a.me (pronounced "ay-mee") is the combined project of Amy Hearn, and former Blanche Hudson Weekend drummist, producer and programmer, Matt Robson. Driven in equal parts by a love of indie pop and electronic music through to the sampling bricolage of hip hop.

Ailsa Craig is the new project of Matt Robson, who some will be aware of through his previous recorded output under the Random Number moniker, an outlet for glistening yet damaged sounding electronica released through labels as diverse as Mogwai's Rock Action, Highpoint Lowlife and the Japanese label, Moamoo. Drawing on influences as diverse as The Field Mice, Autechre, Hood, Mum and Epic 45, Ailsa Craig combines elements of indie pop, electronica and post rock.

Welcome to the raw, wild and psycho-o-phonic sound of this wild punk rock band from Milan, Italy. Fast'n'wild supercool. 77?s sound, Avengers, Devil Dogs and female angry voice. Coooool!!!

Italy's Bad News could be described as a mix of blues, punk and gentlemen attitudes with influence from the Cramps-like psychobilly. Two guitars and drums all stripped down to a very naked—yet distorted—sound. They're good, and they're rolling, and they're fucking dirty...

'Bop till you drop!!' with Norway's Bazooka Boppers.

Japan's queens of garage pop punk!

The Scottish ensemble Camera Obscura formed in 1996, when vocalist Tracyanne Campbell, percussionist John Henderson, bassist Gavin Dunbar, and guitarist David Skirving began creating lush indie pop with orchestral flourishes and romantic lyrics. Camera Obscura received an influential endorsement from John Peel in 2001, when the British DJ deemed them one of the most promising bands of the year.

London's Candy Panic Attack are an interesting proposition, popping out of the indie pop scene with a harder punk edge that's forever cognizant of the worth of a little rattle and shimmer. Starry-eyed and subversive, managing to sound raucous yet beguiling in a way that makes me think back to John Peel favourites like Lolita Storm, which is a fantastic thing.

Sophia, ex Idaho teen punx Young People With Faces, ran away to LA and joined bass player Johnny Bubblegum, of Toronto legends Tyranna, guitarist Chris and drummer Violet to form the Chain Letters, playing fierce and raw power pop hopped up on the Zeros, Go-Gos, Pointed Sticks, and inspired by the furious DIY energy of the Donnas, Loli & The Chones, and the '90s San Francisco garage scene.

Born in the heart of industrial Stoke-on-Trent, Clair’s dynamic and delicate song writing came to fruition in 2006, when she encapsulated her feelings and life experiences in personal acoustic guitar based songs.

Punked-up psychedelic indie pop. Endearingly strange, they showcase an array of influences; from The Cure (albeit sped up) to the quiet loud dynamics of The Pixies.

If you close your eyes and pretend it was 1977, Elvis McMan could easily be mistaken for one of the classics; derived directly from the early punk bands from the 70's but with aesthetically pleasing female vocals.

Featuring Sissy Space Echo, Warren Betamax, Charles Bronson Burner and Bruce LeeFax - Girl One And The Grease Guns create music that sounds very much like the pioneering electro bands of the 1970s/early 1980s, but they definitely add their own identity (whatever that actually is) to what they do as well. Essential listening for fans of early Mute Records artists such as The Normal, Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode and Yazoo, as well as the likes of Cabaret Voltaire.

Probably the biggest Ramones fans in Wales, if not the entire United Kingdom, Helen Love mixed da bruddahs with a little B-52's and a whole lot of Pooh Sticks-style indie irony to create a sunny and unapologetically disposable sound.

Yorkshire is a big place. Large industrial cities punctuated by a patchwork of endless countryside that stretches into Northumberland and Cumbria. From this comes Horton Parks, guitar in hand. The son of a preacher from rural North Yorkshire. His childhood was spent drifting from place to place in the wake of his father's calling. Horton's acoustic lo-fi folky blues have been compared to various artists—from Fred Neil, Tim Hardin, Johnny Cash, early Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, The Band and Leonard Cohen.

Schande (Jen Shande) is the brainchild of Californian girl Jen Chochinov. It's her baby actually. Schande is not unlike Cat Power, but the vocals sound even more exotically fragile (in an emotional sense) than Chan Marshall's.

Juniper Moon formed in Ponferrada (Spain) and started playing in 1997. The starting point was the influence of power pop and punk classics, but soon the band decided to create their own sound, creating exquisite, moving songs with harsh guitars and solid rhythms.

Kavolchy is one more great band from the UK, ready to take over your heart. Garage punk riffs with strong post punk and new wave influences—these 3 girls and a guy will blow your mind. Great female vocal, good songs and a fresh sound for your ears!

One of the most exciting post-rock / noise-pop bands to emerge from the north, Laboratory Noise take influences from psychedelia, shoegaze, electronica and post-rock, to create multi-layered effect-driven soundscapes, underpinned by strong melodies.

Recently described by Norman Records as the “Peter Pan of the Leeds Music Scene”, Matt Robson's past projects have included drumming duties for bands as diverse as The Blanche Hudson Weekend, Ailsa Craig, Sierpinski and Coping Saw (to name but a few).

In an era dominated by bland mainstream bands such as The Stereophonics, Catatonia and Travis, Pop Threat were almost completely ignored. There was no room for a surly female fronted band who came across as constantly miserable, cynical, unfriendly and who walked out onstage and delivered their music one sonic blast after the other with no attempt to communicate with the audience and with as little space between songs as possible.

