Manchester Orchestra is the brainchild of singer, songwriter Andy Hull - the band hails from Atlanta, Georgia, and has an average age of only 19. But this is one of the most impressive debuts you'll hear in a long while. Hull has an ability and a voice to rival Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst - the songs, when stripped down, carry an intimacy that makes your heart ache. But when the band comes in, they do so with a combination of Feeder power, In Utero Nirvana edge and Death Cab For Cutie subtlety. The dynamics are shocking - one song has you leaning in to hear the catch in Hull's voice, the next has your head banging like a 16-year old at a Metallica concert - and breathtaking. That someone so young can write one song so maturely great is cause for celebration. That Hull can write an album full means this is a young man destined for greatness. No British band is currently so exciting, so deft, so full of Cobain feel and Gallows punk, built around songs that combine gentle poetry and deep, deep melody. Manchester Orchestra and Andy Hull seem like genuine talents in a world of wannabees.

ACE rating 10/10

Brian Jonestown Massacre are one of those cult bands whom the indie kids like to name-drop - determinedly lo-fi, experimental and often somewhat odd (a little to the left of The Dandy Warhols or The Lilys), BMJ can seem wilfully anti-mainstream. The band's influences, led by guitarist and singer Anton Newcombe, are heavily drawn from the psychedelic 60s Stones, although the Jesus and Mary Chain shoegazey genre is a more recent introduction. Your reaction to a simple reading of some of the song titles on this 13th album should provide a strong indication of whether it's for you, or not: Bring Me The Head Of Paul McCartney On Heather Mill's Wooden Peg (Dropping Bombs on The White House) is one of the more printable... Recorded in Liverpool and Rejkjavik with BMJ members, Icelandic musicians and Mark Gardener of Ride, My Bloody Underground sounds at first like a great band in concert in the room next to the one you're in - the haze that surrounds the music, however, doesn't obscure lovely Madchester-y dirges and hypnotic rhythm, gentle piano instrumental and a kind of Eastern Dinosaur Jr grunge-punk aesthetic. In other words, this is a wild ride through a wild imagination. It may not be ready for the mainstream (and making albums available for free download via the band's website isn't a terribly commercial idea), but Brian Jonestown Massacre make music that matters.

ACE rating 8/10

Bob Mould is a legend of alternative rock, known for fronting Hüsker Dü in the 80s and Sugar in the 90s - his credibility is guaranteed as a result of those two achievements alone, but his solo work has rarely gained much in the way of attention or critical acclaim since Workbook in 1989 and Black Sheets of Rain in 1990. That's partly because there's been little that's essential on the discs in between, with a slightly odd mix of singer-songwriter material (think Mike Ness on acoustic guitar) and slightly punky rock, but mostly because the synthy electronica threaded through the mix was a bit too Pet Shop Boys. District Line is stronger, almost F.U.E.L-like, although the synths do appear too often. There is a good sense of electric energy that builds throughout most of the songs - the opener, Stupid Now, is a great kiss-off that starts quietly and develops in intensity throughout. Return to Dust throws the classic Sugar sound into the mix and, with Silence Between Us, forms the album's high water mark. This isn't Hüsker Dü or Sugar Bob, but it is one of his best solo discs.

ACE rating 7/10