Feel good hits of the 27th April

(The last time I did one of these, back in December, I vowed to "post them with greater frequency in 2019". That pledge has aged well...)

1. 'Tough Enough' - Ex Hex
Glorious pop-rock from Mary Timony's crew, kicking off second album It's Real. Business as usual, basically - though perhaps not what you'd expect from someone raised on DC hardcore and Yngwie Malmsteen. Sadly, the chances of me catching their Bristol show at the end of May are fading.

2. 'Sound' - Big/Brave
If it hadn't been for this interview with Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) by Sam Shepherd, an old Nightshift colleague, I would never have come across Big/Brave. They're on Anderson's Southern Lord label, their collaborators include members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra, and they've toured with Deafheaven. 'Sound' is a terrific blur of amp rumble, drone and feedback perfect for anyone who finds Anderson's band a bit too abstract.

3. 'Late Night City' - Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard
An NME feature and a debut TV appearance - things are clearly taking off for Cardiff's premier nu-glam troupe. And with songs like 'Late Night City', it's little wonder. Their Late Night City Sermon show at Clwb Ifor Bach on 5th May is shaping up to be one of the Welsh capital's gigs of the year.

4. 'Wide Awake' - Parquet Courts
At some point after Sunbathing Animal, I lost touch with/interest in Parquet Courts. I'm not entirely sure why (I loved Light Up Gold), but that doesn't really matter - what does is that we've now reconnected through last year's Wide Awake LP. They've never sounded quite so free. The punkier songs ('Total Football', 'Almost Had To Start A Fight/In And Out Of Patience') certainly hit the spot, but so do most of the bold diversions into different territory ('Back To Earth', 'Tenderness', 'Mardi Gras Beads'). The irresistible title track falls into the latter camp, bringing the party with a Talking Heads/Rapture vibe.

5. 'TCR' - Sleaford Mods
Ashamed to admit that I'd never heard this until this month's gig. What a fantastic song. Not only does it underline why so many people have compared Sleaford Mods to The Fall, it also finds Jason Williamson on absolute top form, complaining that everyone in Torquay looks like Ena Sharples or Ray Reardon and taking umbrage at a judgemental barman: "Don't look at me like that - like you think I'm some wine twat".

6. 'VISITOR' - Teeth Of The Sea
Dystopian synth-heavy post-rock? Don't mind if I do. 'VISITOR' is in every sense the centre point of new LP Wraith. Can't wait to see how it translates live at the Cardiff Psych & Noise Fest next month - and to catch up on a back catalogue of which I'm completely ignorant.

7. 'Death In Midsummer' - Deerhunter
Music critics in general may have come in for some laughable stick recently, but the fact is that an astute, well-written review can genuinely help you to start making sense of and more fully appreciate an album that has previously baffled or left you cold. That's been very much the case for me with Deerhunter's Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?. I still can't say it ranks as highly as their previous releases, mind - but that's through no fault of its expansive opening track.

8. 'Preyed On' - Cows
Thanks to Matt from Necro Deathmort for turning me onto this lot some time ago now. Cows were a late-80s/90s noise-rock band and this track is taken from their 1990 LP Effete And Impudent Snobs, released on Amphetamine Reptile (but of course). Bassist Kevin Rutmanis went on to play with kindred spirits Melvins and Mike Patton's Tomahawk.

9. 'On The Sunshine' - Spiritualized
Talking about last year's And Nothing Hurt in an interview with Noisey, Jason Pierce said: "Initially, I left the two heavier tracks off the record - 'The Morning After' and 'On The Sunshine' - but it just didn't make sense as a Spiritualized album. It started to sound like a J. J. Cale album or something. It just seemed wrong to have a Spiritualized album that remained in the same gear." I for one am glad that he changed his mind.

10. 'Exc. 281016' - Housewives
My introduction to Housewives was new LP Twilight Splendour, which has more of an electronic flavour, but this older track is better - a twitchy, nihilistic, relentless blend of no wave and post-punk reminiscent of Crack Cloud's extraordinary 'Swish Swash'.