Back in stock: Punk/Hardcore

Review: The Irish music scene has rarely been in such rude and varied health. From Galway to Dublin in the South, up to Belfast and Derry in the North, Great Britain's smaller and - arguably - greener little sibling is making a lot of interesting noises right now. Each seems to be as captivating as the next, although few tear out of the starting blocks with anything like the intensity and energy, anger and tumultuous emotion as The Murder Capital. Blindness is album number three, following on from a debut that hit number two in the Irish charts and 18 in the UK, and a second - Gigi's Recovery - that achieved the number one spot in the group's homeland and 16 in the UK. We'd be shocked if part tres didn't do better. Always immediate and packed with personality, we finally hear the culmination of those preceding years. From post punk chug distorted through the fizz and crackle of humanity, though quieter moments deliver even more devastating blows, shades of everyone from The Killers (at their creative peak) to The Watchmen, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Savages and Idles ring crystal clear.

Review: English band XTC served up White Music, their debut album, in 1978 having already impressed three months earlier with their debut EP. The album had modest chart success, making number 38 i the charts, and spaced the infamous single 'Statue of Liberty' which the BBC promptly banned on account of the line 'In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt. It sure seems tame by modern standards but it helped gain the band more notoriety for their hyperactive post-punk sounds. While one reviewer at the time said the album was "aimed at bored Yes fans" it was a fine and hard to define debut that set the band in good stead.