Colorado is not one of Young’s great albums but it’s a grower and could go down as one of his later-career highlights. There’s a film with it; Young’s films are best avoided but someone who did watch said he comments in it to his band: “It doesn’t have to be good, just feel good.” That’s […]
Raised Fist: Anthems
This is heavy rock/metal/punk but not as you might reasonably predict it to be. It’s quirky; heavy rock in a party hat. It’s generally not intrinsically comic, they just have a different view of rock to the rest of us, and it’s impossible not to warm to their enthusiasm. The music is beefy and solid […]
No Hot Ashes: Hardship Starship
No Hot Ashes have the potential to be massive. The sound is somewhere between the Libertines and indie bands of that ilk, and slicker pop bands; Kubb maybe. The lyrics are more Busted than Arctic Monkeys. They’ve got something of the classic pop instrumentation of eighties pop bands (even Wham! in places), all presided over […]
The Murder Capital: When I Have Fears
The year has been good for albums from our newly-invented genre of blinder punk: a style of raucous, gothic, riff-heavy rock that litters the soundtrack of Peaky Blinders, a show that has become increasingly Tarantino for its tunes. The days of it being Nick Cave and a few string sections are long gone. The Murder […]
Le Cygne Noir: Shadow of A Wrecking Ball no
This zombie apocalypse concept album came out on Friday 13th and is destined to go down as a classic; cult classic maybe, but classic nonetheless. To say it’s ambitious would be an understatement; it’s huge in scope and styles but the album that keeps coming back to you as it plays is … Pink Floyd’s […]
Plague Vendor: By Night
One for lovers of a clattery racket, By Night is perhaps louder than their last one and, although more textured, definitely not for the tender of ear. But they have a good sense of melody and fondness for dance that keeps the album civilised. More or less. Opener New Comedown clears out the cobwebs, the […]
Larkin Poe: Venom and Faith
This is an album that falls between pop and blues. It’s like one of those visual illusions, where upside down plates suddenly flip to the right way round. In this case you’ve got to see it as a pop album rather than blues; it sits a little uneasily until you do. There’s a mix of […]
Slowthai: Nothing Great About Britain
Rapper Slowthai attracted alarm from a certain sector of the UK recently, holding up a (fake) severed head of Boris Johnson. When it’s satirical tv show Spitting Image it’s satire and Shakespeare is art, but, alas poor Slowthai, a kid from Northampton is outrage. We’ve had this album for a while and not reviewed it; he’s […]
Black Futures: Never Not Nothing
This is their debut and it’s a mighty album; possibly not to everyone’s taste but mighty nonetheless. They’re a duo but it’s a massive sound, with pounding drums, massive riffs and fat bass. The sound is somewhere between Biffy Clyro, Nine Inch Nails (the NNN on the cover looks suspiciously like NIN) and a screamo […]
Caravan Palace: Chronologic
Caravan Palace is a French electronic music band based in Paris. They play electro-swing, which is as it sounds; possibly more popular on the Continent than this side of La Manche. Electro-swing combines swing and jazz mixed with modern dance. It can be an acquired taste; Mr Scruff and Jurassic 5 have written electro-swing tracks. […]
