Wild Beasts - Smother (Album Review)
My personal anticipation for Wild Beasts’ third long player has actually been, to my surprise, minimal. After being more than impressed with their debut 'Limbo, Panto' and then being blown away, along with everyone else, by 'Two Dancers', at the start of 2011 I pinpointed 'Smother' as an album to get excited for. But if I’m honest, I sort of forgot all about. I never got around to listening to 'Albatross' when it was first posted to the net, which, in hindsight, I’m pretty happy about. Missing those singles and coming to an album totally in the dark is always the best way to experience music. So, let me tell you now, 'Smother' is all kinds brilliant.
Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Thursday, 12 May 2011
Maybeshewill - I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone (Album Review)
When Maybeshewill first sprung up from the murky depths of the post-rock world they were often dismissed as mere 65daysofstatic copyists. Of course this was utter rubbish. They may have shared 65dos’s passion for combining traditional soaring post-rock with electronic elements but Maybeshewill were always a whole different beast at heart. 65dos have always been more of an electronic act deep down and in recent times have even chosen to practically abandon the guitar from their recordings. Maybeshewill on the other hand have frequently ventured into the genre’s heavier realms and even verged on metallic territory at times. The band’s third album, the excellently titled 'I Was Here for a Moment, Then I Was Gone', is another journey into sonic bliss, although one that differs subtly from its predecessors.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Tom Moriarity - Fire in the Dolls House (Album Review)
I begin this review with a confession. I can hardly contain my excitement about this next album - 'Fire in the Dolls House' by Tom Moriarty.
Written by: Craig Willis | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011
Twenty Twenty - Small Talk (Album Review)
Twenty Twenty are a band who are on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. They have created a little buzz around them which is growing very nicely with their brand of pop/rock which could see them sit alongside the likes of McFly in the pop market.
Written by: Steve Wellman | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011
Sound of Rum ‘Balance’ (Album Review)
While the likes of Dizzee Rascal and other so-called leaders of British hip-hop are trading in their streetwise, socially-conscious lyrics for songs about dancefloors, discos and holidays, it’s refreshing to discover a new act that still manages to bring the rawness of genuine UK rap music while continuing to keep things sounding fresh and exciting enough to prevent the genre from going stale. Anyone who agrees will be pleased to hear that Sound of Rum are offering exactly that.
Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011
Mojo Fury - Visiting Hours Of A Travelling Circus (Album Review)
Having played with everyone from recently departed legends Oceansize to fellow countrymen And So I Watch You From Afar on recent UK tours, Mojo Fury’s debut full-length comes highly anticipated by many who have been impressed by the Northern Irish quartet’s spiky live shows. The impressively titled 'Visiting Hours of a Travelling Circus' is a record in which Mojo Fury try to forge their own sound whilst also paying tribute to the bands that have clearly influenced them along the way.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011
The Libertines - There Are No Innocent Bystanders (Film Review)
There was much anticipation surrounding the upcoming Libertines film ‘There Are No Innocent Bystanders’ which premiered at the opening gala of the East End film festival. For members of a certain generation, The Libertines were the dirty-faced champions of national pride, and so the fact that this film premiered in the week of the royal wedding, as London stood draped beneath a thousand Union Jacks, seemed sweetly ironic.
Written by: Victoria O'Hagan | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011
Jeudah - While We Sleep (Album Review)
If there is anything to be said about the new Jeudah record While We Sleep, it is that time and distance should never be seen as a barrier to creativity. A collaboration between Kristian Karlsson, multi instrumentalist with Pg.lost, and Khoma vocalist Jan Jämte, While We Sleep substantiates that not everything needs to be done within the constraints of convention.
Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Thursday, 05 May 2011
Comodo - To The Sun (EP Review)
There’s a very thin line in music between an amateur and a professional. That line is raw talent. Well, fortunately for us Oli Shilling aka Comodo has more than enough to step him over that line and have him sprinting towards the upper echelons of the unsigned music world.
Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011
The Procession - Sometimes (EP Review)
The opening fade-in to this debut EP’s title track marks a breach of middle-of-the-road indie flooding clubs across the land. 'Sometimes' is a three-and-a-half minute tour through the band’s best qualities: genial guitar subtlety over muted vocals, bass and drums doing more than keeping pace; the song in isolation contains half a dozen memorable hooks book-ended by enticing guitar drone. The song’s chorus first sounds like a conflict of interest between lead guitar and vocal, but somehow the two fit. The build-up first and cut-away second verses indicate genuine intelligence on the musicians’ parts: rather than loud/quiet/loud, we are treated to writhing bass and clever use of snare.
