For your entertainment at the start of another working week here's five more hand-picked delights from the Scruff Of The Neck stable.

Yawning Dog – 'Sponge'

Leeds' slackers Yawning Dog only released this video in the early hours of the morning, but we were lucky enough to get an early viewing. Suitably psychedelic, the video reflects the band's and indeed the city's, DIY ethos perfectly whilst the track itself is a wonky foray in to the warped world of West Yorkshire slacker rock.

Mint – 'Wolves'

Hailing from Grimsby, Mint are a four-piece whose roots stem from mid-'00s indie but still manage to sound surprisingly fresh and contemporary. 'Raised by Wolves' is three minutes of angular guitars and frenetic percussion that push the track forwards. With new material on the horizon, you should be seeing a lot more of Mint in the future.

Just Mammals – 'River Runs Gold'

Another track barely a day old, and another band from Grimsby, Just Mammals make decade-spanning indie-pop. Bouncy and upbeat, 'Rivers Run Gold' is the band's latest effort and sees guitar jangles form a lazy haze over a '60s pop drumbeat. Infectious.

Larkins – 'Let Your Hair Down'

Keeping the trend going, Manchester's Larkins released 'Let Your Hair Down' late last week. A brooding '80s influenced track, it feels darker and more mature than the previous work, though manages to retain a degree of melody thanks to sporadic guitar licks that play off against its propulsive bass and relentless drums.

The Jade Assembly – 'Nothing Changes'

Emotive and emphatic, The Jade Assembly have been doing the rounds in Manchester for a few years now, garnering swathes of fans in the process. Latest single 'Nothing Changes' is a huge, anthemic track that calls to mind Augustines, had they formed in Lancashire and not New York.

The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.

Track of the Week: ‘When Did I Stop Loving You’ by Marvin Gaye (Valique edit)

Valique gets into that looping action for the start, though after half a minute he gets that bass going for some rhythm and funk, really getting that dancefloor feel working. At the 1:20 mark we get the vocals in, again doing the looping thing, letting the same line with the same instrumental parts doing their thing. Then, the bass again, and with a lovely vocal coming in, super soulful, super old school. Then those horns as well, at 2:20, which team up nicely with the layered vocals that are asking When did you stop loving me, when did I stop loving you. When there’s no vocals, there’s at least the bass to keep you occupied, giving it a nice, deep balance to the higher pitched Marvin Gaye voice. The track certainly has some heartache in it, as in, genuine heartache, with Gaye creating this track just after his divorce. From accusatory to self-reflective to just plain old sadness, the beauty of this edit is that Valique does manage to keep all that, but give it some of that extra lets-dance-the-blues-away kind of goodness. That’s what those edits are all about, no?

‘Hot Hot (Give it All You Got)' by Debbie Jacobs (Evil Smarty & SanFranDisko edit)

SanFranDisko and EvilSmarty start this edit off with that nice little guitar riff aided by the rhythm of that punchy drum that they keep behind it. At the 30 second mark you get a nice little bass in there as well, and one of the main things all the elements achieve is that it just sounds like there’s a party going on in here. At the minute mark the strings arrive, a bit later the horns get there as well, and soon enough Debbie Jacobs and her girls come in with, first, some  background vocals, but just before the two minute mark she herself enters the stage to do her disco thang. Still the guitar riff and the drums form the main backbone elements, with the strings and horns adding all that disco flavor. The lads play around with pace and tempo a bit, though the main thing is that they keep the core elements running, and they savor all the disco goodness that comes with it. At 3:50 they, for a short moment, bring it down a notch, going with primarily the early sounds of the guitar and drum, but mere seconds later it’s the strings and Debbie Jacobs that enter the equation again. Just a nice disco edit with a nifty little riff to give it just that tad bit extra.

‘Take It Slow’ by Luxxury

The SoundCloud tag says “slow burner”, and boy, is that evident at the start. Just has that slow groove that it gets going, with the percussion, that lovely little guitar riff that comes in, and the aerial vocals singing their little lines. At about 1:30, that slow burning vibe has taken a back seat though, with a new guitar riff, the bass, and a punchier beat giving it a bit more tempo and adding so much meat to the bones that this real slow groove feel from the start has subsided a bit. Not to say that the middle part isn’t enjoyable in its own right, with all these elements in the mid-pace range helping out the still floating vocals singing that you should be Taking it slow. At the four minute mark most rhythm elements are either stripped out or moved to the background, and instead you get a bit of that saxophone going on, with a nifty bassline moving it into the burn-n-crawl realm again. Soon, though, that is all build on and build up again, ending with a catchy little guitar riff to help you dance through the final minute.

