SCREAMING LORD SUTCH AND THE SAVAGES- Midnight Man EP (Raucous Records)

Crowned the king of horror rock'n'roll, Screaming Lord Sutch has a lot of outrageous antics on his conscience. His musical career spawned classics like "Jack the Ripper", while his venture into politics (!) lead to him being self-appointed leader of the "Monster Raving Looney Party".

This EP presents three unreleased cuts and slices from his early 80's era that show further evidence of the fella's insanity, featuring plenty of full-moon howlin', deathbed rattlin' and coffin shufflin'. Never knew guts'n'blood could be this fun!

She wouldn't have any problems with these guys, because Finlands' slickest rudeboys have cooked up one hell of a floorfiller. But these guys are instead making revolution with their highly danceable beat and cartoonish sound. Kinda like watching the Disney show with a skinhead Donald, a rastafarian Mickey and a mohicaned Goofy getting together for a pint.

The melodies are unforgettable, singer Zakke Cuba's voice is... distinct, and the lyrics are thoughtful yet fun... can things get any better? Hasta la musica siempre!

THE INCITERS- Doing Fine (Elmo Records)

These five Frenchmen are exploring the sounds of the 60's rocksteady/reggae era, and are trying the best they can to recreate the sounds of the crooked alleys of Kingston (or the bootboy quarters of 69's East London).

Unfortunately they are let down by misplaced bass-lines, dull tunes, and a singer who sounds like he's been handpicked straight from the Muppet Show. Kind of like an old tractor getting stuck deep in the mud, struggling to get loose.

- Dave Barker being a symbol for the short-lived skinhead reggae period, and The Selecter, the heroes of the 2-tone years a decade later.

In 2000 they team up to create an eclectic mix, featuring Barker's characteristic yells and shouts and Martin Stewart's hammond shuffling. The result is a dubby, hard-edged piece of reggae, featuring Barker's essential classics like "Double Barrel" and "Monkey Spanner", a Lee Perry cover, as well as lots of new material.

Ex-Cathedra belong to the squatter/anarcho-punk scene of Glasgow with bands like Oi Polloi, and this has had a serious influence on their heavily disguised ska-sound. More a crust/HC/punk band than anything else, the scummy punks of Ex Cathedra should quit hitting on the sharp-dressed rudegirls, and realise that such a marriage will be doomed from the start.

THE STAND-
Pointofview (Jump Up Records)

The Stand have their roots in the midwest ska-scene, but have refined their sound into a mod/punk/soul mix not unlike The Pietasters, or perhaps Dexy's Midnight Runners, featuring a distinct hammond organ. So far so good, but what the band really lacks is good singers.

Their boy/girl harmonies are not disturbing, but the soul genre very much rests on a powerful vocal tradition, which in the end makes their vocals a letdown. Regardless, I think The Stand can probably boost a hell of a party at any scooter gathering!

Usually I'm a little wary of live uptakes, since the poor recording seldom does the band justice.

Here I'm totally down with it � Frenzy's fits of frustration couldn't be captured in a more engaging way. The album twists on with the immediate "I See Red" and howls its way through another 45 minutes, ending with another monster � "Robot Riot". Do I hear echoes of The Damned? Also features a catchy version of "Love is the Drug" by Roxy Music, kidnapped into billy territory.