Written by: Ed Davies | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011
Panda Bear - Tomboy (Album Review)
Now I don’t for a second believe that my mind is in any way capable of interoperating half of the shit that goes on in Noah Lennox’s, but I’m going to try my best to do his artistic genius justice. Lennox aka Panda Bear has already released three acclaimed solo albums and as a founding member of Animal Collective, has had his fair share of praise there too. But solo album four, 'Tomboy', is up for a much harder time of it. Being released into a musical landscape post 'Merriweather Post Pavilion', there is widespread expectation where there was none for the post 'Strawberry Jam', 'Person Pitch'. The masses now know Panda Bear and the masses are waiting for something spectacular.
Skindred ‘Union Black’ (Album Review)
Despite earning themselves a strong reputation as one of the best live bands in the country, the success that has followed Newport’s Skindred in their home country over the past seven years has never quite equalled that offered by their transatlantic fans. Unlike many of Skindred’s British contemporaries, American audiences seem to have responded much better to the quartet’s music than they have among the home crowds. Each of the band’s first three albums, along with a number of the accompanying singles, received respectable chart placings in the US and Skindred followed their successes with relentless touring on that side of the pond. Following the deafening buzz created by so-called nu-metallers like Limp Bizkit and System Of A Down, it seemed that American rock fans were only too keen to take to Skindred’s blend of metal, reggae and dance music and the South Wales four-piece were more than happy to provide.
Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011
And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs (Album Review)
When the curiously monikered And So I Watch You From Afar dropped their debut record on an unsuspecting rock world they more than blew the doors off the poor little Mini Cooper, they blew it to kingdom come...and then some. You see what this band did with their self-titled debut was to release a post-rock album that was a hardcore punk album at the same time. Tracks like the blistering 'Set Guitars to kill' saw post-rock played at hardcore intensity as if that was the way the genre was born to be. Refreshing in its unique approach to what is all too often a stale genre these days, 'And So I Watch You From Afar' was rightly lavished with lashings of critical praise upon its release back in 2009. Now the band has responded to the challenge of providing a suitably monolithic second album in typically confident fashion.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 28 April 2011
Ulver - War Of The Roses (Album Review)
It’s astonishing to look at where Ulver are today and to think back to where they have come from. These eclectic Norwegians began their life as a black metal band heavily influenced by their national folklore. Nowadays they are a genre-busting electronica act. Of course the notorious black metal scene, in Norway especially, is not well known for its overwhelming tolerance for other musical creeds...quite the opposite. Along their bumpy ride Ulver have had to put up constantly with the purists scoffing at their departure from the black metal scene that spawned them. Everyone else who has given them a listen in this time meanwhile has been astonished by their musical explorations.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Two Against One / BLACK (Double A-Side Review)
Danger Mouse is one of those producers that everyone wants to work with. His collaboration with the then unknown Cee Lo Green sparked Gnarls Barkley and THAT song that was #1 forever. He wrote his own Grey Album, mixing together Jay-Z and the Beatles to create something interesting and new, and he’s also produced Gorillaz second (and arguably best) album. Oh, and he’s having a major influence on U2s next LP too. Basically, everything he touches turns to gold and this double A-side, released as part of Record Store Day, is no different.
Written by: James Ball | Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Fleet Foxes ‘Helplessness Blues’ (Album Review)
As well as leading the way for the recent spate of indie-folk acts such as our own Mumford & Sons and fellow north-westerners The Decemberists, Seattle’s Fleet Foxes have also done a very fine job of crafting their own brand of psychedelic folk-pop since the release of their eponymous debut in 2008. With their extensive use of choir-like vocal harmonies and more instruments than you can shake a stick at, the sextet have managed to create a plethora of warm sunrise choruses, heard in tracks like the conversely-titled ‘White Winter Hymnal’, which somehow capture a range of moods all drawn into one big melting pot of sound.
Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2011
The Chakras - We The People (Single Review)
There are a few tips to making a great song: One: you need a killer hook. Two: you need a memorable chorus. Three: you need clever, thought-provoking lyrics. Four: More cowbell.
Written by: James Ball | Date: Thursday, 21 April 2011
Metronomy - The English Riviera (Album Review)
The LA sound? Yes. The Seattle sound? Yes. The Devon sound? Well that’s possibly not one many people are used to hearing, however Metronomy aim to change that with their third album ‘The English Riviera’. Using the resort’s name and logo for this new release, the band have attempted to create an album that gives Devon it’s own sound, because apparently, ‘at the moment it’s crap’.