‘I Love You More’ by Rene And Angela (Pools edit)

A short edit from Pools gives you a little bit of that Rene & Angela thing, primarily based on that deep bass sound, giving you that step-step-step action. Then the vocals come in, singing that, gosh, I love you, with Pools doing the old chop-n-go trick on them, looping and cutting the same parts, which primarily is noticeable with the vocals. The vocals come out lovely though, the bass sound gives it that nice little rhythm to do a bit of dancing to, and it gives a modern slant to that old soul duet. So if you don’t mind your tracks at radio edit length, this might be a nice snippet to be listening to.

‘Little Lies’ by Fleetwood Mac (Jean-Claude Gavri touch-up)

Never a bad moment to dial up that Fleetwood Mac love affair a bit, and Jean Claude Gavri starts this one off nice and understated with some lovely sounds, first rhythmic, than that floating sound we kind of remember from the original. Just so we know where we are heading. It takes a while for it to really dive headlong into it, having the patience to wait it out until about the 1:30 mark, when a big old 80s pop drum comes in to signal the arrival of the actual song, including the vocals, singing that she Couldn’t find a way, settling For one day to believe in you. And then, the chorus, including the lovely instrumentation, and the drums to also keep the song as a little dancefloor thing and to make sure it’s got pace enough to keep it moving forward in that context. No more broken hearts, she sings, saying that We’re better off apart, before heading back to the chorus. Jean Claude Gavri knows how to handle an edit like this, putting loads of that goodness in of the original (it ain’t called a touch-up for nothing, ya know), but still in such a way that you and y’all can keep it going on the dancefloor.

‘Crime Cutz’ by Holy Ghost!

The lads of Holy Ghost! are back in action with some new material, starting hauntingly enough, though soon getting back to their synthesizers doing their catchy thing. With that said, it definitely sounds like a departure from their more disco oriented Dynamics sound, which was super slick and smooth. This has parts of that clean disco-pop sound, like at about the two minute mark, but the guys also add the warpy and the immediate in there, with the vocals in the verses talky and almost anxious, though more traditional in the chorus. The lads know their ways around their instruments, and they’re trying to not only get the song out of there, but also the feel and vibe. As evident, for instance, with the interlude at about the four minute mark. Though, after the interlude, they do still come back to the catchy, to the dancey, but with a bit more grit than their super polished previous LP (which I loved, by the way). It’s intriguing for sure, and a definite teaser to see what that new EP is going to sound like, which we have to wait for until the 29th of April. Unfortunately no embed here, but you can click here to still hear the brand spanking new Holy Ghost!.

For your entertainment at the start of another working week here's five more hand-picked delights from the Scruff Of The Neck stable.

Blooms – 'Head Is Spinning'

It seems like we've been waiting forever for BLOOMS to drop their debut single, and now that wait is finally over. 'Head Is Spinning' is a suitably trippy track that reflects its name perfectly. The accompanying video, however, takes things a step further; a film of primary colour covering each shot whilst off-kilter camera work adds to the overall feeling of disorientation. Fantastic stuff.

Fairchild – 'Breathless'

Moving from Australia's Gold Coast to a rain-soaked North of England might not be in the five-year plan of most bands, but then most bands aren't Fairchild. 'Breathless' is both stark, yet strangely warming, the band incorporating the aesthetics of the cities they've lived in, combining them to form an understated and groove-laden single.

The Jackobins – 'One More Chance'

An ominous, loose sounding bass and almost-martial percussion open proceedings on 'One More Chance', but it only takes a matter of seconds before the waves of uplifting and anthemic optimism come crashing in. Harbouring buckets of commercial appeal and self-confidence to match, it won't be long before Liverpool's The Jackobins blow up.

Jimmy Amnesia – 'Days Of Our Lives'

Making red-blooded indie rock that draws influence from the likes of a wealth of '90s and '00s acts, Leicester's Jimmy Amnesia aren't afraid of getting loud. 'Days Of Our Lives' is four minutes of blistering britpop, flecked with grunge and lavished with an acerbic fuzz that's enough to make anyone who hears it sit up and pay attention.

Psyblings – 'Never Make A Living'

Aside from their excellent name, Manchester five-piece Psyblings are taking the spirit of the '60s  and dragging it kicking and screaming in to the present. Brilliantly understated, at least as far as psychedelia goes, 'Never Make A Living' studiously pushes onward, ever-building and only reaching the level of true freakout in its closing moments.

The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.

