Joyce Manor are at their most relatable on ‘All My Friends Are So Depressed’, a vulnerable rumination on collective wellbeing, or the lack of it.
It’s fair to say that the poppier end of punk (or the punkier end of pop, if you prefer) has cultivated a bit of an …
In keeping with its aspirations, James Adrian Brown’s new album has discernible warm spaces, analog synth patches and simple percussion loved by Boards Of Canada.
It’s a pilgrimage which, despite the many distractions that people are confronted with, still resonates in certain quarters.
For almost 150 years the seaside town …
To bring the house down Megadeth cover of Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’, an olive branch for so long inconceivable to metal’s keepers of ye ancient grudges.
Once upon a time, in a universe far, far away, it looked thrash metal could do anything.
A snotty bastard son of Californian hardcore …
Rewarding repeat listens, The Demise Of Planet X is bristling with detail and finds Sleaford Mods at their most evocative.
And they thought things were bad when they started out.
Who better to soundtrack the seemingly inevitable erosion of the UK’s spirit than Sleaford Mods?
There’s a continuation of the religious motifs which have dominated Sault’s shared vision from the outset.
You can somehow sense a little feeling of frustration building with Sault, at least in some quarters.
After all, we like our entertainers visible, accessible, sharing every single moment and thought with us, …
‘Quicksand Heart’ is Jenny On Holiday’s show going on, finely tuned pop sentiment that also has a wide streak of endearing vulnerability.
It’s one of the great performer-related cliches, sounding now like it belongs to another, less empathetic era.
‘The show must go on’, most often used in conjunction with …
The Cribs’ new album is rooted in family, a tacit acceptance that the Jarmans have never acknowledged they are a band made up of brothers.
This particular correspondent grew up in a close relationship with three brothers – twins and an older sibling.
Whenever one of the regular familial bust-ups …
What the critics both personal and musical failed to understand was that any Babyshambles fan willing to idolize Pete Doherty’s contrivances had no desire for it to make sense anyway.
It’s very easy now, with two decades of hindsight, to be unaware of the absolute shitstorm into which Down In …
AVTT/PTTN is a beautiful country music vehicle, but with all the brutal mechanics exposed.
On paper, this shouldn’t work.
Mike Patton, the man behind Faith No More’s genre-hopping chaos, Mr Bungle’s demented brilliance and Fantomas’ cinematic maximalism teaming up with The Avett Brothers feels like a punchline waiting for a …
The results of The Saints’ recording process are a spectacular tribute to Chris Bailey.
There’s always a difference in the way you process music released posthumously.
In the case of The Saints, by way of introduction there remains a story about them and singer Chris Bailey not told enough, …
‘Weather Vane’, ‘Hey Presto’ and closer ‘Gardeners’ World’ are rough edged Joanna gems from a time capsule nobody even knew was buried.
London’s always the reason.
Joanna’s story is an interesting one, although not unique.
By the end of the 1980s, in what was a rare moment of inversion, …
As if to match their chaotic narrative, a groovy cover version of Step On made the Happy Mondays household names and the Kings of Madchester.
This only works when everything has an equal and opposite, right?
You might have heard of the NME’s C-86 compilation, not so much related to …
What is lost now is just how unique The Return Of The Durutti Column sounded, a beacon of melody in a sea of post punk gloom and throwaway pop ephemera.
Everyone has their own view of Tony Wilson, the sadly missed impresario who meant many things to many people.
Known …
FYC 40 proves that Fine Young Cannibals’ appeal went far beyond a reliance on studio trickery.
It’s a music quiz question for the ages: What connects Prince with the city of Hull?
Firstly, well done to all those of you who didn’t cheat, and secondly the answer, as those of …
If anything counts for momentum in the currently artist-hostile environment of creation and performance, then Pavey Ark surely have it.
One of the most striking differences between the musics of the 20th and 21st centuries is the lost tradition of being able to give something a specific geographical root.
Way …
Having turned solo a few years ago, it’s clear that Iona Zajac’s new album has an energy to it which comes from obsessively picking through some fucked up 21st century metas.
Choose your cliché: on a hiding to nothing, accepting a poisoned chalice, falling on a double-edged sword?
Truly there …