Written by: Emma Newlyn | Date: Thursday, 21 April 2011
Alessi’s Ark – Time Travel (Album Review)
There aren’t too many artists out there that have released two albums, worked with people from bands as well-known as Bright Eyes and Mumford & Sons and toured with a list of equally renowned artists - all by the time they reach the age of 20. Even fewer have done it with the precision and awe-inspiring manner of Hammersmith’s Alessi Laurent-Marke – aka Alessi’s Ark. Two years after the release of her debut album ‘Notes from the Treehouse’ (which was produced by Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis) and Alessi is back with her second LP ‘Time Travel’.
Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Thursday, 21 April 2011
We Are The Ocean – Go Now And Live (Album Review)
Since cutting their teeth on first album ‘Cutting Our Teeth’, Essex post-hardcore quintet We Are The Ocean have wasted little time in making their big return for second outing ‘Go Now And Live’. A mere one year on from their debut and the band are back with album number two. A quick follow-up maybe, but certainly no less satisfying.
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting (Album Review)
I had owned Jamie Woon’s debut, 'Mirrowriting', a matter of hours and had listened to it only twice, when it became the ignition of an argument between a close friend and I. Not only did I passingly use the term ‘post-dub’ (which on refelection was slightly stupid, as it shows that The NME may actually have an effect on my life. And no one wants that do they?), I also compared Woon to namesake Blake. Apparently this was a most heinous of crimes. Sure, the comparison is an obvious one, but its apparentness does not make it void.
Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Thursday, 21 April 2011
Osmo - Heaven & Hell Is Just A State Of Mind (Album Review)
When your first ever UK date isn’t in some seedy pub somewhere in Camden, or in your best friends back garden, or at a birthday party, but in the official London residence of the Finnish Ambassador, you know you’ve got one hell of a career in front of you. This album, Osmo's second, but first released in this country, is described as a “cool slice of soulful pop”, which I have to disagree with to an extent. That description gives you the impression that the album’s going to sound like twelve different versions of Adele's ‘Rolling in the Deep’ (which, I must add, is an utterly ace song) but that isn’t quite the case. I would describe the general taste as a cross between swing, jazz, funk with a hint of a Latin influence all mixed together with a radio-friendly pop icing on top. This is inoffensive jolly nonchalance that gets parts of it right, and parts of it way off the mark.
Bella Hardy – Songs Lost & Stolen (Album Review)
I believe that it would be fair to say that the folk scene is experiencing another serge in popularity at the moment. With artist such as Mumford & Sons or Elle Goulding all being sited as having a folk influence its no wonder people begin searching for real folk music. And once you've started searching, amazing and brilliant talents like Bella Hardy tend to surface.
Written by: Craig Willis | Date: Wednesday, 20 April 2011
The Pattern Theory - The Pattern Theory (Album Review)
Berlin based instrumentalists The Pattern Theory have spent almost two years distilling their ideas for the eight songs that make up their self titled debut album. The band has put this down to producing too many ideas musically and being overly perfectionist, so lucky for The Pattern Theory all this time and care has paid off.
Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Tuesday, 19 April 2011
The Maine - Black & White (Album Review)
Well, after coming up on my iTunes under ‘Gucci’ I managed to find my sampler of The Maine’s 'Black And White' album, out this month. The Maine are one of the rising stars of the ever growing pop rock scene. The album, produced by heavyweight Howard Benson, who has worked with My Chemical Romance, Papa Roach and Daughtry, instantly gives the album credibility, and the production on the CD is flawless. Already the album’s achieved Billboard Top 20 status in America and they’ve been selling out tours on both sides of the Atlantic.
Written by: Matthew Williamson | Date: Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Explosions In The Sky - 'Take Care, Take Care, Take Care' (Album Review)
If you are a fan of the musical subgenre known as post-rock the chances are pretty high that you have, at some point, been wildly in love with an album called 'The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place' by a band known as Explosions in the Sky.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Friday, 15 April 2011
Rev78 - Boys In The Blitz (Album Review)
I hadn't heard anything about London boy's Rev78 so when I received the album, I had no expectations at all. Luckily for me, there was a press release with it to make them sound very exciting and perhaps even hyped them up a teeny bit too much. 'Music made for Arena's' was one quote - do I believe the press release? Surely the press don't lie?
Written by: Liam Gascoigne | Date: Friday, 15 April 2011
Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Sound Of Sunshine (Album Review)
At the time of writing, the weather outside my window has gone from being a glorious display of sunshine and warmth of the last few days to a grey, drab affair that can’t even be bothered of rain. And it’s muggy. Of course, Michael Franti and his long-time creation Spearhead aren’t known for taking a bright day and making it all crappy, so I placed this new album, already huge in the musical behemoth of the USA, in the player and while the weather outside didn’t change a whole lot, I felt a whole lot sunnier on the inside.
