Cold War Kids - Mine Is Yours (Album Review)

It’s been nearly 5 years since Cold War Kid’s acclaimed debut album 'Robbers and Cowards', and after their messy second album 'Loyalty to Loyalty' we’ve been hoping for the third album to prove a worthy successor to the first.

Written by: Jonathan Cockburn | Date: Tuesday, 15 February 2011

The Streets - Computers And Blues (Album Review)

We’ve known Mike Skinner for a while now; he’s befriended all of us through The Streets and we’ve come to love him and his penchant for weed inspired homemade beats and quasi-poetic storytelling, so in a way the knowledge that this is his final album as The Streets feels a little like hearing one of your friends is moving abroad.

Written by: Jonathon Cockburn | Date: Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Roddy Woomble - The Impossible Song & Other Songs (Album Review)

Oh Roddy, what have you become? Do you even remember the days when you strutted around with sneering punk attitude, shouting about anything and everything? Back when hope was important.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Panic! At The Disco - The Ballad Of Mona Lisa (Single Review)

Panic! at the disco are back! Well, two of them are anyway. But that didn't stop the two remaining members, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith, from creating yet another power rock masterpiece; which is bound to become an instant favourite of all panic fans around the world.

Written by: Sophie Monk | Date: Monday, 14 February 2011

Civet – Love & War (Album Review)

Whether you like it or not, being in an all-girl, or even just a female-led, punk rock band is going to expose you to all those lazy but inevitable comparisons with the likes of The Distillers and Bikini Kill etc. Indeed, trying to simply carve yourself a reputation as a unique and identifiable artist seems almost impossible under these circumstances, despite the fact that many such groups have been among the most distinctive in the genre. This is likely to be the same categorization that will be applied to LA all-girl punk group Civet. However, while the raspy growl of vocalist Liza Graves does bear some similarities to that of Brody Dalle, the music to be found on the band’s latest album ‘Love & War’ sounds more in tune with the likes of Rancid and The Offspring, due to its distinguishing use of melodic guitar riffs and gang vocals.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 14 February 2011

The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness (Single Review)

Well this single certainly has something to prove. With most The Strokes’ members having followed successful solo projects or secondary bands during this lengthy hiatus, this, the first single in five years really needed to prove there was still a need for The Strokes to exist. Too right there's still a need for The Strokes! With imitators reforming for cash pay-offs *The Libertines* the masters of the spikey indie sound come out of a storm of anticipation and smash it out of the park.

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Thursday, 10 February 2011

Leigh Mary Stokes - Your Smile (Single Review)

Another female vocalist makes her way onto the already heaving scene. You can’t move for Adele, Eliza or Ellie and their tales about quests of the heart, so who cares what the new girl has to say?

Written by: Hayley Taylor | Date: Thursday, 10 February 2011

Gay For Johnny Depp - What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You (Album Review)

At 22 minutes long, Gay For Johnny Depp’s latest release really goes down the road of quality over quantity for their 11 track release, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You.’

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Wednesday, 09 February 2011

Frankie & The Heartstrings - Hunger (Album Review)

Sunderland five-piece Frankie & The Heartstrings already have a pretty impressive CV. Support slots with Edwyn Collins, Florence & The Machine and fellow "Mackems", The Futureheads. Gracing stages at Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Latitude and Summer Sundae. And even having the honour of being the first band in 5 years to have a one-off single released on Rough Trade Records. When it came to a more permanent record label however, the band side-stepped the typical label war in favour of setting up their own label and archive, PopSex Ltd, as a way to make fans' experience with the bands music much more personal.

Written by: Katie Territt | Date: Wednesday, 09 February 2011

Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines (Album Review)

Seattle indie rockers Telekinesis follow up their critically acclaimed self titled debut with '12 Desperate Straight Lines', an album sprinkled with powerful and catchy indie pop nuggets, a lot of fuzz, occasional distortion and straight forward, heartfelt lyrics. The fact alone that the record was even made is testimony to the bands founder Michael Benjamin Lerners belief in his own song writing.

Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Tuesday, 08 February 2011

The A Train - Beginning (EP Review)

The A Train are a London based alt-folk band who seem to be bang on trend at the moment. With the rise of bands such as Mumford & Sons and the highly anticipated albums from the likes of Noah and The Whale, alternative folk inspired music seems to be the genre to tap into.

