Texan trio Khruangbin are a rare concoction, psychedelic rockers, for sure, but seamed with all manner of global influences, notably Thai pop but also running the gamut from Latin sounds to Middle Eastern scaling. Hitting the UK in support of their second album, Con Todo El Mundo, they initially presented an aloof front, which was compromised briefly by a minor technical glitch.

This didn’t distract from the band’s striking retro-future aesthetic, especially bassist-singer Laura Lee, who wore a chic white leotard and red thigh-high boots like a supersonic empress from a kitsch old sci-fi film. The matching long black fringes of the two guitarists were also notably distinctive. The band’s overall look is glossy, yet not impersonal; guitarist Mark Speer wore a grey suit with white cowboy boots, undoubtedly a homage to his and the band’s Texan roots. A spirited crowd member shouted, “I love your shoes, man!”

It was interesting how, despite being a mostly instrumental band, the audience still sang along to the riffs. Khruangbin’s music manages to be very catchy without ever over-egging things. Songs such as “August Twelve” seemed to lull the audience into a low hum of accompaniment, the syncopation making the melodies even more charming and unique. “White Gloves”, their most popular track, and one of the few with lyrics, was serene and beautiful. I was struck by the playfulness of the band’s stage presence, adding a sense of flair with occasional teasing hip movements, or summoning each other across the stage with music.

“Evan Finds the Third Room”, from the new album, offered an unusual atmosphere, as the band play with lyrical form to create a captivating call-and-response between the two “not-vocalist” vocalists, bringing a gospel influence to light. There was a spoken word section which was particularly striking and funky. Laura Lee seemed a cold presence at first, but eventually her cold sheen dwindled, and she was smiling with the crowd. Apparently their first gig was in Bristol three years ago, when they released their first album, The Universe Smiles Upon You. Mark Speer toasted the crowd with a beer and agreed, “and it certainly does, Bristol”.

Khruangbin are born from all sorts of strange underground influences and offer a refreshing, unlaboured step out of the ordinary. Their effortless yet glossy stage presence seems likely to mean good things for the band’s future. They have already seen a dramatic rise in popularity over the past few months. Lurking beyond any definitive genre, they’re a tight instrumental unit, with memorable melodies, and the occasional glimmer of fearless and forward-thinking funk that, by the end of the night, left this capacity crowd sated.

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Overleaf: watch 54 minute Khruangbin Boiler Room live set

It’s hard to be sure if Rakal, Bella and Alice from Dream Wife are a rock’n’roll band or a girl gang with guitars. Either way, their debut album has got some cracking Riot Grrrl-flavoured tunes and a stridently feminist, in-your-face attitude. There is nothing demure about this trio and they really don’t care what your thoughts on that might be.

The “insider’s guide to the music business” tag attached to Hits, Hype and Hustle: An Insider's Guide to the Music Business (BBC Four) dangles the carrot of all kinds of clandestine scams being exposed, such as extortionate recording contracts, systematic chart-rigging or Mafia rackets involving cut-out records. Instead, this episode was merely a meander through the history of live performances in rock music.

With the possible exception of Talking Heads, I can’t think of another band who had such an exceptional run of early albums as Simple Minds. After a promising but uneven debut, they released Real to Real Cacophony in 1979 and barely put a foot wrong for five (some might argue six) albums.

Big Music (2014) was a knowing look over a shoulder; a direct reference to the stark electronic thrum of their early albums, and one which largely eschewed the later stadium pomp. In doing so, it was open to accusations of mannered pastiche – some thought it an odd choice for a band that had once set so much store in momentum. However, revisionism has always played a part in Simple Minds’ career – listen to “I Travel” from 1980, next to “Ghost Dancing” from 1985, for example, and the calculated call backs are crystal clear.

