The Wednesday Society – Red Means Go – Independent
Another Perth band in what is currently one of the best, most emerging scenes in Australia, the Wednesday Society, “Red Means Go” is the band’s first single and a strong beginning. However, b-side “Can Can” is the real winner, imbued with the spirit of bands like Hot Snakes and the Hold Steady. It’s an exciting and punchy rock tune, and the Maddest Kings Alive remix of it is completely different again. There’s a rambunctious energy at play here which is really, really exciting.

Death Cab For Cutie – I Will Follow You into the Dark – Atlantic
Will this be the one? While Death Cab For Cutie have – thanks in some part to their heavy mentions (as opposed to rotation) on The O.C. and now being part of a major label – seen their popularity rise and rise, they’re yet to truly break out with a bona fide ‘hit’ that converts them from niche to mainstream. “I Will Follow You into the Dark” is exactly the sort of song that could do it though; Ben Gibbard’s song construction is masterly, and his lyrics are outstanding. “I Will Follow You into the Dark” is a sinister sentiment, but he makes it sound nothing short of enlightening. Just gorgeous.

Ground Components – On Your Living Room Floor – Love & Mercy/Shock
Melbourne’s Ground Components are threatening to unleash a beast of a debut album. First single “On Your Living Room Floor” grooves into life with a slow-paced intro and a sinister tempo, before vocalist unleashes his stream of consciousness rant, before hollering the chorus. It’s a nasty, groovy and delicious slice of evil rock ‘n roll, with more pent-up frustration than Mick Jagger in a room full of models. The b-sides are great too, particularly the Velvets-like Hothouse Recording of “Staying Afloat”.

Justin Timberlake – Sexy Back – Jive/Zomba
The closest thing to Michael Jackson (without the paedophilia accusations and freaky surgery), Justin Timberlake has revolutionised his sound with “Sexy Back”. It may have been produced by Timbaland, but in all honesty it sounds far more like something produced by the likes of DFA, with JT’s vox put through a mix that is rough and nasty. “Sexy Back” sounds like a winner from the forthcoming FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Kasey Chambers – Nothing At All – Essence Records/Capitol
The first single from Australia’s country queen’s impending fourth album, “Nothing At All” is a gentle meander rather than a determined statement – it certainly doesn’t strike with the same immediacy of “Like a River”, the equivalent for her previous album Wayward Angel. It has all the right Kasey Chambers-isms, but it just doesn’t win out quite as much as some of her previous numbers. Backed by a couple of covers, “Nothing At All” is a middling effort, but the album is nevertheless highly anticipated.

Coldplay – The Hardest Part – Parlophone/EMI
“The Hardest Part” may have one of the most disturbing film clips seen for some time – featuring footage taken from the 1980s of an ‘experienced dancer’ spliced with the band performing in their best clobber, it’s a frightening sight. The song itself is so simple, and so ‘Coldplay’. A myriad of bands who have emerged in Coldplay’s wake wish they could write a song as effortlessly as it seems to come to these four chaps.

Don Walker – Yakuza Girls – Warners
A veteran of the Australian music scene, Don Walker knows all about writing songs. As such, it shouldn’t surprise that “Yakuza Girls”, with its most bodacious guitar work, is a natural winner. His vocal delivery is impressive too, and there’s no doubting that the chorus to “Yakuza Girls” is a sure-fire winner.

Antiskeptic – Monuments (EP) – Communiqué
After seemingly disappearing off the map for a while there, Antiskeptic’s ‘comeback’ release finds them moving away from the pop-punk of the past to deliver something a bit more punchy. The emo touches that marked the band as one of the first exponents of the genre are still there in the choruses particularly, but the likes of “Selling Your Time” offer biting commentary on modern work-a-day lives. “Hello Halo” is a punchy tune, while the closing “Hallelujah” sees the band pushing themselves in new and intriguing directions over the course of eight-plus minutes.

