IT’S always great to hear one of Port Elizabeth’s leading live acts finally getting its sound down on disc and fans of Sick Day September will be thrilled with the group’s debut independent four-track EP, This Leads to Something.

Excellently produced by Finkelstiens and Don’t Panic frontman Bryan McLagan, the disc starts off with the rather chaotic track Fight Society – a mixture of punk rock, screamo metal and a drinking song.

Second track Memories is a punk pop love song which may remind listeners of Tweak, while the very catchy Three Strikes You Out Kid is much faster and appears to be influenced by The Offspring.

The EP ends off with the somewhat frenetic Red is My Harm which probably gets the fans going at shows, but doesn’t sound like it would work on radio. However overall the group shows a good deal of promise and is worth watching out for in the near future.

ONE of Durban’s hottest rock acts, City Bowl Mizers, has released its self-titled debut CD through Sony.

The group combines the ska sounds of Madness and The Specials with other ’80s acts like The Style Council and Joe Jackson, while a number of tracks seem influenced by local heroes Wonderboom.

Other tracks have a bit of a ’60s feel, such as Real Wedding Cake, which brings old Beach Boys songs to mind, while Writer’s Block is more modern, feeling like a mixture of Panic at the Disco and The Feeling.

The only criticism is that it is much too long. No debut album should have 18 tracks!

THE very impressive album Exploded Views (Red Fox/ Rhythm Records) by New Holland is extremely diverse featuring a lot of different musical directions.

It starts off on Freedom! as melodic rock, moves to a downbeat Coldplay-influenced style for the next two tracks, before totally changing on These are the Best Days to a laid back electronic sound with distorted vocals.

Little Less Lonely is closer to grunge in style, while Thank You Guatama is an acoustic guitar folk track.

With so many styles on offer it will please those looking for diversity, but will also make it harder for the band to carve out a specific niche in the market.

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LIKE New Holland, Jacsharp has also produced a very diverse album, titled Technicolour (Seed/ Sheer Sound).

The group’s lead singer Juliet Harding has a very pleasing vocal style which is equally suited to laid back ballads like the jazzy Views Unbeknown or rock tracks like Saving Grace, which may remind listeners of Paramore.

Feel So Fine has a ska rhythm, Distractions has an energetic dance beat, while Tonight seems like a cross between Freshlyground, The Corrs and Egyptian Nursery.

Despite the diversity, Harding’s voice holds it all together to make for a top quality album.

LINDSAY McGuire has reissued her album Taking Control (Sting Music) with some additional bonus tracks.

Her style is a lot like American punk pop singer Pink, particularly on the tracks Mad About You, Alone Again and She Sits Alone.

However track six, Taking Control feels more like Melissa Etheridge or Michelle Branch in style.

McGuire’s two biggest collaborations, Everything Changes with Changing Face and Butterfly with Black by Nature round off the enjoyable melodic rock album.

AFTER more than a decade away Mango Groove is back with Bang the Drum (EMI), but to be honest nothing much has changed.

My Blue Ocean and Lay Down Your Heart will both remind listeners of Moments Away, while Hey! seems much like Special Star.

But the group has experimented a bit on other tracks, giving Pretty a 1950s mambo feel (a bit like Lou Bega’s Mambo #5) and adding vuvuzelas and cheering crowds to Give It, a song bound to gain loads of airplay around next year’s soccer World Cup.

There’s also a surprising country influence evident in the guitar work in A Life in One Day and Belong, a track which also has reggae elements in the bass and drum work.