What I'm listening to at the moment...

Helen Love "Long Hot Summer"
Invicta Hi-FI Records, promo CD single
The lo-fi Girls Aloud release another in a long line of great summer singles, and like previous release "Punk Boy", there are two title tracks.
The first "Long Hot Summer" is a glorious piece of Bubblegum punk pop, a list of all the tapes that Helen is going to take to the beach with her, coupled with a twist of seaside pier organ.
"Long Hot Summer 2" is a blast of the fly-on-the-wall songwriting that Helen excels in, while the final track, "Helen Love on 45" is a Jive Bunny meets the Ramones megamix of the bands biggest singles.
www.helenlove.com

Le Tigre "Le Tigre"
Wiiija, WIJCD1108
Been listening to this again whilst playing PacMan on one of those plug into your tv retro gaming things. I loved it when it came out in 2001, but now I've realised how brilliant it is.
From the reassuring funk loop of "Hot Topic" and the great argument song that is "What's Your Take On Cassavetes" through to the bouncy shoutiness of "My, My Metrocard", this debut album hits the right notes all across the spectrum, from punk, riot grrl, bubblegum through to electro-clash way ahead of time.
Sure, Kathleen Hanna was great in Bikini Kill, but you wouldn't have thought this could come out of the band that wrote "Suck My Left One"!
Buy Le Tigre