Here are this week’s Fresh Faves – chosen by our readers over the weekend and reviewed by Team Freshnet moderator Jim Craigen from AlternativeFriday.com

ANIMAL NOISE – Bag Of Bones (2014)

Bag of Bones is a lively and catchy three minutes of foot-tapping, leg-slapping hillbilly, and is the upcoming new single from “battered and beaten acoustic trio” Animal Noise, who hail from Colchester. It will also feature on the band’s forthcoming second album, set for release later this year.

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

BIRD TO BEAST – Elephant

Bird To Beast are a married duo from Colne in Lancashire, and their delightful blend of melodic psych-folk, as highlighted in the track ‘Elephant’, could come as easily from the 1960’s as much as 2014. Whether you think it’s vintage or modern though, I think you’ll soon find yourself hooked, and singing about elephants, which in my case has resulted in some curious glances at home!

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

IDLE KINGS – Fireflies

Idle Kings are a new alternative rock outfit from London who met on stage in London’s West End during a production of the musical Love Story in 2010. They soon decided that writing and performing their own music could be just as much fun, and now in 2014 they have started to release their songs.

Fireflies is not so much alt-rock though, but a haunting orchestral track, that begins with a beautifully understated piano before various layers of strings power it forward, while the semi distorted vocals from Chris Killik, and polished production, combine perfectly to create a uniquely tender song.

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

JOHNNY PANIC & THE FEVER – Car On Fire

If you’ve ever wondered whether it was possible to mix the sound of The Strokes and The Divine Comedy, seven piece Liverpool ‘Indie Art Rock’ band Johnny Panic & the Fever prove it’s not only possible, but have done so with glorious success. Their track, Car On Fire, combines great vocals and music with excellent production to create this very catchy number. Put it this way, I find it hard to keep still when playing it.

Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

LIFECYCLE – Dissolve

Dissolve is an excellent alternative dance record with hypnotic drums and numerous other percussion instruments which gives it a highly enjoyable tribal African feel.

NB from TR: Lifecycle have an extensive web presence – none of which includes any information about the group whatseoever. See How To Write A Band Biog.

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

MOTION TOURIST – Broken Bones

Motion Tourist are a Newcastle based four piece band, and Broken Bones is a great example of their atmospheric indie sound, led in this case by a captivating guitar hook and fine vocals. Broken Bones comes from their 5-track EP Slow, released in December.

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

MR. SLIM – Quinoa

Hip hop dance instrumental Quinoa was very popular with the voters at the weekend, but sadly information on Mr Slim is almost as absent as vocals on the track. All he tells us is that “Making beats and being an international badman are my two main occupations. Based in London”!

Soundcloud | Facebook | Bandcamp

PLASTIC FLOWERS – Love Is Above All

Love Is Above All is a charmingly melodic lo-fi pop tune from Greek duo Plastic Flowers, and comes from their debut album Evergreen, out on March 3rd. Their track In You I’m Lost featured in our Fresh Faves in November 2012.

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

THE 150 FRIENDS’ CLUB – Hoonanaparka

Comprised of four people, and seemingly quite unique, London based The 150 Friends Club are a band that plays “intense, creative, intimate rock music” designed for audiences of “no more and no less than 150 people at a time”!

Hoonanaparka itself is a quirky rock track which surely has a bit of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ DNA in it. They sound like they’d be great live… I just need to find 149 people to join me!

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

THEATRE ROYAL – Doubt

This is an excellent example of the country influenced alternative pop music that Medway band Theatre Royal make. They already have two albums under their belt, and Doubt is their new single which comes from their third album, due in May.

Official | Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

PS from TR: If you’ve submitted a track that hasn’t made the Listening Post you’re welcome to re-submit it another week. If your music has appeared on the Listening Post but not in our Fresh Faves, feel free to send us an even stronger track another week. However, if we’ve recently featured you in our Fresh Faves – or on my BBC Introducing Mixtape – please hold back 2-3 months before sending us another track, so we can give other new artists a chance… For more info see Robinson Has A Good Old Moan.