Said the Gramophone

je n'aurai plus peur des orages

Mickey 3D - "Là". This French band has released two records of rock for sensitive slackers, sincere but sloppy. "Là" is a terrific piece of quiet-loud mope-pop, reminding me a great deal of Snow Patrol's hit "Run". Whereas Snow Patrol is incontrovertibly nice, however, Mickey 3D's a little more honest in its melancholy-glad semilovesongs. To translate from the first verse: "One day I'll be there, well-hidden underground / And no one will see me / Looking under girls' skirts." Bass and drums trot along until they hit a wall of electric guitars, a waterfall mist of good-natured noise. Organs clamber in for the climax, like reliable brothers who promised they'd be there to see the city fall.

Hank Dogs - "Same New". Ovaltine for the ears. Sleepy blushing folk, with dreamy sighs and a glittering fingerpicked guitar. I wrote a couple of years ago that it was music "like eyelids fluttering open". This continues to feel true. The bassline wakes slowly, birds alight on bare branches, and Lily sings like a carefree Beth Orton - beauty with nothing to prove. "Everything to come will just be more of the same." It's a resignation that's dabbed with spots of hope, long strides up a hill, a quickening heartpattering pace. As folk-rock goes, Hank Dogs are descended from the Bert Jansch/Fairport Convention line, instead of Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie. In other words, they're from the UK.