There’s just one problem with Joanna Guresome’s cover of Galxie 500’s “Tugboat” for a digital only B-side to their “Sugarcrush” single (11/19). It’s digital. Otherwise, the Cardiff noise pop band get it all right. They treat the source material with respect, getting that hypnotic bass line just right, and have some fun with it, too. I don’t remember banshee screeches and guitar squeals much in the original. I don’t remember Galaxie 500 screaming much at all.

With Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins fame attached to Snowbird, you should have some sense of what you’re getting in to. The music is going to display patience and a maestro’s sense of nuance. The vibes are going to be chilled, not chill in a bro sense. With Stephanie Dosen on vocals, Raymonde also has a new twin, or bird, or muse. Her hushed vocals are an ideal fit on “Porcelain,” the lush piano ballad serving as the band’s broad introduction.

Where have all the riot girls gone, you ask? Have you met White Lung?

Did you hear that jam? The question is no longer where have the riot girls gone, it’s why haven’t had bought their new single yet. It’s out now on Deranged Records. Fans of Bikini Kill, L7, and Hole, well, pre-tabloid fodder Hole, at least, will find plenty to like in their uncompromising, feminist punk. When the band sings of “Going South” they’re not talking about a road trip to the States from their native Vancouver.

Leeds outfit, Eagulls, have all of the traits statesiders like in their UK post-punk bands — guitars like shards of glass, big, booming drums and accents. The real British accent is always better than an American pretending to be a tough bloke. They also happen to have one top jam in “Tough Luck,” the single most important trait of theirs, and the one that should keep their name fresh up to the release of their debut this coming March on Partisan Records. Now can we do something about that name? Eagulls are cool, but the name is a little too close to Eagles for comfort. I fuckin’ hate that band, the Eagles.