PEOPLE either seemed to love or loathe this lot last time around. That was largely due to their frontman's self assuredness bordering on smugness. That said it is Fyfe Dangerfield's energy and personality that drove them and that is in evidence again on the very British pop of the follow-up to Through The Windowpane.

"That was a softer record," he says. "This time we just wanted to make a bunch of pop songs that punched, instantly."

Current single Get Over It was hence well chosen, sprinkling smiles and attitude across radios yet working well alongside the disco punch of opener Kriss Kross and unlikely future hit Last Kiss; Big Dog shows they can still do a bit of raunch.

Penned and recorded in a converted synagogue, Red is pop but not quite as you'd expect, like an updated Deacon Blue with extra spice. Damn it, think I like them.

The Cloud Room, The Cloud Room (A&G Records)
WITH so many albums out each week it is easy to miss plenty. Here's a case in point from a US band named after the speakeasy at the top of New York's Chrysler building during prohibition.

These songs survived an apartment fire and wiry frontman J Stuart sounds as though he's come through much more besides as he spins tales of woe and hope alongside music that flows big and bold, both spikey and melodic and atmospheric with occasional punk ethics.

The anthemic Sunset Song is an encouraging intro to an album with charm to offset attitude and grace to counter the tougher moments. Along with Pepsi Max ad-used tune Hey Now Now, it's a rich debut started by a man waiting for an HIV test result.

The Storys, Town Beyond The Trees (Hall Recordings)
A PLEASANT image for a band who don't seem to have a nasty bone in their bodies. You may have caught them opening for Sheffield's prodigal son Joe Cocker at his arena show.

Now they're back with a second album on their own label with songs that came in at the upper end of the Americana game but offer more complexities amid the well oiled melodies to outwit some of their contemporaries.

Such is the sweetness of the harmonies and freshness of their diverse yet well-built manifest you'd never know they were from this side of 'the Pond', let alone Swansea.

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