Feel good hits of the 31st October

1. 'Comfy In Nautica' - Panda Bear
As opening tracks on albums go, this is simply stunning. More fool me for taking so long to get round to listening to Person Pitch. Asked to describe it for the sticker to go on the front of the album, a Rough Trade East employee responded: "Simple, take the Beatles White Album and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and it would sound like this ... with owls". High praise indeed - and it's merited.

2. 'Wooden Trunk Blues' - The August List
Speaking of opening tracks, here's another - a live acoustic version of the song that kicks off O Hinterland, the debut from Oxfordshire-based alt-country The August List. They're not local darlings without good reason.

3. 'It's Over' - Ty Segall
It's that man again. Manipulator is perhaps a bit flabby, but its high points - 'It's Over' included - are right up there with anything else he's ever done.

4. 'Fire Spirit' - The Gun Club
Thanks to Iggy Pop, Nick Cave and Thurston Moore for coaxing me into investing in The Gun Club's first album Fire Of Love. 'Sex Beat' and 'For The Love Of Ivy' were already familiar (the latter due to the Japandroids cover on Celebration Rock), but it's 'Fire Spirit' that's my current earworm.

5. 'Annalisa' - Public Image
Another band I've finally investigated and am discovering what I've been missing out on. 'Annalisa' is good enough to excuse pretty much anything idiotic that comes out of John Lydon's mouth.

6. 'Kiss Ass To Your Peer Group' - No Trend
From Public Image to a band heavily influenced by Public Image, and one I'd never heard of until directed to debut album Too Many Humans by my chum Matt of cuddly popsters Necro Deathmort. As that title would suggest, they were a misanthropic bunch (the title track's chorus is "Too many humans / You breed like rats / And you're no fucking better"), while 'Kiss Ass To Your Peer Group' is a venomous commentary on the irony of the conformity of those within the hardcore/straight edge scene. This article recounts the history of a band that made it their mission to piss off and alienate absolutely everyone, including their own fanbase. No Trend indeed.

7. 'Possessed' - Eagulls
The final song (inevitably) of Eagulls' set at the Jericho Tavern the weekend before last - and probably the first one you might actually find yourself humming.

8. 'Intro' - Warpaint
A gentle introduction to Warpaint's second album, and characteristic in being pleasant enough without ever threatening to become genuinely arresting.

9. 'Minotaur' - John Knox Sex Club
I'm hearing a bit of Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, but perhaps the best description is early punky Idlewild playing late folky Idlewild. Basically, very Scottish.

10. 'Metal Flake' - The Young
Matador signings who I recently came across and who have a nice line in chunky indie rock riffage (though a bit of YouTube research suggests this track is head and shoulders above anything else they've done).