The Cure
The Only One (Suretone)
The new Cure single sounds pretty much like every other upbeat, jangly love song Robert Smith has written, from “Just Like Heaven” to “Friday I’m in Love” to “Mint Car”. What more could you possibly want?

Futureheads
Radio Hear (Nul)
A punchy little number about longing for a girl with a radio heart, whatever the hell that means. Regardless, it rocks.

Old 97’s
Color of a Lonely Heart Is Blue (New West)
Rhett Miller sings most of the songs and gets most of the attention, but when his Old 97’s cohort Murry Hammond steps up to the plate, he almost always knocks it out of the park. And he does just that with this twangy, hurtin’ song that goes down just fine with too much JD.

Mindless Self Indulgence
Evening Wear (The End)
If the Luv-A-Fair was still Vancouver’s favourite alt-dance shithole rather than the site of condos you’ll never be able to afford, this electro-spazzed blast of ADHD dance-punk would be detonating the dance floor.

The Wedding Present
The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend (Manifesto)
“I went to all those boring things with him/Just in case you came along.” Oh, David Gedge, you sly dog, you!

Heloise & the Savoir Faire
Givin’ U the Bizness (Yep Roc)
Impressive as singer Heloise Williams’s ’80s-wave updating of Janis Joplin might be, it’s the Stranglers-strength bass lines and death-disco synths that really wow, mostly because they draw a coke line between Studio 54 and CBGB.

Bitter:Sweet
Get What I Want (Quango)
Back when Vince Vaughn wore Da Vinci and nothing was more money than the Blue Lizard Cocktail Club, the loungetastic “Get What I Want” would have been what the cool kids spun between Golden Cadillacs.

The New Odds
My Happy Place (Pheromone/MapleMusic)
An infectious blast of guitar-drenched power-pop that’s also the closing theme to Corner Gas. The only catchier song on the tube is “Not a Lot Goin’ On”, which opens the show. Download that one too.

Carpenter
Until the Sun’s Up (Smallman)
The hard-jangle guitars and Replacements-ragged vocals offer a reminder that, despite what Chromeo would have us believe, the ’80s had more to offer than synth-powered poof-pop.

The Ting Tings
“Great DJ” (Columbia)
Maddeningly infectious hipster-pop that has Matt and Kim dancing in their Williamsburg lofts, too sweaty to care that the U.K.’s latest sensation has shamelessly ripped off their shtick.

Tristan Prettyman
Hello (Virgin)
Former model Tristan Prettyman shows she’s more than a gorgeous face with an unlikely, alt-country–tinted fusion of June Carter, Sheryl Crow, and shimmering ’60s girl-group glamour.