No Sleep, 2010

On their sophomore effort, these Pennsylvania pop-punkers stay reassuringly on aim. The Upsides is a pop-punk record through and through: enthusiastic, fast, youthful, abundant in its nasal vocals and group chants. The songs about growing up, touring, hometown malaise and homesickness, best friends and (ex-)girlfriends are immediately recognisable – which is bad if you want originality, good if want something fun to sing along to.

Self-released, 2010

Communipaw’s debut comprises some gentle indie rock with a fondness for alt-country and a leisurely guitar solo or two. Earnest and upbeat, if touched by melancholy, the twelve tracks take a generally unassuming tack, which proves a slight weakness – a lot of the album simply passes you by. Still, highlights like “Heaven, Who You” and “Balzhauf” certainly make it worth the free download (or $5 for a physical copy).

Bridge Nine, 2010

There was a lot of anticipation for this record after the ambitious Is Dead, and the Long Island quintet don’t disappoint. Or not much, anyway – with its emotionally-barbed rock, noisy punk outbursts, and perpetual thirst for experimentation, I Was Trying… is better than its predecessor, if not quite the gamechanger some predicted (and a touch too reminiscent of fellow Islanders Brand New).

River Seine, 2010

Two Oregon sons of preachers combine their passion for digging up ancient relics and upbeat folk-pop harmonies for this homely debut full-length. Their backgrounds make for some predictably ripe lyrical territory: sins, faith, heaven and hell provide the ruminative fire behind the hand-claps and gentle instrumentation.

Gustaff, 2009

Following up the stunning Treny, Pentral sees Poland’s Michal Jacaszek attempting to describe a gothic church interior via sound. What results is a much more difficult record; less richly textured, less coherently musical, more capricious. There’s plenty of darkly meditative ambience, but this is interrupted by blasts of discordant organs, as if the church harboured a melodramatic villain within its rafters. Fascinating, if not the masterpiece that Treny was.

Endgame, 2010

Not to be confused with Motion City Soundtrack, this Kent foursome play rock of a much more broody ilk. On their lushly produced debut the vocals croon and soar above guitars, drums, and piano that sweep, pound, and twinkle respectively in response. This is carefully orchestrated drama: at worst wading into tamely histrionic radio territory, at best creating something stirring and powerful.

Viper Bite, 2010

Goodbye God is a mixed bag – part power-pop, veering at its most sugary toward quirky synth-pop (see “Days Of Thunder”), part subtle indie rock, where songwriter Jon Sebastian’s confiding voice takes precedence (see “It’s A Miracle”). It’s a brief assortment, with 12 tracks at under half an hour, and a bit disjointed – but enough strong individual songs make it worth a spin.

Self-released, 2010

Heights’ debut EP kicks off with a sweeping tremolo guitar riff, before shifting into Meshuggah-inspired riffing and screaming, and then dabbling in some electro ambience – essentially summing up the Hertfordshire quintet’s ambitions in the first minute. The Land… brings to mind UK contemporaries like Devil Sold His Soul and Fell Silent. Not wholly original, but a promising start.

Tangled Talk, 2010

Bastions play some fairly brutal hardcore, somewhat like a more straightforward Dillinger Escape Plan, or a more metallic Gallows. The Welsh quartet’s third EP shows a band high on confidence, their abundant aggression focused into songs that are impressively tight (if still deliberately raw). Originally self-released, this is being re-pressed on Tangled Talk complete with screenprinted artwork.

Chocolate Lab, 2010

MTIO’s debut full-length is well-named – it’s a kaleidoscopic and psychedelic trip through jazzy post-rock, with the sparse, mostly indecipherable vocals sounding as if they’re worshipping some rare cosmic event. Keyboard and guitar solos roam the dense mix like hyperactive thoughts on a record that’s as retro as it is rife with modern experimentation. Gratifyingly weird.