Rock

Hen Ogledd
Discombobulated
Weird World WEIRD172CD;
LP: WEIRD172LPXM

Discombobulated is an apposite title. ‘Scales Will Fall’ feels like The Incredible String Band imbued with Wicker Man weirdness, and includes Dawn Bothwell’s political rap in a broad Scots accent, free jazz trumpet and an ancient sounding chorus. All of which made this writer turn from vague dislike to near love within its eight minutes. Richard Dawson sings and plays guitar and keys, and like his solo work, it’s strongly melodic with a spontaneous looseness. Family members deliver recitations alongside field recordings and songs in Welsh and Finnish. ‘End Of The Rhythm’ features winds and harp, and the sprawling ‘Clear Pools’ is based on a lovely incantation. It promises to be one of 2026’s most original albums. MB

Sound Quality: 90%

Big Big Train
Woodcut
InsideOut 19802977922; LP: 19802977931

Big Big Train are in the vanguard of contemporary progressive rock and here deliver a 66-minute narrative concept album about an artist who ends up within his own created world. The opposite of disposable pop, it’s going to take some unravelling. It begins with a brief chamber piece for strings and winds, ‘Inkwell Black’, and ends with Alberto Bravin’s vocals soaring aloft on the surging ’Last Stand’. In between, the seven-piece band deliver a brilliantly arranged series of songs and instrumentals with rich tunes and dazzling, virtuosic playing. But as always, while they have chops to spare, they ultimately serve the music rather than their own egos. MB

Sound Quality: 90%

The Wave Pictures
Gained/Lost
Bella Union BELLA1699CD; LP: BELLA1699V

When someone writes a song inspired by William Burroughs, it doesn’t normally come out as sunny and swooning as ‘Alice’. Over swaggering power pop chords, David Tattershall sings cryptic lines such as ‘I’ve been lifted up by abuse/ I’ve been brought low by praise’, with a kind of tremulous wonder, adding imaginative lead guitar lines. He writes from multiple viewpoints delivering what feel like short stories within melodic rock ’n’ roll. On the wry ‘Faded Wave Pictures T-Shirt’ he explores bittersweet memories ‘like pain melting in the rain’, introducing a vein of disquiet that runs through the smart, sharp rhythms and violin flourishes of ‘Samuel’. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

The Damned
Not Like Everybody Else
earMUSIC 4029759211594; LP: 4029759211600

Ever since The Damned released the first punk single, ‘New Rose’, in 1976, they’ve displayed more cartoonish mischief than their more serious peers and have outlasted most of them. This collection of mainly ’60s pop and garage rock cover versions is a tribute to founder member and guitarist, the late Brian James. That adds poignancy, but it’s also a belter. Original drummer Rat Scabies returns after 40 years, and his all-action style adds power to ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’ and a brawny take on The Creation’s ‘Making Time’, while Captain Sensible gets to sing one of his favourite songs, Pink Floyd’s 1967 psychedelic hit single, ‘See Emily Play’. MB

Sound Quality: 80%