Young Guns went to Thailand to record their 'difficult' second album and all they got me was this lousy t-shirt. With so much promise offered with their debut album can Gustav Wood and band follow it up and make that jump to the big league? Gaz E finds the band readying their pogo sticks.....

With the list of uninspiring band names almost equalling the number of insipid bands standing out like beans on a piece of toasted bread, can young hopefuls Promise Me Tomorrow offer anything different to an already beige genre? Rob Watkins tells it like it is.....

Think how different Ramsay Street might have been if Bouncer had been called Beelzebub and Joe Mangel's surname was, in fact, Mengele. Mark Ashby finds an Australian band who couldn't give a XXXX for their country's musical tradition, instead walking the left hand path paved with corpse-paint.......

You'd have to be in some kind of Oklahoma coma not to want to get down and get with it to a soundtrack of badass Southern garage rock 'n' roll. Safety-pinning Supersuckers and Nashville Pussy patches onto the AC/DC altar, Motortrain have our man Craggy rough and sweaty......

Family get togethers at Pearl Aday's house must be hard work, pushing past Scott Ian to get to the bathroom only to find Meat Loaf hogging the liquid soap...or something like that. Pearl follows her 'Little Immaculate White Fox' debut with a live, acoustic album that is available only as a download. Matt Phelps checks out 'The Swing House Session'......

London outfit Medusa release their sophomore album and fill it with a curious mix of influences, with a heavy Nineties grunge sound rubbing shoulders with somewhat unexpected soundalikes. Ross Welford finds out if one look at this album would turn him to stone....

What's in a name, eh?! ZombieShakerBox aren't the typical shock horror troupe that their dubious moniker might suggest; instead they worship at the temple of Alice In Chains. Ross Welford checked out their latest, self released album, 'Encrypted'

Phoenix fuck-ups the Crash Street Kids return with a new album, 'Sweet Creatures', but remain firmly rooted in the glorious glam rock stomp of the sick Seventies. In fact, the only thing different about this record is that is showcases a band who have seriously upped their game. Dom Daley takes it to the street with an uber-approved throwback for the attack....

Nu year, nu metal? Uber Rock playa Ross Welford is living a Life Of Lies as he checks out the latest album from Texan 'ghetto rock' outfit Downsiid. Produced and engineered by the legendary Roy Z, this band channel Papa Roach and Soil...and throw in a Prince cover version to boot......