Alternative music, whatever that now means, has been missing some true new festival headliner-worthy giants for a fair while – Wolf Alice have nudged into that territory but it’s population is undoubtedly tiny. Enter Fontaines D.C. with their third and as-yet most accomplished record ‘Skinty Fia’. The Irish lads’ debut ‘Dogrel’ nestled comfortably in theContinue reading “Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia”
Category Archives: Records
Jamie T – The Old Style Raiders
We all thought five years was a stupendously long time to wait between Jamie T’s second LP ‘Kings & Queens’ and 2014’s follow-up ‘Carry On The Grudge’ but, while our attentions were being grabbed by other pressing events on the world stage, the original urchin singer-songwriter spent an eye-watering six years polishing up his latestContinue reading “Jamie T – The Old Style Raiders”
Panic Shack – Baby Shack EP
There’s nothing more punk rock than mastering the raw power of three chords fused with simple, effective rhymes and on the Baby Shack EP Panic Shack prove themselves skilled artisans of just that. With a healthy dose of humour and an audible sense of fun, the Cardiff four-piece take a handful of, in less-adept hands,Continue reading “Panic Shack – Baby Shack EP”
Columbia – Embrace The Chaos
Many artists try hard to bury their influences under heaps of avant-garde experimentalism, misjudged kooky angles and cringe worthy vocal gymnastics when, truly, it was the monolithic greats who brought us all kneeling at the altar of rock’n’roll. Columbia see no merit in hiding where their sound comes from and boldly plaster their influences inContinue reading “Columbia – Embrace The Chaos”
The K’s – Hometown
Opening with a brash stomp of a T-Rex riff, The K’s are back with ‘Hometown’, a rough and ready tale of life in Suburbia set to a rabble-rousing pop punk roar that The Enemy might have delivered in the mid-00s. The tune zips up, the riff goes off and the Earlestown four-piece vividly dissect anContinue reading “The K’s – Hometown”
Fate Of The Sun – Blade Runner 1999
Fate Of The Sun reckons we live in a dystopian mess of a world, so much so he feels like he’s living in the cruddy future originally envisioned in 1982 sci-fi flick Blade Runner, and who are we to argue when he cries he’s “had enough of this crazy spice infested town”, “they gambled itContinue reading “Fate Of The Sun – Blade Runner 1999”
Andrew Cushin – You Don’t Belong EP
Masterful songwriting is a skill sometimes bluffed in the world of melodic indie rock but Newcastle’s Andrew Cushin has authentic composition talent in spades and exhibits it proudly on his debut ‘You Don’t Belong’ EP, an assemblage of tunes so accomplished he even has the famously cynical ears of Noel Gallagher pricked up. Feasting onContinue reading “Andrew Cushin – You Don’t Belong EP”
As Loud As A Mouse – Cat Gone Dog
On debut single ‘Cat Gone Dog’, Reading DIY duo As Loud As A Mouse make a massive noise for just two men. It’s a nutty punk noise, a bizarro math rock noise, an at times anarchic shouty noise and a damn catchy single with enough tempo changes to give you a small nose bleed, anContinue reading “As Loud As A Mouse – Cat Gone Dog”
Opus Kink – The Unrepentant Soldier
What happens when a Brightonian punk band fully embrace cuban jazz? You get a unique, conquering sound like the one Opus Kink make and on ‘The Unrepentant Soldier’, the latest release from OK’s forthcoming debut EP, the six-piece use flamboyant trombone, guitar and throaty vocals to dissect the stubborn thoughts of a regretless mercenary asContinue reading “Opus Kink – The Unrepentant Soldier”
Rats-Tails – Spines
Today’s review is of this curious, fragile tune by the wholly independent South East London duo who go by the moniker ‘Rats-Tails’. They are singer/songwriter Courtney McMahon and guitarist Chris Bull, and describe their music as Mystic Folk & Dream Pop, a succinct and accurate description indeed. Barely over-running the two minute mark, their melancholyContinue reading “Rats-Tails – Spines”
Edge of Arcady 