Review Corner

Category: Pop rock

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    Hackney Colliery Band: Live

    Whenever we’re down in the dumps in the Review Corner, we often play Rock With the Hot 8, by The Hot 8 Brass Band, a New Orleans outfit that blend hip-hop, jazz and funk. It’s not brass as you might expect if you’re a fan of Foden’s Band, and nor are there eight of them,…

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    Maximo Park: Risk to Exist

    The Review Corner are big fans of Max Park, but this album has divided us. The hard-core fans find it a little too formulaic in places, the less ardent among us think it’s their best album, main songwriter Paul Smith upping his game quite some way. There’s no predictable indie material, which they tend to…

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    Bleeker: Erase You

    Bleeker are a Canadian trio and this album is as polite and well-behaved as the national clichés have it. Opener Highway is somewhat of an imposter and kicks things off in misleading fashion. It’s a sleazy glam stomper, with scuzzy if polished riffs and a throbbing bass. It was, the internet reports, played at the…

  • Ed Sheeran: ÷

    The Review Corner saw Sheeran on an early tour, in a venue so small he didn’t need screens for the fans and we were able to get near the front. While we found the music a bit bland, as a performer he was impressive — confident, talented, good with his fans and very clever; not…

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    Ten Fé: Hit the Light

    This enjoyable album delivers cool indie pop that’s also commercial; it’s likable and stands repeat plays but is a little derivative. Indeed, we noticed various reviews compared Ten Fé to various bands; we guess they sound like everyone and anyone, so if you like them they sound like your favourite band. Follow sounds a bit…

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    Vant: Dumb Blood

    We like this because they sound like a band at all times; some of the songs may not be the best but they always work because the band works as a unit. Opener The Answer is a great first track, with feedback, swirling guitar and throbbing bass held together by a tight drum pattern; if…

  • Joshua Radin: The Fall

    Inoffensive is the word for singer-songwriter Josh, though that doesn’t mean bad, more that he’s Ohio’s answer to Jack Johnson. Remember him? The tree-hugging Hawaiian dude whose pleasant if bland music was everywhere a few years back; when the Review Corner went to surfer central in Devon some children ago, it was the soundtrack to…

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    Sarah Darling: Dream Country

    This charming album has enraptured us in the Review Corner this week. The sleeve is simple, with a celestial, dream-like air about it; the Bandcamp (or Pledgemusic, whatever) donors are presented in a star map, each supporter a small place in heaven. Imagine fluffy pink and unicorns, and you get a feel of the general…

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    Leif Vollebekk: Twin Solitude

    Vollebekk is a Montreal singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is/was a fan of Nick Drake. We’d also guess he’s a big fan of David Gray, whose White Ladder this sounds very much like. For older readers, Gray was a singer-songwriter whose fourth album White Ladder was massive, partly helped by a memorable televised performance at…

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    Nell Bryden: Bloom

    “Singer-songwriter and BBC Radio Two favourite” says the Press release, which almost tells you all you need to know. It’s very melodic and carefully crafted and, for style, Carole King / Carly Simon. Classy, melodic tunes, delivered in a classic style. On one level, it’s flawless. Bryden has a pleasing, soulful mid-range voice, does nothing…