End of Fashion – The Game – Capitol
Surely the last single to be lifted from their debut self-titled album, “The Game” marks the fourth time around for End of Fashion, delivering a more ‘rawk’ approach than the pop of “Oh Yeah” or the “Hey Jude”-isms of “Rough Diamonds”. As this will be the last single from the band for some time, as they head to America to start all over again with the album coming out there, it will be interesting to see where the band head from here.

Nizlopi – JCB Song – FDM Records/Liberation music
“JCB Song” is a winner for Nizlopi, with a gentle gait – it’s not as charming as the likes of Sodastream make the acoustic and double bass sound to be, but nor is it as sad and mournful as much of the Melbourne duo’s material. Instead, Nizlopi have the vocals of Luke Concannon at the fore, as he weaves a story together.

Placebo – Infra-Red – Elevator Music/Virgin
“Infra-Red” is typical of Placebo in that it sounds like you’d expect Placebo to sound. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Really, it’s not anything…well, at least not anything other than Placebo. They’re a strong group who continue to do what they do, and they do it well. The b-sides are remixes, which is a shame as Placebo are the sort of band who can deliver more than that when they want to, and show their more creative side.

Buck 65 – Devil’s Eyes – Warners
Jaunty and insistent, “Devil’s Eyes” is the sort of song that is the reason why Buck 65 has earned plaudits as the ‘new Moby’. With his deadpan delivery and electronic-meets-organic style over a bevy of programmed strings, before it disintegrates into a swathe of noises towards the end.

Robbie Williams – Sin Sin Sin – Chrysalis/EMI
The ‘fat dancer from Take That’ continues to outshine his detractors, selling out concerts and imposing his will upon the populace. You get the impression that if he ran for Major of the World he’d win everywhere…well, except for his now home of America, who still don’t have the foggiest who he is, no matter how much money is blown on trying to raise his profile there. Reports are his record company have stopped bothering, content in the knowledge that singles like the `80s synth-pop of “Sin Sin Sin” will continue to dominate in every other Western country.

Modern Giant – This is Sydney – Popboomerang
What’s this, a song all about what it’s like living in the nation’s biggest city? So it would seem with Modern Giant’s “This is Sydney”, a middling pop number by a veteran band that is more spoken than sang, as suburbs are name-checked and referenced, and tales of the streets are told. The band then close out this release with “New York `54”, but the best moment on this single is really “On the Quiet”, a song co-penned with Tom Morgan from fellow indie veterans Smudge.

The Fray – Over My Head (Cable Car) – Epic
With Coldplay on hiatus and Keane yet to break into America, it was only a matter of time until a band like the Fray emerged to take the ‘American Coldplay’ tag. “Over My Head (Cable Car)” is the sort of familiar driving pop that lacks originality but has a nagging melody and an insistent beat, and can’t help but cement the band a spot on the radio. The trick with singles this catchy is following them up.

Goodnight Nurse – My Only – WEA Music
Currently wowing ‘em back home in New Zealand, Goodnight Nurse are like a bevy of screamo acts to emerge in the last little while. Are they worthy, or are they just riding the coattails of what has come before? It’s hard not to believe that they’re an American act, as the accents are thick and SoCal. There’s a nice punch to “My Only”, but are Goodnight Nurse mere flash in the pans or will they last?

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby – Warner Bros.
There has been much ballyhooed nonsense about how “Tell Me Baby” is a return to the funk for the Chilis. It’s rubbish, of course. In truth, it’s as pop as anything else the band have done in the past few years, and continues the band down the path of being the ‘American U2’ – a band prepared to crunch out the hits that sound vaguely like their old best, but lack any of the same punch or verve. “Tell Me Baby” is fun but superfluous, even if John Frusciante’s guitar work is as impressive as ever.

T-Pain – I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper) – Jive/Zomba
Oh, it’s horrible! Take it away!! Far, far away, then destroy it so it can’t breed. Everything that is wrong about modern r ‘n b is captured in this single – from the Vocoder-ized vocals to the cheesy production and nasty, tasteless sentiment, “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper)” needs to be taken out the back and shot, putting it out of its not inconsiderable misery.