MOODRING Mya Interscope Records (76m 42s) THERE is an air of desperation about Moodring that is most upsetting, given just how powerful and alluring Mya's voice was when she first burst on the scene on 'Ghetto Superstar' with Who?

Praz? In What Year? That big, natural talent has been squeezed into a series of cynically styled sonic outfits on this record to match the various fantasy guises that the beautiful Mya poses in on the sleeve. There is the 1970s pop soul of 'Sophisticated Lady' ("I'm cold blooded, I'll sexually harass you"), the slick R'n'B of 'No Sleep Tonight' and the cleaned-up reggae influenced 'Things Come And Go'. Instead of casting her net wide, Mya just alienates audiences with careless, callous style-hopping.

MM

PHOENIX The Warlocks Mute Records (64m 04s) YET more Jesus And Mary Chain-meets Television retro rock from The Warlocks marks the relentless and ongoing mining of this particular cultural seam, a process that feels as though it is without end. Booming walls of guitar noise are The Warlocks' speciality, perfect for inducing light-headed ringing in the ears of speaker hugging adolescents, less useful for the rest of us.

Wailing replaces any semblance of singing: no bad thing in itself, but we have heard this wailing before.

Empty of originality, The Warlocks perform their nihilist-karaoke with a certain swagger, but a record needs more than tambourines, feedback and a small morsel of charm to survive.

MM

FINAL STRAW Snow Patrol Black Lion (43m 40s) SNOW Patrol's very NorthernIrish/Scottish sound ensured they were part of the lo-fi zeitgeist of a few years ago (they were part of supergroup the Reindeer Section) but what do they do in a world where the White Stripes rule? Why get a new record label and make a fine new album, of course. Snow Patrol's second long player is an unstartling but high quality collection of solid guitar rock, and it's pretty good. The excellently named Gary Lightboddy's pleasantly airy vocals mix with the crashing guitars to charming effect, and the tunes are on the right side of catchy. Final Straw won't change your life, but it might brighten up your summer.

AC

THE CROOKED STRAIGHT El Diablo Catchy Go Go (33m 45s) EL DIABLO use what they have ? three singers, excellent players and a sense of humour ? with wit and flair.

The trouble is that they use these admirable attributes in slavish imitation of American country music that seems to be unsure whether it is pastiche or tribute. While much of the record is severely limited by its need to be country ('Led Astray'), other parts are lightened by creative use of the voices and instruments at hand ('The Reckoning', 'Boyfriend'). But some of the tracks lift themselves way beyond the genre sideshow with their inventive passion ('Skin And Bone', 'I Still Love You, You Know'), making you wish the rest was not so bound by the rigidly adhered to style.

MM LOCAL INFORMATION The French Too Pure (47m 03s) THE French are former members of indie also-rans Hefner, and they recently released a rather dull EP which attempted to mimic the wry English observational style of some of the great British eccentrics from Ray Davies to Jarvis Cocker, and which, unsurprisingly, failed in this attempt. This, their debut album, is basically more of the same ? lyrics about English suburbia, sung in an irritatingly affected voice. The album can be summed up in the opening track 'Porn Shoes', which melds a nursery rhyme tune with sub-Bowie vocals and truly appalling lyrics, which are obviously trying to be poignant and Zeitgeisty but which instead make the listener cringe.

AC

WHITE PRINTZ E.P. The Bumblebeez Witchita (20m 42s) This debut ep is billed as "a dirty tumble of tunes and beats", and for once, the billing is correct ? English trio the Bumblebeez really do sound like a lot of random instruments having a bit of a fight ? with surprisingly good results. 'Step Back' may be a big mess, but the thumping beats and bassline hold it together and make it genuinely rock. The rest of the small but perfectly formed tracks on this mini-album (there are eight songs in just over 20 minutes) continue the racket with style. It all sounds like a cross between Le Tigre, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a broken washing machine. A magnificent mess.

AC