Track of the Week: ‘Can’t’ by Mall Grab

Mall Grab gets the beat going, but also the jazzy vibes with some nifty guitar work. A lethal combination, as the beat, and the extra percussion that is added, give it its hypnosis and rhythm, with the guitar and, later, the vocals giving it its heart and tone. The vocals sing that they have had a long conversation on the phone with you, and she Can’t get you out of my mind. The beat is the backbone here, keeping it ready for the dancefloor with a reasonably deep flavor, especially when at the two minute mark you get a bit of that deep grain as effect. In the meantime, the vocalist keeps repeating her conversation to us, clearly not able to let it go, with only the guitar able to clear it out of her head for just a minute. Though the bluesy overtones might just be a decent representation of her state of mind anyway. I just love that sound, with the beat keeping it from stalling, and the vocals almost resigned, beaten. One of four tracks on Mall Grab’s upcoming Sun Ra EP.

‘Fashion’ by Joey Negro & the Sunburst Band feat. Pete Simpson

Perhaps the sole good thing about a star passing is that we get some of all those old works back out there (for free downloading, no less). This is an older remake of Joey Negro doing that David Bowie thing, taking on the funky ‘Fashion’, which here, too, gets plenty of that bass. Though the little guitar riff is not forgotten, as the girls in the back sing that they are the Goon squad and we’re coming to town (beep-beep!). Different vocal turns are used, both male and female, going all out. It makes it more of a funky disco sound than the more apathetic turn of Bowie. At about the three minute mark we get some serious horn work, with shortly after the vocals coming in, all singing together Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion, before steering away again for a bit of that sax solo they manage to work in. Just another Bowie inspired thing to boogie to-till-you-can-boogie-no-more.

‘Just A Little Love’ (Dr. Packer rework)

How about 'Just A Little Love' from Dr. Packer, going all Teena Marie on us with this funky little something. You’ve got the quintessential disco sounds already, and with the twenty second mark he puts in the boogie-woogie with the eloping bass. Around the fifty second mark we get some string action, and just after the minute mark we first get the women in the back, though Teena Marie herself soon walks out on stage as well. After doing her thang, quickly, the bass is put back in to get back into that funky little dance y’all were doing. The bass takes a backseat for a minute, coming back together with the vocals at about 2:10, as Teena Marie says you should ask her what she needs, to which she will reply that oh, how she needs Your lovin’ (just a little bit of it will do, babe). Dr. Packer knows how to get the disco and funk to the dancefloor, heralding the bass and vocals, with flurries of horns and strings and what not. He sure manages to make everything sound like something you want to dance to.

‘Bless Her Soul’ by Man Without A Clue feat. Meleka

BBC Radio went for a bit of that dance and house when they played Man Without A Clue’s ‘Bless Her Soul’, with a serious vocal take from Meleka. There’s a fast paced beat in there, which gets its help from a rhythm sound, some extra percussion, and, on occasion, something of a horn-like persuasion that comes in. And, as said, Meleka, who goes full throttle in blessing this woman’s poor soul, with, after done so, that horn sound coming in. It’s a fast paced tune for the dancefloor, not letting up, and the big, bold, vocal turn makes sure it keeps the pedal to the metal. Will be out early next month through Defected Records, if you fancy this one.

‘Don’t Go Lose It Baby’ by Hugh Masekela (Vito & Druzzi rework)

Vito & Druzzi waste no time getting those characteristic percussion sounds in, soon adding a beat to that to give it a clear backbone. After that, a deeper drum sound enters as well, though lighter, more African sounding percussion balance it out again. At the 1:30 mark the girls briefly come in with the vocals, though at all times it are the multiple layers of percussion and rhythm sounds that bring the best out of all the dancers with this one. And they keep pushing that sound relentlessly, making sure you get all the drums, toms, and hums to move your body to. At the 2:30 mark we almost, nearly, get the famous Oh noooooo (before he dives into the "don’t go lose it baby"), but it stops short of moving into the chorus, instead focusing on the percussion once more. Just before the four minute mark, a similar set-up, with a similar result, moving to the lighter percussion before adding the deeper sounds in, though these are in the background. If you’re craving some percussion, then this might just scratch that itch.

‘808 Beauty’ by Dam-Funk

Dam-Funk released kind of a beast of an album last year, with loads and loads of tracks, and this is apparently an unreleased one that wasn’t on there. It is a lush, funky slow groover, with a big, grainy bass sound which gets juxtaposed by the light, clear piano and synth sounds that are woven through there. To help the bass out, there are also the drums in the back, just  to give this instrumental piece a bit of extra backbone. Just after the two minute mark the bass gets a short bit of rest, with just those padded drums and the synths giving everyone a bit of a peace of mind. Shortly after though, the main sound (aka, the bass) gets in there to groove this slow burner forward a bit. It’s for the lovin’, and the making of it, at night.