The Friction of Molecules: Maxïmo Park's Paul Smith Talks 'As Long As We Keep Moving'

Time is constant, but it rarely seems to be on our side. That’s particularly the case for a lot of bands, who are under pressure to maintain standards as their careers progress and, from certain quarters, to keep doing the same thing in perpetuity. Maxïmo Park’s ‘As Long As We Keep Moving’ is an attempt to reckon with that.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Still Pioneers After All These Years: Millencolin Return With 'SOS'

Sometimes things just click. A band will figure out how they work at the right moment, release the right record on the right label at the right time, and find the right audience waiting. A little under two decades ago that happened to Millencolin when they sent ‘Pennybridge Pioneers’ into the world.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 13 February 2019

New Year, New Music: Stereoboard's Pick Of 2019's Best Gigs

td#right {display:none !important;} A brand new year has rolled around, January is finally behind us and with a new month comes a huge number of opportunities to shuffle your feet on down to a gig. Get that ugly diary your nan got you for Christmas out from the back of the cupboard, it’s time to pencil in some of the best gigs to look forward to in 2019. Think you want cheesy pop? Prefer something more alternative? For the rest of 2019 we’ve utilised the powers that be to collate the biggest artist playing the UK that month, and one act that may have slipped under the radar. So, if you’ll pardon the cliche, there really is something for everyone.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 06 February 2019

Mired in Darkness: Unpacking the Raging Metal Riffs of Conjurer

Conjurer are a great anomaly within British heavy metal. In a genre where everything is divided into subsects—from glam to deathcore—these fresh-faced aggressors are all about demolishing boundaries and simply smacking the listener in the face with guitar-driven brutality.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 31 January 2019

A Couple Power Chords Go A Long Way: Mike Krol On Going Back To Basics

“With a couple power chords, I’m gonna let you know...” One line. Five decades of music history.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 23 January 2019

'I Feel Stronger Than Ever': The Return of Chlöe Howl

Back in 2013, Chlöe Howl seemed set to take the world by storm. Her early singles, including the killer kiss-off No Strings, arrived accompanied by industry hype and a mounting sense of next big thing momentum, but in short order she was stepping away from music to take stock.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Big Four Meets Big Star: Puppy On Their Genre-Mashing Debut 'The Goat'

Photo: Georgia Rawson There are plenty of music fans out there who would happily hype the battle between pop and rock for the rest of time: the dark side versus the light, Ivan Drago versus Rocky Balboa, John Travolta versus Nicolas Cage, Nicolas Cage versus John Travolta. But then we also have bands like Puppy, who are able to cast that whole argument in the comic light it often deserves.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 21 January 2019

We Got You Babe: The History Of Cher

What a world we’d live in if everyone was as amazing as Cher. With a six-decade strong career tucked firmly under her sparkly belt, she truly is one of those pop icons we love to love. The singer has continually reinvented herself - from the hippy early days of the 1960s to her most recent emergence in the Mamma Mia! sequel, Here We Go Again. She has done it all, seen it all and worn it all.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 17 January 2019

'Dadcore', Mixtapes and More: Meet Mozes and the Firstborn

Photo: Nick Helderman It all started with clothes. Specifically, it all started with Melle Dielesen’s clothes.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 15 January 2019

Metal Moments: A Look Back Through Mastodon's 10 Best Tracks

Mastodon are good, aren't they? So damn good! With a career spanning nearly two decades and seven albums, the Atlanta Grammy Award-winning metal monsters have stood toe to toe with grief, despair, addiction and death to give the world a vast, genre-defying body of work.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Monday, 14 January 2019

Now And Next: Stereoboard's Ones To Watch In 2019

td#right {display:none !important;} A new year brings with it the chance to look ahead after a few weeks of looking back over our shoulders. In musical terms, we can start to think about the artists who’ll capture our attention on summer festival stages, or during opening slots for existing favourites. We can ponder the singles that’ll leap from radio waves or playlists into the fabric of our day-to-day. Here we’ve assembled 10 artists we believe will make 2019 one to remember—some of them are about to release debut records, others are starting to pound the pavement in support of music that deserve time to shine.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 08 January 2019

The List: Stereoboard's Top Tickets Of 2018

td#right {display:none !important;} td#right {display:none !important;} The way we listen to music may have changed throughout the decades but one thing remains a constant: we always want to see the real thing. We want to stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans as our favourite artists captivate us for an evening, taking us out of ourselves for a few hours as we sway to the beat and sing along until we’re hoarse. The statistics back up that the sentiment. This year has been another massive one on the live music front, and here we take a look at which tickets were the most sought-after in 2018.  

