2005 alive

(Morning Star, Saturday 08 January 2005)

2005: Ones to watch

KIRSTIE MAY picks out the most promising music acts to look out for this year.

What was 2004 good for? In the music scene, absolutely lots, actually.

British music was flying high with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight and the Libertines hoisting the national colours for indie, not to mention reality TV supergroup Girls Aloud going pop at every opportunity.

The same chart that brought us McFly's corking Obviously also sadly made a number one out of Three of a Kind's Babycakes, but, all in all, not too shabby.

So what of 2005? As far as wistful songstresses with a little spark, the music world's been a tundra of tiresome tweeting, all Melua and Winehouse, with only Bedingfield for respite and look how that turned out.

Happily, Jem is here to save us all. Welsh and lovely, she's been taken already to the bosom of our US cousins and signed to Dave Matthews's label, but don't let that put you off.

Boasting a season finale appearance in teenage hit The OC, the kids are already there, but picking up her album Finally Woken (Ato Records) wouldn't be the worst thing you could do for your stereo.

Handsome young hipster Kevin Mark Trail has been honing his craft with The Streets - on Let's Push Things Forward - and Nitin Sawney and it's pretty damn near perfect now.

The 24-year-old MC released the most summery single of 2004, Perspective, to little attention, but the buzz is getting turned up this year.

He's a soulful reggae kind of guy, with a pinch of rock and a head for a well-crafted tune and, if it's good enough to set all his celebrity fans foaming at the mouth, it's good enough for your beat-up stereo.

Check out the debut album Just Living (EMI) to find out what all the fuss is about - and why he's much more than the new Craig David.

Leeds natives the Kaiser Chiefs have tried their hand at this fame game before, with previous incarnation Parva, a band more interested in haircuts than hit singles.

Second time lucky for frontman Ricky, though, as the Chiefs' I Predict A Riot has to be one of the catchiest pop-punk singles to hit the music scene full in the face for years.

Their energy live is a true delight and, while the fashionable fops still nurture the retro Leeds look, they are 10 times the band, with 10 times the potential.

Listen to Employment (B Unique) from March 7 and bop like you're in the best indie disco ever.

Rooster are not what you'd call unusual.

They're a West London four-piece being pitted against the Busted, McFly and Freefaller breed, but, in truth, the only common traits are guitars - oh, and good looks.

Picking up where 1990s blues-rock noiseniks Reef left off, these lads, all in their early twenties, know how to formulate a good melody – and dirty it up proper.

With the biggest big talk since Kasabian, Rooster think that they're the cock of the walk, but it's not misplaced arrogance.

If heavy guitars and an old skool swagger's your bag, Rooster's eponymous debut - featuring stonking hit Come Get Some - is available on Brightside/BMG from January 24.

When Broken Social Scene manage to squeeze their 15 or so members into the studio, a Canadian party ensues.

A band known in the US and bound to be big here, they're far from fledgling, but fresh as the day their debut You Forgot It In People (Mercury) was released in 2003.

This year, their more chilled-out Bee Hives (Mercury) will be the album to have, be you entertaining friends in the bedsit or burning mix CDs for the uninitiated.

The ambient, multilayered sound of Bee Hives has set the fans alight, with the same feeling of weightlessness as The Earlies and all the harmonies of The Shins.

The name's a bit of a mistake, but Broken Social Scene are an absolute dream of a band.

Check them out and you'll forget you every heard of the Polyphonic Spree.