With just Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill remaining from previous line-ups, new album Walk Between Worlds sees another shift in dynamics as they move their main point of reference forward a few years and revisit their mid-Eighties bombast. Lead single “Magic” is a seemingly schizophrenic opening: the verse sounds like a Flying Birds update of Oasis’s “Supersonic”, while the chorus distils the very essence of classic Simple Minds, so much so that Jim Kerr actually echoes the “Hey, hey, hey” refrain from “Don’t You Forget About Me”. And the sense of déjà vu doesn’t stop there. “Sense of Discovery” borrows heavily from “Alive and Kicking” (from Once Upon a Time); while “Barrowland” is reminiscent of Street Fighting Years – at least in as much as it’s ponderous, overlong and sits uneasily among other, much better, songs. Of those, the pick of the bunch are “Summer” and “The Signal and the Noise”, which marry well the mechanic drive and dramatic swell that has defined Simple Minds’ best work.

The main complaint is the degree to which the production dominates the songs. It’s HUGE and, at times, makes their big-stadium breakthrough Once Upon a Time sound like it was recorded on an austerity budget, with Iain Duncan Smith doling out reverb with all the unfettered generosity of a Dickensian workhouse overseer.

Which leaves us with a question. Is this any more than a fond reminiscence? Does Walk Between Worlds stand as a good album on its own terms? Well, some of it is very good, but as a whole? Let’s just say it’s good enough. For now.

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@jahshabby

 Overleaf: Watch the video for Simple Minds' "Magic"

Since releasing their first record, Bingo Masters Breakout, Mark E Smith (b 1957) has led The Fall through some of rock music’s most extreme and enthralling terrain, cutting a lyrical and musical swathe that few other artists can match. An outsider, self-confessed renegade, and microphone-destroying magus, Smith has seen dozens if not hundreds of musicians pass through the ranks of The Fall over the last 34 years.

Growing up with the music of David Bowie is probably not the best grounding for being a music critic because it raises expectations unreasonably high for every other adventurous musician one happens upon. When I first heard the intense, bordering-on-hysterical music of Merrill Garbus (the main creative force behind Tune-Yards) eight or so years ago, I actually had to get up from my desk and pace the room.

Many hard rock aficionados say that Motörhead’s greatest work was all with the “classic” line-up of Lemmy, drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor and guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke (who died last week aged only 67 - this review was written before that news came through). While there’s no denying their 1976-82 output was storming, Motörhead’s later career contained multitudes of gems that were its match. The band’s guitarist for this period, for 31 years from 1984 until Lemmy’s death, was Phil Campbell. He now releases the debut album by a band he formed with his three sons shortly after his legendary frontman’s passing.

So where was Campbell to go next? Judging from The Age of Absurdity, a return to the classic rock template, but fuelled with Motörhead’s desire for high velocity impact. Campbell is staunchly Welsh, a taciturn individual (I interviewed him once: polite, dryly funny, but making him say anything of consequence was blood-from-stone stuff). He’s also an amazing guitarist, able to inject squiggly blues-lickin’ solos with a furious zest. His sons Todd, Dane and Tyla are up to the task of surrounding him, while Neil Starr, once singer for Welsh rockers Attack! Attack!, is on vocals. They go at it with vim. There’s enough juice to make this more than a post-glory novelty.

They’re at their best on raging rock-punk assaults, somewhere between The Ramones and early Lostprophets, with numbers such as “Skin and Bones”, “Gypsy Kiss” and “Step Into the Fire” roaring out of the speakers. Campbell’s impeccable guitar work provides the centrepiece of some songs – the single “Ringleader” and the tasty harmonica-led blues jam “Dark Days” – while those looking for Motörhead-alike kicks should turn to the rock’n’rollin’ “Dropping the Needle”. Quibbles: too much filler, and sometimes I found myself wishing Starr had a more characterful, less mainstream rock voice (but then sometimes he comes into his own, notably on the epic six-and-a-half minute closer “Into the Dark”).

There’s a straightforward rerun of Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine”, featuring that band’s leader Dave Brock, as a bonus track. It’s OK, but probably more fun live, which is where I suspect this lot come into their own. In the meantime, their debut album is feisty hard rock worth cherry-picking.

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Overleaf: Watch the video for "Ringleader" by Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons