The Manchester band who spawned a thousand others, The Stone Roses, re-release the self-titled album that made them household names 20 years ago. Does it still stand the test of time?

Elsewhere, there are new releases from The Temper Trap, Lovvers and The Crystal Method.

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses 20th Anniversary Edition

It’s hard to accept it’s 20 years old. Such is the lasting influence of the album, however, most modern guitar music still hangs in The Stone Roses’ shadow. At the time, the album brimmed with such amazing confidence, it strutted, chest out while other albums of the time were introspective or afraid to admit their ambition. “The past was yours but the future’s mine,” sings Ian Brown on She Bangs The Drums, a two-fingered salute to elders, authority and their musical predecessors back in 1989. Knowing what we now know of the band’s spectacular demise, that once-powerful sentiment has become something of an ode to unfulfilled promise and wide-eyed optimism of youth. There are three versions of the album available to mark the occasion – a single disc, double disc and, believe it or not, a six-disc set – with varying levels of extra music, demos and goodies on offer. But as any fan of the album will tell you, all you really need are the original, flawless 11 tracks.

Rating 10/10

(Review by Andy Welch)

Polly and the Billets Doux – Fiction, Half-truths And Downright Lies

Given the name of this artist I automatically expected to be impressed. Unfortunately despite the impressive name, it’s just a little bit mundane. The vocals are strong and the instrumentation isn’t that bad at all. However, it’s just a little bit mediocre. A mixture of jazz, blues and country, this is essentially lounge music – albeit of the highest quality. The song Charmed, for example, sounds like something you’d hear in a hotel as part of its evening entertainment. You’d be impressed by it, but not remember it at the end of the holiday.

Rating: 4/10

(Review by Polly Weeks)

Siskin – Surrender

Uninspiring is one word that sums up this release by classically-trained West Yorkshire lass Kirsty Newton and Spain-born Galen Ayers – daughter of Kevin Ayers, a founding member of legendary psychedelic band Soft Machine. Sounding stuck in the 1990s, it’s like a soundtrack for American teen show Dawson’s Creek - it’s mundane country pop. There’s nothing particularly wrong with any of the songs, it’s just there aren’t any standout tracks either. Sitting In A Bar is a nice song with good vocals, but it just doesn’t seem to develop – it just fades into the next song. Even when the tempo speeds up on Oblivion, it’s still just repetitive with far too much prominence of keyboards.

Rating: 3/10

(Review by Polly Weeks)

Lovvers – OCD Go Go Go Girls

“That sounds like it was recorded in a shed” is a favourite phrase of my Dad’s, and I’d be inclined to agree when describing Lovvers’ debut record. The lyrics are indecipherable, leading me to believe that singer Shaun Hencher has nothing important to say. His vocals are so heavily masked that often you can’t tell whether it’s a person or a kazoo – on Golden Bars Blue he sounds like Chewbacca from Star Wars. That’s fair enough, but when combined with little more than a pastiche of the Sex Pistols’ nodding punk and the bluesy fug of the Rolling Stones, it becomes bleary-eyed. On the plus side there is interesting guitar work and some hidden cutesy melodies, but sadly it’s a disappointing first effort.

Rating: 5/10

(Review by Caz Wilson)

7 Worlds Collide – The Sun Came Out

What do you get when you mix members of Radiohead, The Smiths, Crowded House and Wilco, add a charitable cause and a fortnight in a New Zealand recording studio? On this evidence: a fascinating, if bewilderingly schizophrenic album. There are moments of true songwriting beauty here, not least from ringleader Neil Finn and the consistently excellent Jeff Tweedy, but it is the oddities for which Sun Came Out will be remembered. Radiohead drummer Phil Selway revels in his shot at centre stage, strumming along to his own crooned vocal on Ties That Bind Us, while elsewhere Scotland’s KT Tunstall and New Zealander Bic Runga duet on the rollicking Black Silk Ribbon. At 24 songs, it is at least a third overdone, but nevertheless entertaining.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Rory Dollard)

