Forty Winks
Bow Wow
End Records
Home country: Italy

One of the best songs on this impressive fourth release from Forty Winks is "I Feel Dead," a psych-rocking elixir that's equal parts LSD-era Beatles and organ-fronted American bands like the Lyres. Singer Sandro Amabili has a voice well-suited for this set of garage and psych rockers, sounding wildly extroverted or coyly introverted as called for, all with a hip but not condescending attitude. The next time you run into someone raving about, oh say, Outrageous Cherry, whip out this album and blow them away.

Giorgio Tuma
In the Morning We'll Meet
Elefant Records
Home country: Italy

Tuma is essentially a pop music composer but most of his work sounds like film score, like stuff you would hear in a movie from the '60s or early '70s, not heavily psychedelic; more along the lines of lost in a daydream. Full of layered vocals (the all-girl takes seem to be the best) and slow, luxurious arrangements, In the Morning We'll Meet is the perfect accompaniment for that leave-me-alone and let-my-mind-wander mood.

I Build Collapsible Mountains
The Spectator & the Act
Burning Buildings Records
Home country: Scotland

Luke Joyce records under the name I Build Collapsible Mountains and the moniker reflects a fairly accurate description of his musical bent. Not that his songs are falling apart but, set to acoustic guitar or gentle electronic droning, this set deals primarily with life's disappointments. If Joyce has a heavy Scottish accent it doesn't come through in his singing; you'll only hear flashes. The majority of Joyce's hooks come in the form of clever wordplay, like on "The Quickest Exit" where he sings "Crave attention I would never show/Tamper with my brakes and let me go…"

Spring Offensive
Pull Us Apart
Burning Buildings Records
Home country: England

With a singer who often phrases like Morrissey while tackling dark subjects, Spring Offensive has crafted an album that may very well appeal to fans of the Smiths and Moz's solo work. Other legendary UK bands like the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen inform Pull Us Apart, too.