Rock

In the early 2000s The Zutons were on a roll with Mercury Prize nominations and hit singles including ‘Valerie’, later covered by Amy Winehouse. Then it all went downhill with singer Dave McCabe’s addiction, and all manner of misfortunes. But this, their first album since 2008, is a confident return, produced by Ian Broudie and Nile Rodgers. Their influence pervades ‘Water’, a soul groove with rippling electric piano, and Dave McCabe’s grainy tones complemented by Abi Harding’s breathy vocals and punctuated by her sax. ‘Creeping On The Dancefloor’ is unorthodox disco with clean guitar chords and tom-toms, and in a spoken word section on ‘Disappear’, Rodgers ponders the galaxies, asking what it all means. MB

Sound Quality: 90%

Crowded House
Gravity Stairs
BMG 4099964027389; LP: 4099964027372

On ‘Magic Piano’, Neil Finn sings that when ascending the ‘gravity stairs’, he begins to sense his own weight, but in a typically multi-layered lyric he also hears temple bells from an upper floor and a piano playing itself. The album’s title refers to how things get more difficult with age, but these songs have a melodic freshness that sounds effortless. They’re immediate, but full of invention and intricate detail, while bathed in a luminous glow from layered guitars and keyboards, particularly on the haunting ‘Black Water, White Circle’. Here Finn describes ‘A face I’ll never forget/A black and white vignette’, in an inspired vocal arrangement. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Crumbs
You’re Just Jealous
Skepwax SKEPWAX021CD; LP: SKEPWAX021LP

While sounding lean and modern, Leeds four-piece Crumbs tap back into the invigorating energy of Delta Five and Gang Of Four, part of that city’s scene in the post-punk late-’70s. They are also indebted to legendary DIY group The Raincoats and this two male, two female lineup serve up punchy, stripped-down drums, dextrous bass, and guitar chords skidding across the surface or locking-in at high velocity. The average duration of these 12 tuneful tracks is just over two minutes, but they pack in a lot on the breathless ‘What’s It Means’; and on ‘Too Many Creeps’, vocalist Ruth decides to stay in given the chance of unwanted attention from people outside. MB

Sound Quality: 80%

The Lovely Eggs
Eggsistentialism
Egg Records EGG020CD; LP: EGG020LP

On their first album in four years, Lancaster duo Holly Ross and David Blackwell examine the challenges of continuing to make music at a grass roots level, exemplified by the scabrous punk blast of ‘Death Grip Kids’ and the grimly humorous ‘I Don’t F*cking Know What I’m Gunna Do’. Holly’s ‘eggsistentialism’ becomes truly Sartrean on ‘Nothing/Everything’ and she ponders the cycle of life and death in her hometown on ‘I Am Gaia’. But the mood is defiant and the music potent with their guitar and drums augmented with electronics. American producer Dave Fridmann adds colour and texture, particularly to the neo-’60s pop feel of the single ‘My Mood Wave’. MB

Sound Quality: 80%