Been rather a hectic month for yours truly—I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say I’ve scoured the globe (read: record stores near me) for this month’s hot platters, so my feet are a little tired, and my ears are still ringing, but here they be.

While in the UK this past May, I heard a lot of jibber jabber about a group known as The Glitterati, and their unprecedented rise to the top of a fickle music scene in jolly ol’ England. Well, their debut 45 has washed up on North American shores wrapped in Hustler magazines and soaked in salt water and whiskey, but I dried it off and spun it long enough to get the gist of their glamrock stylings in the songs “You Got Nothing On Me” and “Love Drug,” the former being better than the latter, with its late-era Stones/Stooges swagger pervasive throughout. We’ll see how long their glorifi ed run lasts, I‘m guessing ‘til the
end of the week, but I’ll give it a few spins when I’m hankering for a reckless night on the town. (Atlantic Records, or check out www.theglitterati.com).

Course there’s nothing wrong with stalking a potential girlfriend while you’re at it, right? I mean The D4 even wrote a ballad about it, called “Stops Me Cold” on their new single. They’d even look through her garbage just to be closer to her, but once she’s wary what they’re up to, her look…well, you get the idea. It’s a little different sounding than their full-length from a couple years back, with a soulful organ creeping in and out, but if you’re looking for more of an uptempo side to the New Zealand natives, then the flip, “What I Want” will be your speed, complete with over-amped guitars, rumbling bass and sandpaper-scraped vocals. (Poptones Records, www.poptones.co.uk).

From the bustling cosmopolitan city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (I know, sounds all glitz and glamour to me too) come The Diplomats of Solid Sound with a new soul-jazz junket by way of a new Spanish label. See, The Diplomats have honed their craft by listening to too many JB’s and Junior Walker records, but that’s ok by me, ’cuz they definitely get the party going. Just lay “Loaf And Jug” in the cut, and see the dance-floor bust out with all sorts of movers and groovers, then slap on “Grease Monkey” and listen to the Hammond organ come alive with their spot-on rendition of Brother Jack McDuff’s boogaloo classic. They’ve
got two great long-players on Estrus Records that I strongly recommend you check out, but this little waxing we’re waxing about is available on…
(Vampisoul Records, www.vampisoul.com).

Last on our list is a three-song outing from The Shop Fronts, a New York City-based two-guy/two-girl combo who like it short and sweet, with no muss or fuss. No song reaches the two-minute mark, so this garage rock is perfect for folks who like it just dirty enough to annoy the neighbours at high volume and catchy enough to grant repeated spins between their two originals “Don’t Quit” and “Just Don’t Know” and a cover of Irish punk-rockers The Outcasts “Frustration.” Useless trivia note: singer/guitarist Jami Wolf has punk rock cred out the wazoo having slung guitar in San Fran’s The Zodiac Killers, written for Maximum Rock And Roll and Gearhead magazines, and countless other endeavours. You needed to know that. Trust me. (Rapid Pulse Records, www.
undergroundmedicine.com/rapidweb).

As always, thanks for making my egotistical dreams come true by readin’ this here missive. Until next month!