Alberta Cross - Broken Side of Time (Ark Recordings)Given the instant acclaim which greeting 2007’s debut EP and the rave reviews garnished by that year’s festival appearances at Latitude, Summer Sundae and elsewhere, it’s a little surprising we’ve had to wait so long for this follow-up full length collection to appear. The intervening years have seen them playing SXSW and Glastonbury, and associating with pop illuminati from Oasis to The Shins, and the product of these new influences is on open display here. While the earlier disc was largely dependent on the slightly leftfield country / folk normally associated with Neil Young, “Broken Side of Time” deploys piercing guitars, pounding bass lines and spectral vocals towards the development of a more strident and insistent commercial sound. Songs including “ATX”, “Rise From the Shadows” and the title track recall the stadium rock beat of Kings of Leon as much as they do the contemporary Americana of My Morning Jacket, and should impress readers and writers of the NME as much as they will their former champions at Uncut. www.myspace.com/albertacross Neil B. Next