As my colleagues here salivate and twitch over the new Wolfmother album, I absorb the latest offering by Echo & The Bunnymen and reflect fondly on the past. 2009 has thrown up an overdose of eighties regenerations and listening to the richness of McCulloch & Co makes me realise how much of the rest of it has been dross! White Lies must carry most of the blame of course, or at least their marketing machine. I thought their album was rather good in fact, but the hype and the whole road show that surrounded it leaves a nasty aftertaste. Editors’ latest outing failed to live up to expectations too, with vigour being replaced by varnish and then Yeah Yeahs Yeahs metamorphosing into Blondie makes me realise that the eighties weren’t that special the first time around!

Disappointments came thick and fast amongst the indie establishment too, with Franz Ferdinand, The View and even Arctic Monkeys failing to raise their individual bars and let’s not mention Doherty eh?! Thankfully a handful of their lesser-known cousins have offered up glimmers of promise and I intend to wrap up the top indie releases of the year here before the new decade is upon us. But as a foretaste, The Joy Formidable (pictured), The Twilight Sad and Northern Portrait all released highly commendable albums.

So what of Wolfmother then? Well I don’t really care to be honest! All that hard-man rock should have slicked off the shores of the States as it was leaving, as far as I’m concerned, but the Aussies seem to have dredged it in (jeez, did you hear the Jet album?!). There is an ‘however’ though, and maybe signs here of old age on my part, but both Pearl Jam’s and Creed’s new albums were more than welcome uplifts - although I guess that’s where hard rock becomes grunge isn’t it? Me, I’m into indie, which does leave me wide open I know, particularly as the Yanks are also starting to hijack that particular genre now too. They call it ‘alternative’ over there of course, but if it provides a weighty enough alternative to avoid there being another Velvet Revolver, then hallebloodylujah! But listen up, I CAN appreciate things less girly than Florence & The Machine if it’s done well, so hats off to Enter Shikari, The Horrors and NOFX for all waking me from my indiedused trance momentarily.

Well that’s my miserable slant on the year thus far out the way until next time, when the new Biffy Clyro album may well have chirped me up some (unless it’s offset by the new Stereophonics living down to expectations of course). Ah well, at least they’re re-releasing Slade’s Christmas Album again this year!

TC