Category: Pop rock
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Cosmic Machine: The Sequel
This is Because Music’s second collection of French electronica from the 70s and 80s, and we found it more entertaining than volume one, which was more up and down. It’s a bit later on in the era and there’s the Chic guitar influence, those fake disco flutes that were trendy for a while and even…
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Boy Jumps Ship: Wake Up
Opening song Burn on this debut from the British four-piece suggests a heavier rock band than the album delivers; it’s a verging-on-heavy melodic rock tune with some nice solo guitar. It reminded us a little of lamented Norwegian rock band Span, who played accessible heavy rock. But as we say, it’s a fake start; the…
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LUH: Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing
In 2011 LUH’s Ellery Roberts was part of Wu Lyf, a wilfully mysterious band whose self-funded debut Go Tell Fire to the Mountain was excellent. The band faffed about being clever with PR and marketing and then split. It was an excellent album, a novel, reverb-heavy mix of indie and tribal beats, “a cosmic soup”…
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New Order: Complete Music
Music Complete came out last year and was New Order’s first full studio release since 2005’s Waiting For The Siren’s Call, and their first without Hooky. It saw them dump the more dominant guitars for a fairer balance of electronics and guitars. Gillian Gilbert returned. We thought it was their best record for ages, a…
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Meadowlark: Paraffin EP
Meadowlark’s last EP Dual is one of our favourite releases in the 15 years we’ve been writing reviews. It’s lovely, mainly because of Kate McGill’s voice, but her bandmate Daniel Broadley’s minimalistic guitar and synth arrangements complement her rather elfin vocals to perfection. They produce nuanced and textured sparse tunes, to which the word…
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John Illsley: Long Shadows
“Low key Dire Straits” would be a thumbnail review of this new album from bassist Illsley. We saw him live a while back and don’t remember him as being so Dire Straits-ish but the guitar work and overall sound on this suggests that the signature Straits sound was as much his as Mark Knopfler’s.…
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Highasakite: Camp Echo
If you’re going to name your album after a camp in Guantanamo Bay and then call yourself Highasakite, you’d best not be offering a stoner’s view of American politics. “It’s bad stuff, man.” Happily, Highasakite’s Ingrid Helene Håvik says Camp Echo is “more a state of mind”, and we know what state that is: chilling…
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Frightened Rabbit: Painting Of A Panic Attack
Last week we were wondering whether The Boxer Rebellion’s latest album would see them do a Snow Patrol and crack the big time, but noted it was hard to judge an album before and after greatness, because that greatness made you view it differently. Who knows? This latest from Frightened Rabbit is different: this is…
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The Boxer Rebellion: Ocean By Ocean
We had a couple of The Boxer Rebellion albums last year; they’re one of those bands playing finely honed pop music whose fans adore them but who mysteriously fail to get big (though as getting big means playing barns like the Manchester Arena and staying smaller means playing more personal gigs at the Apollo or…
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Phil Collins: Testify
After raving about Collins’ previous reissues (Face Value, Hello I Must Be Going, No Jacket Required, Dance Into The Light), we have to say that the songs on this are pedestrian at best; he’s reissuing all his albums so he’s got to do this one, but it’s a bit unmemorable. Maybe he has to be…
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