Category: Pop rock
-
The Messenger Birds: Everything Has to Fall Apart Eventually
The Messenger Birds follow in the footsteps and The Black Keys, The White Stripes and Royal Blood, two blokes making a lot of noise (“That’s not a rock band, that’s just two guys!” they cite “some guy named Kevin” as saying on their Bandcamp page). Like Jack White, they’re from Detroit, Michigan. The album opens […]
-
Eagles: Live From The Forum
We’ve never really been massive fans of Eagles but you’d have to be a miserable wretch not to like this new double album recorded live at the impressive Inglewood venue, practically a homecoming gig for the band. Someone who saw Eagles years ago complained to us: “It sounded just like the records”, which is perhaps […]
jerobear
baroque, Blues, Boys Of Summer, brother, buy busic, CDs, Chronicle Series, Classical, Congleton Chronicle, Desperado, Eagles, early, funk, good new music, Hotel California, jazz, Jem Condliffe, Life In the Fast Lane, Life’s Been Good, Live From The Forum, music, Ol' 55, pop, Reggae, Review Corner, reviews, rock, Rocky Mountain Way, soul, Take It Easy, Those Shoes -
Kulick: Yelling in a Quiet Neighborhood
We almost decided not to like Kulick on principle; he’s just too cool for school, cheekbones and all that. We watched a couple of videos and he looks like a yoof from Sarf Laandan, but he appears to be from America. This is surprising: the sound is English commercial indie/pop. He sounds like loads of […]
jerobear
baroque, Blues, brother, buy busic, CDs, Chronicle Series, Classical, Congleton Chronicle, Crawling, early, Fun!, funk, good new music, jazz, Jem Condliffe, Just Be Friends, Kulick, Lonely, Monster, music, pop, Reggae, Review Corner, reviews, rock, Rope, soul, Talking to the Ceiling, The Way I Am, Waiting for You, Yelling in a Quiet Neighborhood -
My Grito presents … Mas Alto! A Charity Compilation
This is in a good cause and is a more-than-decent album. The cause: sadly not a local one but still good: the album is raising cash for No Us Without You, a US charity providing food security for undocumented back-of-house staff and their families. “Undocumented hospitality workers are the backbone of the hospitality industry,” says […]
jerobear
-
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald: Love Valley
This is Fitzgerald’s fifth album but we’ve not heard of him before; he’s a Canadian singer-songwriter so he’s been honing his craft over there. It’s a nice little album, in the best senses of “nice” and “little”: it’s a cosy musical companion that will bring comfort to fans of Americana and folky roots in these […]
jerobear
And, Back On The Farm, baroque, Best We Haven't Seen Yet, Blues, brother, buy busic, CDs, Chronicle Series, Classical, Congleton Chronicle, early, Famous, funk, good new music, Good Plates, Harley Davidson, Heart Of It, I Love That Sound, I Love You, jazz, Jem Condliffe, Love Valley, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, music, Nothing On, Our River, pop, Reggae, Review Corner, reviews, rock, soul, The Altar -
Royal Blood / Hello Cosmos / Retro Champ
Royal Blood: Trouble’s ComingIt’s not only trouble but a new album on it way from the noisy duo, who have an album out in spring. This new single is tight, crisp radio-friendly single with a bit beat, the guitar and kick drum working together to lay down a groove and a workmanlike chorus. The wild […]
-
Nick Faber … presents The Lost Highway Tapes
It’s always a problem reviewing albums from bands like Biffy Clyro or Foals: you know the sound, you expect the quality, and unless they cover Agadoo badly, you’re not going to be surprised. It might be the pinnacle of musical perfection, but it’s hard to get worked up about. The flipside is that albums from […]
-
Ward Richmond: Highly Meditated
This charmer of an album is both interesting – Richmond has been in bands for years but now reflects on getting sober, becoming a father, yoga and meditation – and melodic. The first song is either nihilistic, or about some kind of meditative revelation. Before the music even starts he’s telling us: “I’m thinking about […]
jerobear
baroque, Birds, Blues, brother, buy busic, CDs, Chronicle Series, Classical, Congleton Chronicle, early, Etc., Everything, Follow You (Tina Louise), funk, good new music, Hey Levi, High Road, Highly Meditated, In Europe, jazz, Jem Condliffe, Live Oak, music, pop, Reggae, Review Corner, reviews, rock, Shootin' for the Stars, Smile, soul, These Days (The Nights Don’t Last so Long), Trees, Ward Richmond -
Ryan Hamilton and The Harlequin Ghosts: Nowhere To Go But Everywhere
You could be in danger of hearing far too much of this likable pop album, which is basically Busted for adults and might get a lot of radio play. We’ve never heard of the band before but they are clearly all experienced musicians. Hamilton is American, and the Ghosts from the UK; Hamilton has played […]
jerobear
baroque, Blues, brother, Can I Get an Amen, CDs, Chronicle Series, Classical, Congleton Chronicle, Don’t Fall Apart, early, funk, jazz, Jem Condliffe, Jesus and John Lennon, Let’s Go Slow, music, Newcastle Charm, Nowhere To Go But Everywhere, Oh No (feat. Kay Hanley), Only a Dream, Out of My League, Pick Yourself Up, pop, Reggae, Review Corner, reviews, rock, Ryan Hamilton and The Harlequin Ghosts, soul, Southern Accents, We Gave It Hell -
Alec Benjamin: These Two Windows
Singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin reportedly made his name in 2019 with a mixtape, which was streamed 540m times worldwide. This is his debut album. Our first observation would be that Benjamin has an androgynous voice. The first few plays we assumed he was a girl named Alec; when we Googled him, we seriously considered that we’d […]
jerobear
Alamo, Alec Benjamin, baroque, Blues, brother, CDs, Chronicle Series, Classical, Congleton Chronicle, Demons, early, funk, I’m Not A Cynic, jazz, Jem Condliffe, Jesus In LA, Just Like You, Match In The Rain, Mind Is A Prison, music, Must Have Been The Wind, Oh My God, pop, Reggae, Review Corner, reviews, rock, soul, The Book of You & I, These Two Windows
Review Corner 