JACK WHITE - Blunderbuss

JACK White heads down a more restrained route than the one taken by his globe-conquering band The White Stripes on his debut solo album, Blunderbuss.

The title track sees White perfect his attempts at a Robert Plant vocal impression while backed by swooning country music which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack.

Take Me With You When You Go is all Ray Charles rhythms and Norah Jones melodies, while the guitar-heavy Sixteen Saltines is as close as it gets to his previous output with The Raconteurs.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT - Out Of The Game

I’VE never really understood what the fuss is about with Rufus Wainwright.

Maybe his success is deserved, but he’s always seemed an incredibly dull artist to me with few redeeming qualities.

And while there’s no doubt he can sing, his sub-operatic songs tend to make me feel a little bit nauseous.

The title track is a middle of the road bore, Jericho sounds like a song that Supertramp rejected, and the swing-by-numbers Rashida is beyond irritating.

Still, you’ve got to hand it to him - he’s managed to make a career out of being entirely mundane.

MYSTERY JETS - Radlands

ON their fourth long player, Mystery Jets seem to have embraced American rock for all it is worth.

The electro-pop sound of their 2008 hit Two Doors Down has disappeared without a trace, replaced with moody echoes of Bruce Springsteen, Joshua Tree-era U2 and Razorlight’s self-titled second album.

After a promising start, this album loses its way and becomes something of a pastiche of the artists which so obviously influence this indie-rock band.