The sassiest, most powerful new release of 2012 so far, Clairy Browne and her Banging Rackettes rock a huge rhythm-and-blues sound, filling your speakers with dark jazz and generally being so distractingly catchy that it’s about impossible to write a review and listen at the same time. There are piano-laden doo-wop tracks like ‘Aeroplane’; rootsy tracks like the green-eyed ‘She Plays Up to You’; spicy saxophone over thick vocals in jazz-hands-inducing ‘Frankie’ … ultimately, an entire album of ballsy classics and soulful beauties.

[[fiona-hardy-pic]]Fiona Hardy sells books and talks too much to customers at Readings Carlton, and puts together Dead Write for the