Bangles

The key tracks by the scene's finest bands

Credit Atomic Kitten for one thing—their version of "Eternal Flame" is partially responsible for this Valley High reunion. Susanna Hoffs' acting career (with her mum) is a thing of the past, so the chief Bangle has motivated her crew to come up with an assured, if airbrushed, female power pop disc that's loaded with tooth-kind melodies: "Stealing Rosemary" and "Single By Choice" are instant brain worms. Whether demand for the Bangles' cute Cali cool exists today is open to debate. Hurrah for big hair, anyway.

In the Paisley Underground, the seeds of Americana are planted

Evolution here we come! The gradual blossoming of a modern-day rock guitar master

The Bangles frontwoman on the records that lit her eternal flame: “I always think of music as my drug”

A dream inside a dream inside a Dream Syndicate

"We've lost a great one"

New Order, Pete Shelley RIP, 2019 Preview, Sharon Van Etten, Mark Knopfler and more...

Cult US singer-songwriter delivers first new album in 43 years

The complete works of alt.country pioneers corralled into a career-spanning boxset