Written by: James Ball | Date: Friday, 15 April 2011
The Antlered Man - Surrounded By White Men (Single)
“He wrapped them up in white skin, and said it was for their benefit”
Slow Six - Tomorrow Becomes You (Album Review)
Christopher Tignor, one imagines, is quite the clever fellow. Not only does he design his own signature music software (which is free on the groups website), play a series of spellbinding shows with The American Dollar and Caspian but now his Slow Six ensemble have put together the enchanting classical/ rock hybrid 'Tomorrow Becomes You'.
Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Friday, 15 April 2011
Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl (Album Review)
If you've never heard of Joe Bonamassa before, you should be ashamed. Bonamassa's particular brand of blues rock has seen him gain a Number One on the billboard blues chart as well as a headline concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Written by: Craig Willis | Date: Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Young The Giant - My Body (Single Review)
From the first bars of 'My Body' when the jolting percussion kicks in, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Young The Giant are a seasoned band of musicians advertising their well-honed craft. In actual fact, the California quintet's age range is a mere 20 - 22, and 'My Body' is just their second single. Having already nabbed support slots for Kings Of Leon, The Futureheads and Marina & The Diamonds, as well as landing some mixing sessions at the infamous Electric Lady Studios in New York, it's time Young The Giant made their mark on the UK music scene.
Written by: Katie Territt | Date: Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Redtrack - The Trier (Single Review)
Oh goodie. A single review disc with three tracks on it to critique! Stop it RedTrack, you’re spoiling us!
Written by: James Ball | Date: Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Wax On Water - An Army (Single Review)
So, to start with, these guitars came from absolutely nowhere, screeching around the corner, running me over and then I died.
Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder (Album Review)
Noted to be a prominent name in past pop-punk, it’s safe to say that Sum 41’s musical ‘stride’ was the years prior to their last release ‘Underclass Hero’. Four years down the road and here they are with the follow up – ‘Screaming Bloody Murder’. Like many fans, a main pondering upon this release is whether they can make a triumphant return to that musical peak on which we previously saw them rested.
Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Guillemots – ‘Walk The River’ (Album Review)
Three years after their Top 10 album ‘Red’ and just one year on from Fyfe Dangerfield’s first solo effort, Birmingham quartet the Guillemots are back with their latest offering ‘Walk The River’. After failing to claim the Mercury Prize back in 2006 for their debut ‘Through the Windowpane’ – sadly losing out to predictable winners Arctic Monkeys – and gaining only commercial recognition for ‘Red’, are Guillemots hitting back with a vengeance for their third album? Also, after the uplifting and atmospheric indie-pop of ‘Through the Windowpane’ and the experimental and often weird ‘Red’, what have the four-piece got in store for us this time around? And even more importantly, following the success of his far more modest solo record ‘Fly Yellow Moon’, will frontman Fyfe Dangerfield be bringing any of his new-found experiences with him on his return to the group?
Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Sunday, 10 April 2011
Eksi Ekso - Brown Shark, Red Lion (Album Review)
Since releasing their superbly title debut 'I Am Your Bastard Wings' in 2008, Boston’s Eksi Ekso have gone from six to three full time members, become infatuated with synthesizers and totally changed direction for their new album. Said album 'Brown Shark, Red Lion' finds the newly stripped down trio explore orchestral pop, synth-soaked dance and balls to the wall rock with sadly, fairly hit and miss results.
Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Sunday, 10 April 2011
Wonderland - Wonderland (EP Review)
Well this is a strange review for me to be writing. I don't usually dedicate my time to listen to new, stereotypical girl bands who I just happened to hear on the radio late one night. But I decided I'd do something a bit different, and I'm actually very much glad that I did.
Written by: Sophie Monk | Date: Sunday, 10 April 2011
My Passion - Inside This Machine (Album Review)
Having had their follow up to ‘Corporate Flesh Party’ sitting in waiting for around a year, My Passion can breathe a sigh of relief and the fans can become amped with excitement as ‘Inside This Machine’ is finally about to be unleashed into the world.
Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Sunday, 10 April 2011
The Retrospective Soundtrack Players – Cool Hand Luke (Album Review)
Not every band would invite an audience member up on stage to try and eat 50 eggs in three minutes (fried egg sweets, mind), but that just the kind of band The Retrospective Soundtrack Players are: full of cunning ideas and not afraid to sound slightly gimmicky.
