Tramps, rocks and cribs!

Someone once said that the future of music was on the streets, but it's only with the arrival of legendary Scouse quartet Tramp Attack that we can see just how close to the truth this is. As the forerunners for Liverpool's Bandwagon scene, they can be blamed for the last wave of dreamy psychedelic popsters, but their music has more in common with skiffle and early rock'n'roll. Second single 'Oh! When The Sun Goes Down' is a mariachi-flavoured piece of deliriously wonky rock'n'roll produced by Adam out of Ambulance, and while it probably won't see them conquer the world, it cements their position as one of the best bands in Liverpool at least.

Brighton's The Tenderfoot, however, show that there are far less interesting things to be done with acoustic guitars, and as the dreary vocals and thoroughly tired jangle wash over your correspondent, we can only point out that their sleeve seems to be made out of wallpaper. Tellingly, this is the most exciting piece of information we can dredge up from this mediocre fumble, and it's only as we pull the CD from the record player that we spot the irony of a song called 'Waking Me Up Again' that's currently sending us to sleep.

Not that there's any chance of catching some z's in the presence of the badly-named Modey Lemon. Their debut single 'Predator' is the sort of wonkily insane garage rock that would send The Datsuns scurrying back home to New Zealand in terror. Sounding absolutely twisted and looking pretty good, Modey Lemon are sure to be the best band your parents will declare "just noise" for some time.

Back in the realm of the acoustic troubadour, Adam Masterson - a man with a sound as exciting as his forgettable name might suggest - returns with a new single entitled 'Same Sad Story'. For this, read 'same depressing acoustic ballad wank as every other singer-songwriter in the country right now'. If that doesn't sum it up for you, then perhaps the fact it was produced by The Charlatans' Mark Collins will. Seek and destroy.

For ****'s sake, if you're going to be miserable, why not go the whole hog and make string-drenched soundtrack music for sophisticated indie types to contemplate suicide to?Tindersticks have been pulling this trick for years, and just as vocalist Stuart Staples still sounds like a stoned, pissed Paul Robeson on 33rpm, their lush orchestral Scott Walkerisms remain equally intact. Still brilliant, still scoring French films and still selling more records than you'd probably think, the veteran crooners' 'My Oblivion' is a welcome return for an inexplicably enjoyable band.

Maupa are attempting to cover similar ground, as their well-crafted epic rock swoops and glides in the same sort of heartfelt vein as Elbow, but new single 'Helpless' is the stuff of the sensitive souls occupying most sixth form common rooms across the country. It's as sonically impressive as it is dull, although the fact that they're from Accrington probably goes some way to explain the tedium factor.

It's left to the full-on power pop of youthful five-piece The Rocks to save the day. 'Celeste', their third single to date, follows on from the sell-out success of their previous two and will hopefully establish them as one of the country's best new bands. With a recent billing on the Acupuncture tour, The Rocks' feverishly energetic pop spark should see them make the leap from the indie ghetto to the mainstream, and even if they don't, we're in for one hell of a ride. As aptly-named as Cornflakes, The Rocks are here to fight the good fight. And they'll win!

Finally, another young act provide some serious competition in a like-minded way. Sibling upstarts The Cribs have been adopted by the deliciously weird Bobby Conn, and their rough'n'ready scruff-rock single 'Baby Don't Sweat' is a fierce demonstration of why. Sounding not unlike The White Stripes under the guidance of J Mascis, The Cribs, The Rocks and The Moonies could well spearhead a power-pop revival at some point in the near future. Until then, sit back and revel in the brilliance of it all. The Cribs are coming your way.