Kevin Bryan delivers his verdict on some of this week’s CD releases.

Zorbonauts,”The Unobserved Beaver” (Talking Elephant)- The various members of this stylish outfit have seen service with prog-rock behemoths such as Spock’s Beard, Yes and Iron Butterfly to name but a few, and they bring this collective experience to bear on “The Unobserved Beaver,” a stunning showcase for the sort of melodic, expertly executed rock fare that comes my way all too rarely these days.Affectionate covers of Jimi Hendrix’”Stone Free” and Cream’s “Badge” are given a welcome airing alongside some freshly minted new material and an impressive re-vamp of a hitherto unrecorded gem from frontman Lynden Williams’ days with short-lived early seventies rockers Jerusalem in the shape of the epic closer,”The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse.”

Harpers Bizarre,”Come To The Sunshine” (Cherry Red)-This relentlessly undemanding 4 CD retrospective from the good people at Cherry Red focusses attention on the entire Warner Brothers output of prime purveyors of “sunshine pop” Harpers Bizarre. This Californian outfit are best remembered on this side of the Atlantic for their minor 1967 hits,”Feelin’ Groovy” and “Anything Goes,” and these Simon and Garfunkel and Cole Porter covers capture the essence of these clean cut characters’ eclectic approach to their subject matter,which found them appying their impeccably smooth musical imprint to everything from Glenn Miller’s “Chattanooga Choo Choo” to a choice selection of early Randy Newman gems led by “Vine Street,” “Snow” and “The Biggest Night Of Her Life.”

KB Bayley,”Little Thunderstorms” (Self Released)- Evocative imagery and exquisite guitar work dominate the proceedings as English singer-songwriter KB Bayley unveils the eagerly anticipated follow up to 2017’s well received “Rivers & Rain.” The strange times that we’re living in at the moment meant that Bayley’s acutely observed vignettes of everyday experience had to be captured for posterity in a locked down back room in the performer’s home, which seems to lend an added sense of intimacy to affecting ditties such as “Cold Rain,” “North Coast Girl” and “Throw It In The River.”