Richard Thompson – Walking On A Wire 1968-2009

It’s a measure of the man’s musical mojo that, after a lifetime being photographed in a beret playing British folk-rock, Richard Thompson still retains a modicum of music biz cool (fans include Lou Reed, REM, Elvis Costello, Will Oldham, Bob Mould etc). Given that he’s always been a critically-acclaimed cult favourite more than a massively popular star, it’s hard to know how many punters who don’t already own the best of his Fairport Convention and solo material will want to shell out for this massive career-spanning, four-disc retrospective. That said, there’s no question his unique talent and the incredible scope of his output over the decades justify the investment.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Steve Kerr)

The Crystal Method – Divided By Night

It is with some trepidation that one approaches dance albums which proudly boast indie-rock credentials. Indeed, a cursory listen to the car-crash collaboration between Paul Weller and Death In Vegas is enough to draw a firm line under the genre. Yet on this, The Crystal Method’s fourth studio record, the portents are good. A small, carefully-chosen series of cameos – Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle, Metric’s Emily Haines, New Order’s Peter Hook – are used to good effect, with each adding substance to the LA duo’s signature throbbing beats. With latter-day Chemical Brothers as an obvious reference point, the densely-layered sound rewards repeated listens.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Rory Dollard)

Yacht – See Mystery Lights

Boy-girl duo Yacht follow up last year’s well-received single Summer Song with their first full-length album for DFA Records. It should probably come as no surprise that the bulk of the eight proper tracks here very closely follow the now (overly) familiar disco-fied indie-rock blueprint of LCD Soundsystem, CSS et al. Thankfully, Portland, Oregon-based Yacht have the personality and ideas to make this a fun listen anyway: witness the auto-tuned clatter of I’m In Love With A Ripper and, best of all, the irresistible stream-of-consciousness pop rant of Psychic City (Voodoo City).

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Steve Kerr)

The Nextmen – Join The Dots

The latest release from mashup mixers, DJs and production duo The Nextmen, unlike their hip hop-heavy earlier albums and mixtapes, is more eclectic and without such a distinct sound. This 11-track offering is considerably more downtempo than I would expect from Dom Search and Brad Baloo, with a number of cruising tracks reminiscent of Groove Armada’s early work – in fact, GA’s Andy Cato guests on The Lion’s Den. Rockets (featuring Johnny Tarr), Whisper Up (with Betty Steeles) and Burn (guesting Lyndsay West) are beautifully melodic, melancholic and chilled. Still, sandwiched between these uncharacteristic, laidback tracks are their floor-filling, signature jump-up tunes. Regular collaborator Dynamite MC features on So Many Girls and Round Of Applause, a remix of the Handclapping Song by the Meters, adding his inimitable rich ragga sound to the heavy funk tune. While not a classic party album of remixed hits, Join The Dots is laden with original drum’n’ bass, dubstep, reggae, ragga, dancehall and electro material.

Rating: 6/10

(Review by Tori Mayo)

The Temper Trap – Conditions

Conditions is the debut album by Australian four-piece The Temper Trap, who do a fine line in epic, atmospheric guitars and soaring vocals. Singer Doug Mandaji’s powerful, yet somehow fragile, voice steals the show early on, which at times recalls Antony ’of the Johnsons’ Hegarty. Awarded a Top-15 place in the BBC’s Sound Of 2009 poll, The Temper Trap aren’t your average indie chancers. Comparisons to Coldplay and U2 seem wildly inaccurate; there’s more of a nod to Mercury Rev and The Mars Volta than anything else. Sweet Disposition, Fader and pulsating single Science Of Fear are among the immediate highlights, although haunting opener Love Lost remains the album’s best song. Assured, confident and fresh, Conditions is nothing short of a brilliant debut.

Rating: 9/10

(Review by Andy Welch)