At first, The 2 Bears look like a novelty act – the gay subtext, the dressing up in bear suits, the vaguely unserious song titles. And in a world where one can wear a mouse head (deadmau5) or actually become robots (Daft Punk), the sight of two grown men capering about like manky team mascots suggests the likes of a moth-eaten Wombles, or The Tweets.

However, the men in the increasingly skanky bear suits are Joe Goddard (of Hot Chip, and behind last year’s incredible solo single Gabriel) and man about town Raf Rundell. Since 2009 they’ve been delighting listeners with their Ministry of Sound radio show, Follow the Bears, and casually releasing EPs along the way.

If you want an explanation for the unlikely rise of Lana Del Rey, it isn’t that hard to find. Ignore accusations of cynical marketing and inauthenticity, or speculation about surgery and Daddy’s money – that’s not important. And don’t get distracted by the YouTube statistics or the online hyperbole, this isn’t about new media. It’s about something older and more mysterious than that; the extraordinary, resilient power of the pop song. For all of her trashy Americana and startling beauty, if Del Rey hadn’t arrived last summer with a song as luminously beautiful as Video Games, none of this would be happening.

As the latest quest to save guitar music trundles along – with pundits lighting the distress beacons and hunting in all manner of nooks and crannies for the next riff-chugging bunch to anoint as saviours – it’s worth positing whether we really need another Learn Three Chords, Start A Band type to rush to the rescue. Cardiff’s Islet, you imagine, would certainly argue that inspiration and innovation can come from far more varied sources than dusty old amps and second-hand Ramones CDs. Last year’s Celebrate This Place and Wimmy EPs showcased how raucously bonkers their wares could be, touching upon influences ranging from Pavement to Gang Gang Dance; now, they’ve rolled up all their eclectic weirdness into one ball for debut full-length Illuminated People, which is brimming with a knack for oddball soundscapes akin to a hybrid of Can and These New Puritans.

Free Gigs Week Commencing 23rd January 2011

Rough Trade East In-store - details

PULLED APART BY HORSES - Monday 23rd January, 7pm
FIRST AID KIT - Tuesday 24th January, 7pm
CRAIG FINN (FROM THE HOLD STEADY) - Wednesday 25th January, 7pm
HOWLER - Saturday 28th January, 12 noon
PORTICO QUARTET - Tuesday 31st January, 7pm
DJANGO DJANGO - Wednesday 1st February, 7pm
TRAILER TRASH TRACYS - Thursday 2nd February, 6pm
AM & SHAWN LEE - Monday 6th February, 7pm

Way before Pulled Apart By Horses’ 2010 self-titled, deliberately ramshackle and ultra-enthusiastic debut romp, the four-piece’s reputation had been built around their guts- and gore-spattered spectacular live shows. This band emerged from the bowels of a hardcore micro-scene in Leeds and weren’t going to forget that. Their trademark heavy metal riff madness punctuated by slogging rhythms was grimy, ear-splitting and boisterous. But despite the grisly gauntlet laid in their infancy, the band has again managed to convey their live force in this second release.

Those already familiar with First Aid Kit may be shocked by the portent in the title of their second album, The Lion's Roar. For a duo so built on understatement, it's a statement of its own volition – words which suggest something bigger, bolder, and stronger.

From the reflections of Blue, the influence of the Swedish sisters' dream producer Mike Mogis (best known for his work with Bright Eyes) becomes apparent. Still pared down but clearer, the sweet mimicking between bass and xylophone feel more ominous than decorative.

In 2008 Casiokids released the first Norwegian-language pop single in the UK, Grønt Lys I Alle Ledd. At that point the Bergen-based synth-pop crew had one cheap and cheerful Norway-only album behind them by the name of F*** MIDI, and looked set for some moderate indie-level fame. Two years later, a handful of further singles and their B sides – including genius instrumental house banger Fot I Hose – were collected as the Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar collection.

