With the release of Backspacer, the ninth Pearl Jam album, it seems that Eddie Vedder may have only just realised that being in a rock band is actually pretty good fun. At just over half an hour, it sounds more like a debut album by a band of teenagers recreating their favourite punk records than a bunch of 90s stadium grunge rock veterans. Pearl Jam have their mojo back; a band reborn, opening themselves up to a new generation of loyal fans.

For third album Humbug the Arctic Monkeys tore themselves away from the kitchen sink to meet up with Josh Homme in the deserts of the Joshua Tree. Relying less on Turner’s sharp social commentary, they’re a tighter band, jamming without over indulging, sounding less like northern post-punk and more like The Stooges or The Pixies. Like all great bands they’re progressing and experimenting with their sound; from making decade defining British indie, they’ve got their sights on defining a new decad

Evan Dando is in a band called The Lemonheads, has great hair, is effortlessly cool, your girlfriend probably wants to sleep with him - you should enviously hate him. But when you hear It’s A Shame About Ray it’s impossible; an album with the immediacy of New York punk, infectious West Coast pop hooks and the romanticism of Gram Parson inspired country. Barely half hour in length it’s a perfect portion of alternative rock which never tires after repeated consumption.

‘Lust For Life’: immortalised in film on the iconic ‘Choose Life’ opening for Trainspotting, often imitated (we’re looking at you, Jet) and never bettered - how could it be? The tight primal rhythms are lead by Mr. Pop like a taught flesh metronome, while David Bowie adds a glam-rock come blue-eyed soul sheen. An album more appreciated now than on its release, it stands alongside his work with The Stooges as a rock ‘n’ roll yard stick to all.