lyrics like "Nothing's quite the same/Except the Buckfast bottles in the rain". Then there's the gorgeous 50s soundscape of Ma Baby (He's Boring). Piano-driven sadness is also reflected in The Telly's S****... Without You. The Just Joans make you smile while you cry. A bit like Joan herself. The album is out now. www.myspace.com/the justjoans

Krash Slaughta - Plans for an Interplanetary Bust EP

ANOTHER incredible slice of Scots hip-hop.

Taking his lead from the jazzy beats of the Native Tongues Posse - which includes De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and the Jungle Brothers - Krash Slaughta produces positive tunes that make you walk like you're on the moon.

Despite his tough name, the first tune is loved-up Reverse Scratch Psychology, which spells out that you need love in your life and sets out the EP's manifesto.

But it's not just hippy speak that sets this man apart - his use of scratching is as good as anything you'll hear. Just in time for Halloween is the cartoon sci-fi terror of The Lab, which puts the hop in 60s song Monster Mash.

Needles Of Def boasts a genius use of a buzzsaw, while Watch Da Birdie has nursery teacher samples and a jungle beat that makes you feel like the Lion King.

Final tune, Choo Wah, has the interplanetary madness of the Beastie Boys if they'd written the latest Bond theme.

The EP is out now.

www.myspace.com/krashslaughta Rick Fulton

www.myspace.com/rickfulton1