Written by: Steve Wellman | Date: Tuesday, 08 February 2011

Maceo Plex - Life Index (Album Review)

Maceo Plex set sail on his musical journey in 1993, a whole 18 years ago. Through this time he has taken many pseudonyms including ‘Maetrik’ and ‘Mariel ito’ unveiling a vast array of musical concoctions with the help of labels such as Cocoon, Audiomatique, Mothership, Dumb Unit and now Crosstown Rebels. So the man is a journeyman of the industry if you like, not quite hitting the big time. Will this latest offering pave his way into the mainstream?

Written by: Steve Wellman | Date: Tuesday, 08 February 2011

YOAV - A foolproof Escape Plan (Album Review)

The well-travelled Yoav has graced us with his new album ‘A Foolproof Escape plan’. The Israeli born, Cape Town raised and now London resident has, as suggested, spent a majority of his years travelling the globe exploring the diverse cultures the world has to offer.

Written by: Steve Wellman | Date: Tuesday, 08 February 2011

Gregg Allman – Low Country Blues (Album Review)

This may come as a surprise to some, but Kings of Leon are not, in fact, the original band of brothers to hail from Nashville, Tennessee. That honour would arguably go to the Allman Brothers Band, who were churning out Southern rock classics like ‘Jessica’ – aka “the Top Gear theme tune” – long before the Followills were even in nappies. Gregg Allman has fronted the group ever since their formation in 1969 and, despite the tragic loss of his brother Duane in 1971, continues to do so today. He’s also managed to build up an impressive, if sporadic, solo career over the past forty years and fans will no doubt be pleased to hear that he’s back with a brand new album, no less than fourteen years after his last offering, 1997’s ‘Searching for Simplicity’.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Tuesday, 08 February 2011

The Duke Spirit – Kusama EP (Review)

Looking back a few years to around the time of their first two albums, 2005’s ‘Cuts Across the Land’ and 2008’s ‘Neptune’, London four-piece The Duke Spirit were being praised for their blending of garage rock with more experimental music. The band’s frontwoman Leila Moss was even drawing comparisons to the likes of Debbie Harry, Karen O and PJ Harvey. However, for their new EP ‘Kusama’, it seems that such associations cannot be made. While Moss may still retain some of her Blondie-esque vocal attributes in places, there is certainly nothing here that could be described as particularly innovating or even especially praiseworthy.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 07 February 2011

The Joy Formidable – Bristol Thekla – 2nd February 2011

“There’s a few of you here,” The Joy Formidable’s frontwoman Ritzy Bryan observes at one point during tonight’s performance in Bristol. She’s not wrong. As the seemingly endless flow of people continues to squeeze further forwards into the city’s boat venue the Thekla, it’s definitely worth wondering whether tonight’s headliners would have been more suited to one of Bristol’s larger gig halls. Only a week after the release of their debut LP ‘The Big Roar’ and the album is clearly creating excitement of such immense proportions that it seems to be outdoing the expectations that were held back in October, when this tour of modestly-sized British venues was first announced.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 04 February 2011

Sea of Bees – Songs for the Ravens (Album Review)

In the past, Julie Ann Baenziger – aka Sea of Bees – has preferred to define her music using the term “freak folk”, a genre previously associated with the likes of Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart. However, although it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, the name “psych-country” seems far more appropriate after listening to her debut album ‘Songs for the Ravens’. Finally bringing her first long-player over to British shores, the Californian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist introduces us to a strangely unique blend of haunting country music, pleasant-sounding folk and electronic psychedelia, all centred around Julie’s gentle but imposing voice. The songs themselves have each been given titles that, although short, are suitably representative of the beautiful and often weird music that they convey.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 04 February 2011

Mike Marlin - Nearly Man (Album Review)

An album 25 years in the making, 'Nearly Man' is the debut record by singer-songwriter Mike Marlin, a man who is very much the sum of his influences. Marlin’s vocals particularly zigzag: there is Damon Albarn’s frankness, Ian McCulloch’s drawl, even David Bowie-esque vibrato.  

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 03 February 2011

The Boxer Rebellion - The Cold Still (Album Review)

The Boxer Rebellion, a multi-international four-piece based in London, are about to deliver their third studio album. That's right, most people wouldn't even know of their prior six year existence. They're a band that have received acclaim outside of the mainstream while not really forcing themselves onto your radio. But with 'The Cold Still', that is all likely to change.

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Thursday, 03 February 2011

Emily Jane White - Ode To Sentience (Album Review)

To call 'Ode to Sentience' a “road album”, could perhaps seem a little insulting, given its Americana tinge, but it is certainly a rewarding journey.

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 03 February 2011