Written by: Chris Jefferies | Date: Sunday, 10 April 2011
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows - D.R.U.G.S (Album Review)
Super groups seem to be popping up all over the place these days with the likes of Them Crooked Vultures, The Damned Things and anything of Jack White’s design from the last four years all stirring up headlines. So here is to anyone who thought the US punk and post hardcore scene was on the descent. An out of this world, face slappingly unprecedented collision of Chiodos' frontman Craig Owens joining forces with ex-members of Story of the Year, From First To Last, Matchbook Romance and Undermined. With credentials like these, It didn’t take long before this mammoth gathering of artists were united under a signing from Sire Records and now their self titled release has hit the UK shores.
Written by: Owen Sheppard | Date: Friday, 08 April 2011
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light (Album Review)
Despite the lukewarm response to ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace’ in 2007 Foo Fighters have spent the ensuing years establishing themselves as a Worldwide stadium rock band and ‘Wasting Light’, which will be released on April 11th, has had a bigger sense of anticipation than anything they’ve done previously.
Written by: Dave Ball | Date: Thursday, 07 April 2011
Letlive – Fake History (Album Review)
With track titles like ‘The Sick, Sick 6.8 Billion’, it’s already clear to see that LA post-hardcore rockers letlive have got somewhat of an oddly comical and twisted view of things. But does that come across in their music? Let’s hope so. Here, for their third LP release and debut on Epitaph Records, letlive are trying to break past the multitude of existing so-called hardcore bands and lead the way in something that they could – almost – call their own.
Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Wednesday, 06 April 2011
Thursday – No Devolucion (Album Review)
Is it really true? Have New Jersey hardcore screamsters Thursday really gone soft for their latest album? Well… kinda. Fans of the band may have read in recent reports that the post-hardcore sextet have opted to take things a bit darker and slower for their sixth offering ‘No Devolucion’. However, if you’re already starting to imagine a much duller effort this time around, think again. Thursday may have lost some – and I do mean some - of their original ferocity, but the intensity is certainly all still there.
Blackfield - Welcome To My DNA (Album Review)
It’s always hard to know exactly why Blackfield exist. That is no slight on the work the group have produced, just an acknowledgement of the fact that the two perpetrators of the melancholic alt-rock that comes under the Blackfield name are two musicians with careers that are both critically, and to an extent, commercially successful. Aviv Geffen is a bona fida rock superstar in his native Israel, despite his often controversial left-wing political positions. Steven Wilson is known the world over, predominantly for his work as main man in modern art rock giants Porcupine Tree, but also for a wide variety of other experimental music projects.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 04 April 2011
Gang Of Four - Who Am I? (Single Review)
“Who can steal when everything is free? Who am I when everything is me?”
Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 04 April 2011
Toy Horses - Toy Horses (Album Review)
It's only April and you're probably already tired of hearing about the 'next big things' in music. Toy Horses, however, are something else. This indie rock duo, made up of Adam. D. Franklin and Tom Williams from South Wales, release their self-titled debut album this month which is full to the brim with offbeat and loveable tracks.
Written by: Elin Sutton | Date: Monday, 04 April 2011
Radius System - Architects of Yesterday (Album Review)
French experimental rockers Radius System explode back into life with the release of their new record ‘Architects of Yesterday’. The Parisian duo, founded ten years ago by Gregory Hoepffner and Axel Dallou,have been conspicuously quiet since their 2008 release ‘Escape/Restart’. The difficulties they faced transferring that record to a live audience saw the pair dissolve the live band altogether and the frustration and anger felt during this period is evident in ‘Architects of Yesterday’, but this is not a bad thing.
Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Monday, 04 April 2011
Fight Like Apes - Jenny Kelly (Single Review)
Since release of their debut album 'Fight like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion' a steady buzz has been growing around the alternative indie scene for this Irish quartet who this time have picked up a signing from Model Citizen Records. What's more, Its been almost a year of painstaking writing and recording with Gang of Four's Andy Gill and after all their toil the end product, their second full length release 'Body Of Christ and Legs Like Tina Turner' is only weeks away from its long awaited arrival on the 25th of April. Andy Gill himself has awarded them with praise as great as to name them "the best band I have worked with in years" and as if we weren't excited enough, the band have just dropped this absolute gem of a single 'Jenny Kelly' to stir up interest even more.
Written by: Owen Sheppard | Date: Thursday, 31 March 2011
Sick Puppies - Tri-Polar (Album Review)
“Sick Puppies? Where have I heard that name before?” It is okay if this is your current train of thought, and no, the answer isn’t the latest RSPCA advert. This post-grunge trio have helped notch up an impressive 67 million views on Youtube with their song 'All the Same' being the soundtrack to ‘Free Hugs Campaign’, one of the most heart-warming videos on the entire internet.
Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 31 March 2011
