ten.

Band of Skulls
Sweet Sour 

In to the top 10 with a superb sophomore effort from Southampton’s Band of Skulls.  The band has branched out from the southern blues-rock template of debut Baby Darling Doll Face Honey to cover a range of garage and alt-rock styles on Sweet Sour.  The result is a little less focused, but is more ambitious and probably has more stand-out tracks.  Yes, The Black Keys stylings are still greatly in evidence on tracks like the brilliant single ‘The Devil Takes Care of His Own’ and ‘You’re Not Pretty but You Got It Goin’ On’, but there’s also the scratchy riffing of ‘Wonderluster’ and the bittersweet acoustics of album-best ‘Navigate’.  Band of Skulls benefit significantly from having two people who can sing: Russell Marsden’s classic rock howl is well complimented by Emma Richardson’s ethereal vocals.  Exemplary playing (especially the bass) and a stockpile of quality songs means this is a superb listen start to finish.