>POW! Today’s post is the New Band equivalent of the scene in a kung-fu movie where the plucky hero takes on a whole bunch of heavyweight ninja brutes, and emerges GLORIOUS IN VICTORY!

Hoorah! Actually, no. On reflection, and if that dreadful analogy is fully explored, the idea of us – the wan, insipid fops who run ANBAD – being associated with heroism is a little beyond the pale. So, anyway – here’s another bunch of the great bands that form The ANBAD Band Backlog, and this is just another part of the Great ANBAD Sluice-Out. So:

Kochka – Geographically-scattered band, with a neat line in melodramatically contorted indie. Songs like Numbers might capture your heart, or they might trigger your feet, or maybe even both at once. Man of Letters ambles cutely next to you, and spills life stories as you make your way home. For fans of emotional (Note: NOT Emo) rock music.

Alonzo – Light years away from Kochka, figuratively and maybe literally too, is Alonzo, who is happily obsessed with space, time and UFOs. His music soars high, slickly painting the night sky with colourful synths, pounding drums and dippy samples. In Time burbles and bounces, and if you’re listening at night, the temptation to gaze upwards and wonder might be too hard to resist. Soft and broad.

The two members of Ken Winston each found an element of music they liked, and fused them together; maybe to be awkward, maybe to annoy, or maybe because there was a niggling feeling that a pop/electronic/prog combo might just work. If the latter was their reasoning, they were right – because in songs like Trees, they have a insidious, subtle and broad song that warps time and will leave you spaced out, in the nicest possible way.

So, that’s it for this week’s clear-out. And like all Kung-Fu movies, there will be many inevitable sequels. Many sequels.