Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Los Angeles doo-wop and early rock n roll group The Coasters were fairly prolific in their heyday, making 13 albums from the 60s and throughout the 70s with an often rotting assembly of band members. 'Crazy Baby' is one of thirty that has endured over the years with its hard-hitting Northern Soul synth rhythms, vocals and keys. Now it gets reissued by the same original label that put it out back in 1965. An OG of this is hard to find and fairly expensive because of its cult status so do not sleep on this new reissue.

Review: "The world's greatest two person rock 'n' roll ensemble, the next big thing - out now!" You can hear the delicious wit and parody in the copy sitting on The Courettes website, a band that have managed to do the unthinkable, swerving all trends to come up with music that simultaneously sounds self-aware in its retro nostalgia, yet incredibly fresh. Hailing from Denmark and Brazil - another curveball in many ways, California, which welcomes the additional vocals of La La Brookes, is a case in point. Jangly yet snarling garage rock, seductive art pop aimed at the charts, beach guitar stuff that supplants realism and experimentation for the doe-eyed dreaminess of, err, beach guitar stuff. Original as ever, it's more evidence that these guys may well be on the money with that description of themselves.

Review: This essential 45 brings together two hard-to-find cuts that have long been popular amongst rare groove dancers and dusty-fingered hip-hop DJs/beat-makers. On side A you'll find Cut Chemist fave 'Hey Joyce', a rare 1967 single from soul man Lou Courtney. Featuring a rasping, impassioned lead vocal from Courtney, sweet female backing vocals and the kind of semi-stomping beat that's so beloved by Northern Soul heads, it's a real must-have treat. Over on the flip you'll find Johnnie Taylor's more relaxed - but no less passionate - 'Just The One I've Been Looking For', a 1966 Stax B-side that remains a fine example of warming Southern Soul.

Review: Pioneering punk outfit Crass continue with their ambitious The Feeding Of Five Thousand Remix Project, a self-professed testament to just how multifarious the group were when they dropped The Feeding back in 1978. Melding elements of rap and grime, before either were even a thing, with raw and raucous anarchistic guitar spirit, there's a lot that can be done with those original stems.

This is the fourth case in point, which involves the innovative and hugely influential sonic industrialist Paul Jamrozy, AKA Test Dept's most iconic member, who here delivers something that's part-ode to the source material, and part-nod to his own outfit, which is also sadly no more. Flip to find an altogether different beast, from dublab and Ninja Tune's Los Angeline production wizard, Maral Mahmoudi.

Review: The Cromagnon Band introduces 'Bad Night' as the lead single from their upcoming album Mode, which marks their second LP and debut on BBE Music. The album blends cinematic, psychedelic dark funk with Nordic psych-jazz, classical, boom-bap hip-hop breaks, and riff-heavy rock. Accompanied by the exclusive track 'Quadrant,' not featured on the album, the vinyl 45 release adds a unique gem to collectors' shelves. Both tracks provide a glimpse into the band's forthcoming album, showcasing their eclectic musical influences and distinctive recording style-capturing live jam sessions that evolve from sampled breaks, riffs, and melodies into intricate instrumental compositions.

Review: A pair of Cure singles, one a classic from the 80s and the other more of a deep cut from the 1996 album Wild Mood Swings, caught here in the live arena on turned into two sides of a rather nifty 7" picture disc. 'The Walk' is one of the Crawley crew's most electronic moments, a Japanese-slanted retort to New Order's huge 'Blue Monday' single a more cynical observer might be moved to admit. It's immediately nevertheless one to transport you back to the lazer-peppered, smoke machine-swathed dancefloors of the era, with its concluding line "I remember everything" seeming particularly apt in hindsight. 'Mint Car', while less well known than many other Cure 45s, was nevertheless one of Robert Smiths' favourites. He, apparently, couldn't fathom out why it only charted in the low 30s when 'Friday I'm In Love' smashed the top ten. Perhaps the outbreak of utter cheeriness - "I really don't think it gets any better than this/vanilla smile and a gorgeous strawberry kiss" - was disconcerting considering the band's pretty much unrivalled reputation as the popes of mope, but its charms are undeniable and definitely due a restrospective reappraisal.

Review: Under the Clairo alias, Claire Cottrill has achieved cult status in recent times, with her lo-fi take on indie, alternative and dream-pop finding on audience on both sides of the Atlantic. The Boston-based singer-songwriter continues her ascent from the musical margins on Charm, her first album for three years. It's a hugely atmospheric and emotive affair, with Cottrill languidly shuffling between subtly country-tinged lo-fi indie-pop (the semi-acoustic warmth of 'Nomad'), late '60s-inspired dream pop, gentle psychedelia and loose-limbed, surprisingly funky haziness smothered in rubbery bass guitar, vintage synth sounds and heady horns ('Sexy To Someone'). And yes, it's an undeniably charming affair.

Review: 1982's seminal fifth and final album from the classic lineup of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon needs little introduction, but will now receive some additional sonic context in the guise of 'The People's Hall.'

Compiled by the living members of The Clash, this expanded edition features 12 previously unreleased rarities and outtakes including a version of 'Know Your Rights' recorded at The People's Hall on The Rolling Stones' Mobile Studio.

Offering greater insight into the recording, demoing and ideas process behind arguably the last definitive Clash album as well as one of the all time punk-rock greats, these additions are essential for any true Clash cultist.

Review: As the playful title suggests, Transmission Impossible brings together a trio of Coldplay concert recordings which were originally captured for radio broadcast. CD1 takes us back to 2007 and a set from Buenos Aries heavy on early classics ('Yellow', 'Clocks', 'God Put a Smile On My Face', 'Fix You' etc.), while CD2 finds the Winchester band at UEA in Norwich in 2011, performing said classics alongside more tracks that turned them into global indie-pop superstars ('Mylo Xyloto', 'Viva La Vida'). Disc three, the most recent performance of the lot, dates from 2016 and includes, amongst its numerous highlights, soaring, stadium-sized takes on 'Paradise', 'Hymn for the Weekend' and Leonard Cohen classic 'Suzanne'.