This is 26-year old Brooklyn boy Devine's major label debut, and it's a bit special. Like (friend and collaborator) Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra, Devine is able to get things in the right order: great song first, then layer it up until it rocks (if it needs to). Put Your Ghost To Rest is a confessional song album, recalling Elliott Smith with an Americana edge, but it does tip into perfectly judged climactic rock, although, as Dave Grohl understands, sometimes the acoustic rocks the hardest: Billion Bees is a standout, despite the fact (or because) it features only Devine and his guitar. Elsewhere, Devine manages the elegant, elegiac dynamics of Death Cab For Cutie. The room to breathe provided by the major label deal has helped these songs expand comfortably - indeed the song written in the studio (Heaven Bound and Glory Be) brings him into the same space as Andy Hull, and that's high praise indeed.

ACE rating 8/10

Dr Dog were one of the original loose-limbed folky Beach Boys fan bands - the odder, later Beach Boys, rather than the poppier, fun one that made the great singles. Fifth album, Fate, sees them step up their act a little, if they trade too heavily on their 60s influences - the softly strummed guitars often recall America. This quirkily great album may not be something Dennis Wilson dreamed up, but it satisfies the parts that My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges doesn't - it feels like something great was taken into the studio, and A Music From Big Pink atmosphere allowed to infuse. Funking up The Band, a song like From is addictively simple, a collective spirit rousing some great harmony from the voices among the rambling instrumentation and honky tonk pianos. Dr Dog may be about as un-modern as it is possible to get, but Fate sees them realise the potential that has been hinted at before. It is a bit of a triumph for the rightness of that 40 year old music that it still sounds so good when made afresh.

ACE rating 8/10

The Colourful Life may be Cajun Dance Party's debut album, but its follow-up is already on the way, for October 2008. Good work for any band, but Cajun Dance Party have done this while in the sixth form, working on their A levels. Released at the beginning of the summer, The Colourful Life is not simply a product of hype - there is genuine energy and great Britpop music in places, and The Kooks everywhere. Like a more melodic Arctics, or a revved up Cure, tracks like (singles) The Race, The Next Untouchable and Amylase may have a touch of generic indie pop about them, but they're delivered so energetically it makes you fear for the Maccabees and Jack Penate, who must feel really really old already. Produced by Bernard Butler (who got on board after hearing Amylase), the album is short and very sweet. Who knows about staying power? The 9 songs here are a great taster, whatever age the band happen to be.

ACE rating 7/10