July's been a bit of a bumper month so far for good new tunes. 

MADMADMAD have a new tune out in the form of 'Spin Wave', very reminiscent of early Chemical Brothers. I caught them supporting Warmduscher at the 100 Club a while back and they were electric, so if you get the chance to see them when they announce some dates make sure you do.

If you fancy something punky, check out the new singles from Reverse Cowboys and Wax Head. Wax Head actually released 'Terminal Sinker' last month, but hey, whose bothered. Slightly more polished but equally punchy are Belgian's SONS with their new track 'All Gold', whose album 'Hallo' comes out in September. Previous releases Hello and Do My Thing are also pretty tasty. 

I happened upon 'Cleanshirt' by Nottingham's Midnight Rodeo and then found they had an album out 'Chaos Era'. Album and single are rather fine, very assured indie fare with a lot of potential for broad appeal if they get the right exposure. Slightly scuzzier but equally enjoyable are HotWax, whose new single 'Tell Me Everything's Alright' was recorded at the same time as their excellent debut album 'Hot Shock' but didn't quite fit by all accounts.   

New albums from New Yorkers Geese, Native Sun and The Thing are all on the way, with all of them bring out tasters this month. Fellow Yanks Wombo also have their new album landing next month, with 'Skyhopping' the latest single out. 

Elsewhere, there are new tracks from shoegazers thistle, Psych rockers Lorelle Meets The Obselete and Sons of MU, quirky fuggers Slow Cooked, the rather elegant and beautiful Modern Nature plus Oral Habit and Lipworms (scroll down for more on the last two). 

All of these tracks will feature on our monthly playlist when it gets updated at the end of the month, and you'll find five of them on the fiver right now. Head to the playlists part of the site to follow/listen.    

Portsmouth based LIPWORMS caught my attention last year with their debut single 'Handshake', a quality bit of trippy Krautrock released on a Slow Dance compilation. A couple of YouTube visits to their live performances further attested to my initial 'they sound alright actually' assessment, and as such they've very much been on my radar ever since.

Their newly released second single, 'Teeth' offers a slightly different direction for the band, into the world of industrial psych, a term that I've perhaps just made up but one that sounds about right. It's still very much in the realms of trippyness and therefore my happy place, but more industrial beats, acid-house basslines and psych noise/vocals. Which makes it a winner, of course.

'Three separate machine states, soldered together with noise, sweat, and system errors. Expect blown-out drum machines, scream-laced static, and acid lines that trip over themselves. Jagged vocals echo through a distorted void, like corrupted voice memos from a stolen synth. Every sound is either too loud, too broken, or too fast - and that's exactly the point. 404 - clean melodies not found" is how the band describe the track.

The band play London's Sebright Arms tomorrow night and the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth on Thursday, with further gigs at the George Tavern (London - September 10th) and the Purple Turtle in Reading on the 8th October, so go check 'em out.     

Sitting somewhere between peak-output Osees and 'Definitely Maybe' era Oasis is not exactly a bad place to be with your first EP, and that's exactly where Brighton band Oral Habit sit with 'Garage Frock!'.

You'll find 10 minutes of your time well spent listening to the four tracks on Garage Frock!. The EP title track opener and 'Sauerkraut' blend garage and psych rock with beautifully gritty guitar/feedback that clearly take inspiration from Osees without having to sound exactly like them, which seems to be a trend with a few other bands right now.

'I'm Free' and 'The Coast' take inspiration from that early (golden) era Oasis but again retain their own identity perfectly. The former a jangly romp, the latter a slow burner heavy at the finish.       

'I wanted to create a piece of work where the tracks could exist in a similar space to one another, getting a balance or our live sound while introducing instruments from out of our comfort zone' says lead singer Charlie of the EP. 'Creating Garage Frock! helped form us as a band, shedding a new skin to move onto our next endeavour'. 

The EP will have a vinyl and cassette release via Manchester label Sour Grapes, followed by a tour in September, finishing up at the Shacklewell Arms, where I will be, cheering them on. That gig also features Hot Face and its free on Dice. 

9 Sept: Brighton/Hope and Ruin
10 Sept: Guildford/Boileroom
11 Sept: Northampton/Lab
14 Sept: Reading/Purple Turtle
16 Sept: Falmouth/Chintz
18 Sept: Glasgow/Nice N' Sleazy's
19 Sept: Manchester/Big Hands Bar
27 Sept: London/Shacklewell Arms

When I first saw an advert for Forever Now, I really thought it had to be a festival of alternative 80s cover bands.

The line-up was for someone like me, who lived through the 80s as a teenager, quite incredible. Death Cult, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The The and Johnny Marr were all heroes of mine growing up, and here they were, bought together at the same festival, 30 minutes-drive from my house. Incredible. The inclusion of The Damned, Happy Mondays and Kraftwerk just made the whole things seem even more fantastical.  

And it was an amazing day. Hearing Johnny Marr (who has really worked on his vocals, sounding great on the day) was the first of many highlights. Kicking off with 'Panic' and ending with a beautiful version of 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out', Marr and his band were brilliant throughout, properly bringing lumps to throats with that closer and an achingly beautiful version of 'Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want'. 

Marr reappeared a couple of hours later for the next big highlight of the day, The The, joining Matt Johnson and his bandmates for 'The Beat(en) Generation. It was the first time they had played together since 1990 and it was a wonderful moment, but in fairness, so was the entire set. Johnson inevitably got the poignant 'Armageddon Days' and 'Sweet Bird of Truth' in early, reminding us that the dire situation in the Middle East hasn't exactly moved on a lot in 30-odd years, but didn't dwell on the politics too much, instead swiftly delivering a series of highlights from his brilliant career. This included 'Icing Up' from his first album 'Burning Blue Soul' as well as more obvious standouts like 'This is the Day', Uncertain Smile, Slow Emotion Replay and Infected. It was exceptional. 

Amidst all this, Billy Idol delivered pure entertainment, PIL and Psychedelic Furs were OK and what I heard of the Jesus and Mary Chain was top quality, although some issues on 'the other stage' meant that their set and the Damned's ended up being a lot shorter than expected and behind schedule.        

The headliner choice was a toughie: Kraftwerk or Death Cult. For me though it was Death Cult all the way. I never got the chance to see the original Death Cult, or the Cult at the time of Dreamtime, so this was something special. And my word, did they deliver. They belted out Resurrection Joe, Moya, 83rd Dream, Horse Nation, Dreamtime, Spiritwalker, She Sells Sanctuary and more and it was magical. You'd never believe Ian Astbury was 63 given the way he bounced around the stage, and it was clear that he was reveling in the occasion. 

And then it was all over. One can only hope that this was an inaugural event, returning bigger and better next year. Hat's off to the organiser's - you made a lot of people very happy.