Funk’s always been at the heart of Alan Palomo’s work. The Neon Indian vanguard may have spent the past six years convincing us he’s some sort of psych pop freethinker, but the facts speak for themselves.

As reputations go, The Twilight Sad‘s is as loud as they come. Since the release of their debut LP 14 Autumns & 15 Winters, the Scottish ensemble have earned a reputation for their ear-canal-crushing compositions.

Devon Welsh, singer and primary lyricist of duo Majical Cloudz, has a habit of locking eyes with audience members during concerts, and not breaking the eye contact for uncomfortably long periods of time. It’s become something of a legend around the band. And, at least if new album Are You Alone?is any indication, it might be the perfect way to experience this music: someone singing the words, eyes boring into your soul.

It’s fair to say !!! have never quite fulfilled their potential. Since releasing their debut LP way back in 2001, the outfit have only shown sporadic flashes of their funk-fuelled brilliance. Too often records such as Myth Takes and Louden Up Now motored into life with taut, dancefloor reverberations before sputtering to a cold, hard stop.

The horrific accident that nearly killed Bradford Cox has clearly changed his outlook, and by extension, the music of Deerhunter. Gone is the gnashing of teeth and the back of the throat growl. Cox’s vocals often sounded as though they were squeezing out the last of the tube.

SEXWITCH‘s groove is impossible to ignore. For a collaboration between Bat For Lashes’ dark queen Natasha Khan and shoegaze-psych masters Toy, these six recordings are infinitely looser than their creators’ back catalogues suggest.

The cover of Glen Hansard‘s Didn’t He Ramble is deceiving: a wintry window defaced by scratches that serves as a barrier between the listener and songwriter. Anyone familiar with The Frames and Swell Season singer knows his songs offer a warm invitation into his world.

While it still may not rank with Editors’ finest work, In Dream is the sound of a band finally moving on and discovering new ground rather than dwelling on past concerns, and the better for it.

Girl Band by name, girl band by nature? Not this one. The Irish quartet are all male purveyors of guttural noise punk whose debut LP Holding Hands With Jamie is as searing as it comes.