THE young republic, jakobinarina, gallows, babyshambles and more - singles for your week beginning september 17th

THE ENEMY - YOU’RE NOT ALONE (WB ) Don’t be fooled by the stadium rock intro - The Enemy haven’t sold out. This impassioned tribute to the redundant Coventry car-workers is a master class in pop and politics. Packed with Wellerisms (circa ’78) Tom’s in quite a fluster over the job losses and makes this anthem a fitting epitaph for an industrial wasteland. A modern fanfare for the common man. IAN BROWN – ILLEGAL ATTACKS ( POLYDOR) Oh dear! Mr Brown is going ape over Britain’s foreign policy. That’s the former Stone Roses bloke and not the former socialist. Like a cabbie with a new rhyming dictionary, Brown makes a half-arsed political rant and produces the sort of pap even Hard-Fi wouldn’t shove on a b-side. This is the equivalent of wearing a bangle to banish poverty: so bad it makes nostalgia for Chumbawamba seem reasonable. JAKOBINARINA / HIS LYRICS ARE DISASTROUS (Regal) Surprisingly this is not a comment on Ian Brown but a brash guitar pop single by a bunch of teenage geezers from Iceland. “Let’s rob a bank! Then leave this island for good!” suggest Jakobinarina. Funny, I always thought Icelanders were nice people – prone to reading too many books, maybe; more than a little ‘kooky’ yes - but surely not criminal? Whatever, they’re cheeky bleeders who, like our very own Art Brut, rock very wryly indeed. GALLOWS / IN THE BELLY OF A SHARK (WB) The roaring Watford ones return with a bass line that could cut through concrete on this - the shoutiest song of the week. Explosive, frenetic and that’s just the first five seconds: this psycho-rocking fish tail never comes up for air. Frank Carter surely escaped through a wormhole in time and space some time around 1977 but it would be awfully dull without him. BABYSHAMBLES - DELIVERY (PARLOPHONE) “…that was The Kinks with You Really Got Me and now another groovy tune for all you pop-pickers! Peter Doherty and his chums will get your turntable jumping with this swinging number…” Oh hang on; it’s 2007 isn’t it? OK. After dates with Kate and the magistrates, Pete’s career gets a shot in the arm from the stylish Stephen Street production and mid-Sixties vibe. Just don’t mention The Coral. PETER BJORN AND JOHN - YOUNG FOLKS ( WICHITA) Some say that it’s only truly great songs that get the postman whistling, but come on - even the baseball-capped teenage mafia at the end of my street are pursing their lips to this one as they score more worming tablets and chalk dust. Young Folks brings new meaning to the word ubiquitous. Where have you been for the past twelve months?! TWO GALLANTS - DESPITE WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TOLD (SADDLE CREEK) And finally, a new offering from the label behind Bright Eyes and Azure Ray. Nailing their colours firmly to the Cold War Kids mast, Two Gallants plod through more 6Music-friendly fare but fail to let themselves go. Like the Broken Family Band covering old Waterboys, this lacks a soul.