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?
The Molotovs by Nick Benoy
The Molotovs’ street performing roots are evident in how confidently they handle an audience, feeding off crowd energy without hesitation.
So hot they’re steaming, Southend duo The Molotovs had a remarkable 2025 – recording their debut album, supporting the likes of Blondie and The Damned …
Sleaford Mods by Nick Waplington
There’s no doubt about it, 2025 has been yet another tough year, socially and politically.…
Pete Doherty with The Libertines live in Manchester (Gary Mather for Live4ever)
Playing to the crowd, Babyshambles walked on to The Wurzels’ Combine Harvester; as ever with Doherty in charge, the line between sincerity and surrealism is always blurred.
Peter Doherty has always been consistent and prolific; either through playing …
Thankfully it’s been half a decade since the UK was in the midst of the second of three lockdowns because of the COVID pandemic.
And while you undoubtedly and understandably try and block …
Adult DVD by Lindsay Melbourne
As has been the trajectory of their year, Adult DVD take Rough Trade by storm with an intricate, euphoric blend of indie rock, electronica and acid-house shimmer.
The only real issue with Bristol’s Simple Things Festival is abundance.
There’s simply too much good music, too …
Daniel Avery by Keffer
Daniel Avery is a past master, and here he maintains a balance between control and abandon.
With the Simple Things festival officially underway, a dark, pulsing energy filled the Bristol Beacon on Friday night as Scaler and Daniel Avery brought two distinct visions of electronic intensity …
The Clause’s debut album is a sharp snapshot of a band figuring out who they are.
The Clause have come a long way from their early days putting on DIY gigs in Digbeth, Birmingham.
What began as a group of college friends playing for their mates has evolved into a …
Richard Hawley by Dean Chalkley
The Ocean was Richard Hawley’s musical high point, as its lilting rhythm swelled into an extended passage of Hendrix-like guitar squalls, turning the album centrepiece into a mid-set showstopper.
When Coles Corner first appeared in 2005, Richard Hawley’s lush orchestral pop was often labelled …
Scaler deliver a more cohesive and atmospheric album, though not one without limitations.
Bristol’s Scaler (formerly Scalping) made their name by fusing metal instrumentation with the dark mechanics of club culture.
When they first emerged as a live act pre-lockdown, the gigs were pulverising in their intensity and the pandemic …
The Beta Band by Neil Thomson
21 years after calling it quits, The Beta Band re-emerged not with bombast or sentimentality but with the same eclecticism that made them cult heroes.
In a year of blockbuster reunions (Oasis, The Maccabees etc), The Beta Band‘s return has flown curiously under …
With a mix of brutality and bravado, GANS’ debut album is both ambitious and assured.
“We felt connected when we met and we had ambitions that lay beyond that world,” explains GANS‘ (‘Goose’ in German, fact fans) guitarist and vocalist Thomas Rhodes of his band’s gestation.
“We are fiercely …
‘Physical Graffiti’ spans nearly every corner of Led Zeppelin’s sound – hard rock, blues, folk, funk, prog – fusing them together with eye-widening ambition.
One of the defining rock records, when Physical Graffiti was released in 1975 it was Led Zeppelin’s first release on their Swan Song label and …
Where earlier Baxter Dury albums thrived on scruffy intimacy, Allbarone is brighter but also harder, and more brutal.
Baxter Dury has built a career out of sardonic half-singing, half-snarling portraits of England’s absurdities.
On Allbarone, his ninth album and first collaboration with heavyweight producer Paul Epworth, he takes that …
Baxter Dury by Tom Beard
Across a 25-year career and 9 studio albums, Baxter Dury has carved out a singular place in British music.
His unmistakable vocal delivery, a kind …
For all its paranoia, Suede’s new record is strangely joyful as it implores the listener to face death even as they embrace life.
Galvanized by the energy from 2022’s Autofiction tour, Suede follow up their ‘punk’ album with – appropriately – their ‘post-punk’ album, with the influences said to include …