Marc Ribot
Songs of Resistance 1942-2018
(Anti-Records)
★★★★★

MADE up of original compositions and traditional songs, this remarkable album from veteran New York City guitarist Marc Ribot is a forceful reaction to the election of President Donald Trump.

Unpolished, musically varied and often angry, it’s like a lost soundtrack to Howard Zinn’s seminal book A People’s History of the United States.

Tom Waits growls through Italian anti-fascist tune Bella Ciao, while Sam Amidon and Fay Victor are the guest vocalists on How To Walk in Freedom, a 1970s soul-sounding civil rights hymn to Rosa Parks, Emma Goldman and Malcolm X.

Elsewhere, the frenetic, Lord Stern-citing The Big Fool takes on the US’s lamentable record on climate change, Knock That Statue Down protests against “torch-lit nazis marching” in Charlottesville and Steve Earle and Tift Merritt sing about Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a Sikh man murdered in Kansas.

Incendiary stuff.

Fightmilk
Not With That Attitude
(Reckless Yes)
★★★★

THIS infectious debut from London four-piece Fightmilk expertly walks the fine line of creating a comfortable sense of nostalgia for smart and sassy 1990s Britpop bands like Sleeper, while at the same time sounding very much of the millennial moment.

“I read your novel/I read your screenplay/I heard your podcast/You’re Twitter famous, whatever that means,” sings vocalist Lily Rae on the putdown song Get A Grip. “It’s time you knew the truth/Bukowski was an arsehole/And so are you.” Ouch.

Similarly great lines abound on opening kiss-off How To Move On, the chorus of which Rae says is “entirely designed for post-breakup girls-night-out karaoke” and Four Star Hotel, a razor-sharp dissection of a trip to Amsterdam taken to unsuccessfully save a relationship.

Full of furious guitars and mid-twenties romantic angst, this is an indie-disco playlist in waiting.

Jeff Tweedy
Warm
(dBpm Records)
★★★★

RECORDED in Chicago, US singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy’s new solo album is a reflective set of acoustic guitar-based songs, influenced by writing his autobiography over the last two years, also released this month.

The Wilco frontman’s downbeat delivery is at the core of the record, making it a comforting listen for fans. “Friendly (but formidable); tender (yet sceptical); edgy (but warm),” is how novelist George Saunders describes his voice in the liner notes.

Tweedy has talked about his songwriting becoming more personal and direct. The exquisite Don’t Forget concerns his father’s death — “I won’t forget the long drives ... we all think about dying” — while the singalong Let’s Go Rain connects Noah’s Ark with climate change.

Don’t worry, though, this being Tweedy there are lots of cryptic, Dylanish lines to dissect. Now 51, the alt-country legend is still on good form.