Rose Elinor Dougall is a singer/songwriter/keyboardist from Brighton, England. She is a former member of The Pipettes. Following her departure from The Pipettes in 2008, Rose Elinor Dougall has quietly been recasting herself as a psychedelic-folk chanteuse par-excellance.

Self-proclaimed youngest girl punk band in the world. This teenage(just), rockin', hot, loud, band hail from Seattle, USA.

Spookey is a 3 girl 'bubblegum-garage-power-pop-punk' band from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in Japan. With Mayumi (guitar), Minako (bass) and Misaki (drums).

Dark electric pop from Leeds (UK). Suzy Blu combines heavy old school beats with layers of feedback drenched melody, and experimental driving bass. Suzy Blu is a writer and poet who serves her amazing black coffee vocals on a plate of electronic post-punk attitude.

The Television Personalities are an English post-punk group formed in 1978 with a varying line up ever since. The only constant member is singer/songwriter Dan Treacy.

Tender Trap are a London-based indie-pop band featuring Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and John Stanley formed in 2001 with the idea to record two-minute songs without middle 8s or excessive choruses.

The Blanche Hudson Weekend is here. Featuring Caroline and Darren (ex-The Manhattan Love Suicides) along with a bunch of other Weekenders, and bringing to you all kinds of noise, fuzz, melody, dissonance, rawness, killer tunes and buzzsaw pop.

There's a lot of girl punk and garage bands doing the rounds these days but none of them bring the essence of both together like Germany's Boonaraaas!!! They bash out their heart and soul-poppin' sonic nuggets using vintage equipment but the noise they make is very much NOW! And like all special acts throughout history, they have a knack of mixing originals and covers in a way that you can't see the joins. You just wonder where they've been all your life.

Wakefield's finest. The Cribs are an English 3-piece indie band from the "Merrie City" in West Yorkshire, consisting of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. Their debut single was released on Squirrel Records.

Layered dronescapes compliment pure noise assaults—combine this with girl/boy harmonies, feedback drenched pop songs and a live set gift-wrapped in promotional films and on stage projections...

For anyone who loves fuzzed up guitar assaults, feedback, hit and run gigs, female vocals, melodic pop, ear splitting minimalist noise and hates a hell of a lot of other things... Dress it in black!

Everyone wants a gun slugging hellcat out for vengeance on a jet black T-shirt by The Manhattan Love Suicides.

The Medusa Snare began as the solo project of Adam John Miller, formerly of The Manhattan Love Suicides. Now fleshed out to a full band with former Manhattan Love Suicides drummer Rachel Barker (drums), John Perry (guitar), E.Max Broady (guitar) and Daniel Leach Morris (bass): The Medusa Snare share some of the Manhattan Love Suicides' signature fuzz sound, with a nod towards the indie-pop of The Clean, Guided By Voices and Crystal Stilts.

Rough, lo-fi, pop punk rock from co-ed Italian group. Led by Miss Chain (guitar+vocals) and Lady Latex (bass).

Imagine if The Ramones traded in their leather jackets for anoraks, or Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine?s Pam Berry and had three babies that formed a pop band in 2007. Meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a New York four-piece who plays dreamy, noisy POP with boy/girl vocals, blissful melodies and blistering drums.

Whilst on a coastal climb to study a small population of Alco Torda (Razorbills), B-Movie stuntman, doo-wop singer and keen ornithologist - Rocky Rossitto plunged deep into the savage sea, only to be consumed by the choppy surf below. In honour of Rocky, his memory will forever live on in the real gone, wild surf, R&R instrumental sounds of the Razerbills!

The Real Losers from Leeds are dirty, rough and raw, driven by repetitive drum beat 'thud thud thud' and feature a occasional Theramin-playing audience member—ever seen "Eyes Wide Shut"?

The Revelators became The Frenzies in 2006; a good time dirty Rock 'n' roll fivesome. Hard and fast guitars, with demented and unpredictable stage antics. Finally out of the garage and into a venue near you, how can you not give in? Prepare... for... a Frenzy!!!

Classic UK indie band from Barlaston, near Stoke on Trent, who formed in January 1986. They played their last gig in Bristol in June 1989.

Sounding something like a lighter, poppier version of frontwoman Liz Hunt's former band, The Loves, the Cardiff, Wales-based group The School started putting together their earnest, whimsical indie pop tunes in 2007.

Heavily influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Spectrum, Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized... The Silver Rockets made only one recording, but it's something of a shoegaze inspired classic.

The Stuck Ups began in 1998 in Seattle, Washington as an all girl punk band. Members came and went until 2002, when the current incarnation of Tiffany, Meredith, Justin, and Nora came together. Their last sessions at Egg Studios, Our Time, was released by Squirrel Records in 2006 as a split with The Nasties from Italy. Currently waiting for the big money offers to roll in... Are they stuck up? And how.

The Sunday Reeds are a female-fronted noise pop/rock band named after 1930/40s Melbourne patron of the arts Sunday Reed. The love-child of some kind of rock 'n' roll orgy between The Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, The Ramones and The Velvet Underground. Driving bass lines, plenty of guitar feedback, primitive rock beats and low, velvety female vocals. If Nico had joined The Ramones, strapped on a bass, and a whole lot more noise was added, this is how it might've sounded.

If there was ever a band to whom the often banded about phrase 'putting the POP back in pop-punk' applied it would be The Unlovables. Powerful female vocals with plenty of catchy hooks and melodic guitar leads.

Baltimore's Thrushes cotton candy guitars and sticky reverb-drenched melodies shimmer with reverb and shudder with echo, as they make love to their effects pedals and wide-screen guitars.