We assume the title is ironic — Disturbed is the least evolved creation that ever walked the earth (after Status Quo). Despite hitting a more mainstream audience with a cover of Sound Of Silence, they play the same formulaic rock with which they hit the big time. Bands like Linkin Park at least made an […]
Echo Town: Kin
There’s an obvious link between Cornwall and Australia — sun, surf, er, cheese factories — and the musical links run as close. A couple of weeks ago we reviewed the latest album from the Australian John Butler Trio, a sound we heard in part replicated by Cornish band Wille and the Bandits. Now comes Cornish […]
Henge: Attention Earth
We lamented over people complaining about the lack of new music in the Sons Of Bill review but Henge is an even better example: they’ve invented, or lest re-invigorated, a whole genre of music. It’s music like you’ve never heard before but it’s also instantly likeable. The basic sound is space rock, though as it […]
Alkaline Trio: Is This Thing Cursed?
Alkaline Trio have a sound and stick to it, a kind of organic punk that’s melodic and riffy, lacking the sharpness of bands like Blink 182 but rolling along pleasantly. They’re one of those bands that developed a devoted fanbase and saw no reason to change their sound. The band has been doing other stuff […]
Mark Daly: When the Stars Align
With song titles such as Thinking About You, Rise Again, Without You and My Shadow, we were convinced Daly was a Christian and, clichéd as we are, planned to write a “so the devil doesn’t have all the good tunes” type review. As it is, we can find no evidence of a faith-based recording policy […]
Fatherson: Sum Of All Your Parts
An apt title, as Fatherson are indeed the sum of all their parts: Coldplay, Biffy, Incubus…. Opener The Rain replicates the sound of one of those emotional rock bands of a decade ago, with shimmery guitar and massive bass, and that’s pretty much the modus o perandum. It’s all radio friendly and crowd-pleasing; proficient anthemic […]
Death Cab for Cutie: Thank You for Today
We’re big fans of Death Cab but even we can see they’re on a downward trajectory. They started high and they’re always well above average — most bands would kill to be as good — but they’ve gone from masterpieces to pop tunes. Songs like the epic Transatlanticism, the title track of the 2003 album […]
Bugzy Malone: B. Inspired
We’re not the demographic for hip-hop, but we like Bugzy Malone. This album smacks of a man who’s absorbed lots of music, and achieved some genuine wisdom. He’s also from Manchester, so we feel more affinity with him than some lad from London: at least we’ve seen the streets he’s talking about. Bugzy Malone — […]
Dan Owen: Stay Awake With Me
When we saw that Owen had his own nickname, “Blues Boy Dan”, we were expecting tedious noodling and long guitar solos, but there’s none of that. Instead, what you get is a bloke with a bluesy voice playing slick and commercial bluesy rock. He reminded us of Marc Cohn and also one of our favourites, […]
Panic! at the Disco: Pray For The Wicked
We were never into that whole theatrical branch of emo, led by My Chemical Romance but including Panic! Over the years Panic! have shed members for a variety of reasons: some were sacked, founder member Ryan Ross wanted to craft rockier fare. The band even went from Panic! to Panic after the ! was sacked […]
