Before our shiny 'n' new site arrives we thought we'd introduce another new article type. The concept is incredibly simple: one of our number likes a band, does the who-what-why paragraph, drops in a video (or audio link) and you tell us if you love them too.

Ra Ra Riot's** debut album The Rhumb Line is finally out next week – but it's not the sort of record that's left millions sobbing the words "why God? Why do you allow such suffering? I WANT IT NOW!", but you really should. Probably still best known for the sad accidental death of drummer John Ryan Pike, a better kept secret is that RRR have made the finest straight down the line indie pop record of the year: harmony drenched, string-swept, more hooks than a pirate convention and tinged with ineffable sadness at the death of their friend. Personally I put the lack of buzz behind the record down to the fact 2008 only seems big enough for one hyperliterate crew of New York State-based baroque poppers. That would be Vampire Weekend, a perfectly reasonable bunch who've received acres of press for tunes that sound not a million miles away from RRR's, save for the fact they aren't as catchy, sound more like Sting, and tend to have the emotional impact of a woodlouse. I'd bet my cardigan that had their albums come out the other way round then none of VW's preppy shirts and cursory world music influences would have saved them from the abyss. Anyhoo, you'll be able to make your own mind up when The Rhumb Line comes out, but in the meantime, feast yer eyes on the new video for album opener 'Ghost Under Rocks':