Since getting the classic line-up of his band back together in 2010, the focus of Guided by Voices’ reunion has naturally centred on the group’s leader Robert Pollard. Would the mic-twirling, beer-swilling, scissor-kicking, ex-high school teacher be able to get the best out of his boozy troupe? Could he whip his fellow veteran garage-rockers into decent enough shape to repeat the feats of Vampire on Titus, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes; a suite of 90s albums brimming with joyous hooks and quirky lo-fi charm?

It would make it easy for lazy critics if Howler proved to be a real dog of a band, causing pre-release naysayers to howl with laughter. But the tipped Minneapolis mob has delivered a succinct and energetic debut album that casts aside any doubts as to their qualities.

Having turned heads with a series of fiery (and fleeting) live shows, frontman Jordan Gatesmith’s crew have wasted little time in realising an album of thoroughly contagious, albeit fairly derivative, Strokes-flavoured gutter-rock. These 11 tracks zip by, dashing from start to finish in a breathtaking 32 minutes.

Diagrams is primarily the work of a bespectacled bloke from Streatham called Sam Genders, formerly of Tunng. Yes, he’s one of those bedroom tinkers, locking himself away to toy with ideas, writing melodies on his guitar and then breaking them up with programmed beats. The resulting sound is a minimal delight, with nods to the fragmented, jerky rhythms of Field Music, Metronomy and Broadcast, and – through Sam’s warm vocal – Elbow.

Free Gigs Week Commencing 16th January 2011

Rough Trade East In-store - details

NADA SURF - Monday 16th January, 7pm
PULLED APART BY HORSES - Monday 23rd January, 7pm
FIRST AID KIT - Tuesday 24th January, 7pm
CRAIG FINN (FROM THE HOLD STEADY) - Wednesday 25th January, 7pm
HOWLER - Saturday 28th January, 12 noon
PORTICO QUARTET - Tuesday 31st January, 7pm
DJANGO DJANGO - Wednesday 1st February, 7pm

 

Google the words ‘E Volo’ and the first two pages list an ‘e-volo multicopter’ ("a vertically-starting, human-carrying transportation device") and an architectural design magazine. As it turns out, Fránçois Marry’s latest album title is simply a palindrome. But nevertheless E Volo Love has a strong onomatopoeic power, suggesting mystery, enchantment and romance; all properties this terrific and charming record has in spades and shovels.

Despite being feted in her Canadian homeland since her debut album in 2003 – she was shortlisted in 2008 for the Polaris, their equivalent of the Mercury Prize – Europe is only now waking up to the charms of Kathleen Edwards with the release of her fourth album. That Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver, is Voyageur’s co-producer has much to do with that, but to confine its appeal to his involvement is to risk undervaluing a genuinely touching, easily accessible collection of songs.

Craig Finn describes himself as the kind of writer who sits in the back seat of the car driven by his characters, taking notes. For the sake of his sanity and general health, this is doubtless a good thing. On Lord, I’m Discouraged, a song from The Hold Steady’s 2008 album Stay Positive, the Minnesota-born resident of Brooklyn profiles an unrequited love whose life is sliding into the despair of drug addiction. "The sutures and bruises are none of my business / She says that she’s sick but won’t get specific," he sings, later adding: "I know it’s unlikely she’ll ever be mine / So I mostly just pray she don’t die."

Seefeel founder Mark Van Hoen has long been established as a talent operating in the margins of mainstream electronic music. His material is far from confrontational in its design, and requires little previous experience of comparable fare to become comfortable with. Yet, these are emissions of a very esoteric nature, in each arrangement nuances identifiable as this man’s alone making themselves apparent within structures that resonate with genre-wide appeal. Accessible, yes, but singular too: it’s a tricky tightrope that Van Hoen walks with his fifth non-Locust solo LP (and first for Editions Mego), but one he traverses with perfect poise and no little grace.