“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” That one line summed up Kris Kristofferson’s singular songwriting skill. It was like the entire Sixties ethos in a single phrase.

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New York noisemongers A Place To Bury Strangers are as aggressively noisy as ever on their feedback-drenched new single Bad Idea.

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Angel-voiced Z Berg teams up with gravel-voiced Keith Carradine on a version of the old favourite Love Hurts from the Strange Darling soundtrack.

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Porridge Radio return with a second big break-up song from their forthcoming fourth album.

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When it comes to girl groups, you can keep yer Spice Girls, All Saints, Girls Aloud and Sugababes and give me a band like the Slits, Shonen Knife or Las Kellies. Or Hinds.

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Summer sounds in my August playlist: some classic postpunk (Magazine, Pere Ubu), some classic reggae (Culture and LKJ) and soul (Bill Withers, Gary US Bonds), some old-time country (Gillian Welch, Dwight Yoakam) and nu-skool punk (Dead Pioneers), vintage hip-hop (A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow) and a handful of brand new tunes (Nick Cave, Fontaines DC). Plus the magnificence of Pablo Picasso (Modern Lovers).

Tramhaus are The Netherlands’ best-kept secret – a post-punk band from the (low) land that gave us Focus, Golden Earring and, er, Pussycat. (more…)

Cinnamon Horses is my favourite song from a lot of favourites on Wild God, the new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

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Dead Pioneers are a Native American punk band making radically political music about white people’s perceptions and misconceptions of indigenous peoples.

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It’s almost a quarter of a century since that landmark moment when MARRS told us all to Pump Up The Volume. It’s a moment channelled by Dan Snaith in Caribou’s new single, a homage simply titled Volume – and it’s an addictive slice of summer fun that’s perfect for a sunny day.

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