When there's nothing going on there's nothing going on...

...except...

...signs of life from some old, old favourites. Stop-start retro-guitar-pop project The Trolleyvox vault back into the fray with their most full-on attacking sound to date. And this time it's political! Just you wait sees Andew and Beth getting out of their chairs and kicking some Republican ass. Great tune, great video. Album due in the autumn; in the meantime, you'll want to get this...
[the trolleyvox on myspace][video]

Cheesemongous kitsch glory from The Pipettes! Seems to have taken years [see rr Nov 04] for the debut album/greatest hits to arrive but We are the Pipettes surfaces July 17 (same day as the Lily Allen record, a pop-lite double-whammy) and they get full-page treatment in today's Telegraph. Pull shapes is possibly their best effort yet, Gwenno leading smartly with her left; check the video and surrender...
[the pipettes][video]

...and as for this, well, it's really rather emotional. Back from the edge of oblivion.. Wheat! Guitarist Ricky Brennan seemingly having lost patience/faith with the project (in the wake of the woefully misguided flak which followed the release of ace 3rd album Per second, per second...), Brendan and Scott are still hanging in there and offer a gorgeous taster of things (hopefully) to come with What everyone keeps telling me...
[hear here]

Instrumental indie-rock tyros Unwed Sailor are readying their next opus The White Ox and looking for European dates in Sept-Oct. Last seen here four years ago [see rr Oct 15 02], a summit meeting with Canterbury-based labelmates Yndi Halda will happen, surely?
[unwedsailor][yndi halda]

The Californian is one of a slew of nearly-records put out by Polyvinyl in the past decade. Sundays Best split up after their failure to crack the market that Death Cab now have seemingly all to themselves and band leader Ed Reyes and drummer Ian Moreno have regrouped as The Little Ones, with a v. promising Shins-ian EP to their name thus far. Three tracks available over here...

A belated European release in August for Denison Witmer's lovely last album, Are you a dreamer? Most recently he's helped out on a new instrumental collection from that record's producer, Innocence Mission's Don Peris. Called Go When The Morning Shineth, it's just what you'd expect really: gorgeous, glistening, melodic [hear]...

...and while we're in that zone, NPR's summer release preview show offers tracks & info re upcomin' new albums from M.Ward (Post war) and Hem (Funnel cloud)...

...but before we start wishing the year away.. there's another thumping Casio-tastic romp from The Research. As if there weren't enough, er, hits on the album, like all the best bands they're still happy to push out new stuff on singles. Hard times is well up to scratch and v. familiar from the gigs (as is that bloody cardigan, Russell)...
[video]

So, Badly Drawn Boy will be there, and The Boy Least Likely To and Boy Omega... and even some bands with girls in. Got your ticket for The End Of The Road Festival yet? Chop chop...