The New Young Pony Club – The Optimist (The Numbers) ****

With a name like The New Young Pony Club, I was half-expecting some St Trinian’s-style girl band, and from listening to the first track, I had stupidly made my mind up that this was rock for toffs. How wrong I was, though. The more I listened to this album, the more I discovered hints of Siouxsie and the Banshees electro-style punk, mixed with The Gossip and Kasabian-style basslines. To say this album is self-financed by the band as well, also adds a huge amount of credibility to it. By far the best element is the variety of the tracks, never simply repeating their style but keeping you on your toes, making this a compelling listen.

David Ayres, 32, engineer, Idle

De Staat – Wait For Evolution (Cool Green) *****

Wow! It’s not that often that you find an album by an unknown band that you like on first listening and still like after playing it to death for more than a week. And if that’s not praise enough, even my twentysomething son is borrowing it! De Staat, or The State in English, stem from Nijmegen in The Netherlands, though the singing is all in English. They are currently touring as a live band though most of the music is the conception of just Torre Florim. Layered rock, techno, hip-hop, jive or world music, take your pick and just feel the groove that tickles your fancy. Think along the lines of Gorillaz meets Talking Heads, and Queens Of The Stone Age playing a dance beat, with Tom Waites on vocals, and you might be heading roughly in the right direction. Can’t wait to see them live! Nigel Goodman, 52, teacher, Heaton