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 21 December 2018

A Grande Evolution: From Child Star To Dangerous Woman

With the announcement of a world tour in support of her new album 'Sweetener’, there’s no better time to get to know the real Ariana Grande. If puppy dog eyes and pleasing R&B-influenced pop songs are anything to go by, she couldn’t be sweeter—see what we did there? Let us take you on a trip down memory lane to see what made the singer the woman she is today, and the path that led to the release of what could be her most successful album to date.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 21 December 2018

The List: Stereoboard's Best Albums Of 2018

td#right {display:none !important;}   So, there's another one ready for the history books. This year has been a weird, often depressing ride, but the tunes have been great. So we have that at least. Scroll down for the albums we believe deserve mention as the best of the year, from across the genre spectrum. Hopefully you'll find a few gems you don't know among the ones you think should be recognised. Thanks for reading, we'll see you next year.  

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Monday, 17 December 2018

I Feel Like We Only Just Got Here: How Hop Along Fell Into Place On 'Bark Your Head Off, Dog'

td#right {display:none !important;} Illustration: Sam Davies   The train is late. The trains are always late. Table the lost minutes. I absent-mindedly scroll Twitter in a glass shelter as the December cold gets its claws in. Before skipping over a review of the latest Jungle Book remake I’m stopped mid-feed by an autoplay video. Julia Roberts dances in a subway carriage for the New York Times. She grins, the plastic chairs smile back with yellow and orange teeth. The sound is off—my headphones are still playing Hop Along’s Not Abel. The weird thing is, that song won’t yield the floor. Instead it steps in to lead.  

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 14 December 2018

The Greatest Showman: The Theatrical Rise Of Hugh Jackman

td#right {display:none !important;} Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've been waiting for! Hugh Jackman has announced a worldwide arena tour, where he’ll perform hits from The Greatest Showman, Les Misérables and other film and Broadway favourites. The Man. The Music. The Show has seen incredible demand for tickets, with more and more extra dates getting announced across the UK and Ireland. So why all the fuss? Find out by getting to know more about the man, the music and, you guessed it, the show.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 13 December 2018

A Lot Of Love In The Room: How Turnstile's Big-Hearted 'Time & Space' Made Its Mark on 2018

td#right {display:none !important;} Illustration: Tom Norton Turnstile vocalist Brendan Yates—shirtless, slick with sweat and shredded beneath a surfer’s tangle of curls—is standing on top of a speaker stack at the Globe in Cardiff. “No future!” he yells as his bandmates’ guitars churn and howl. Arms reach towards him from the morass below, and then he’s gone. One front flip later he’s part of the crowd, thrashing his way to the end of Drop just like everyone else.​

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 12 December 2018

What Comes Next? Doe Talk Blood Pacts and Tour Plans For 2019

Photo: Andrew Northrop Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 12 December 2018

What Comes Next? The Beths On Touring, Touring, Touring and Summer Swims in 2019

Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 11 December 2018

Nice Guys Finish First: Inside Boy Azooga's Whirlwind Year

td#right {display:none !important;} Photos: Liam Taylor/Solidlight   On Quay Street, a dogleg corner away from Womanby Street, Cardiff’s live music hub, sits the Blue Honey Night Café. During the day it’s a hard hat-friendly, bacon and eggs greasy spoon called Sully’s, but come five pm it’s a fried chicken and beer hangout spot. Directly opposite there’s an alcove that smokers use to hide from the rain when the building’s awning is packed with a motley crew of punters, and it’s here in the spring of 2017 that a local musician called Davey Newington set up his guitar and a kick drum to play some songs.  

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018