Biffy are one of those bands who have a “sound” and are world class musicians, so we were expecting this to be “Yeah, it’s good, it’s just more Biffy, next” but they’ve managed to pull off the neat trick of producing what fans expect while sounding new and different. A neat trick if you can […]
Motörhead: The Löst Tapes
We don’t know what’s worse: the fact that the members of the classic line-up of Lemmy, Philthy and Fast Eddy are all dead, or that Lemmy’s death killed Motörhead. But Motörhead recordings are far from dead and on Motörhead Day, 8th May, (say the eighth of May and Ace Of Spades quickly to see why) […]
The Mono LPs: Shuffle/Play
This is a really good album ad we’d have said you should buy it even before we realised it referenced one of our favourite films, Being There. (A 1979 satire, based on a novel by Jerzy Kosinski and starring Peter Sellers as Chance the gardener, a simple man who knows only about gardening and the […]
Jim White: Misfit’s Jubilee
The Press release calls Mr White an “ever-elusive Americana maverick,” famous for his “dark ruminations on all things Southern”.This new album is varied, from White calling like a circus barker to a stadium-friendly song that wouldn’t sound out of place in a U2 set.The album opens with a fake tannoy train announcement but Monkey In […]
Neil Young: Way Down In The Rust Bucket
Young is now 75 and more likely bang out a well-meaning but average political album or release an archivally relevant but otherwise pedestrian live album, but this was recorded way back in 1990 at what sounds like a warm-up gig for the Ragged Glory tour, his 18th studio album. If you’re a Young fan and […]
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 […]
Arcade Messiah: The Host
We first came across Arcade Messiah years ago, when we had a double (?) CD to review; we thought it was the career-end of a US cult prog band but they must have been very early releases from Arcade Messiah, and now we feel bad. Particularly as he gave this album away.Arcade Messiah is one-man […]
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 […]
Narrow Head: 12th House Rock
This is a more than a decent album; while they’re not exactly not derivative, they’re also not dull and do sound themselves rather than anyone else. The sound is a grungy shoegaze, all pretty heavy, though they can do melody. There’s also an air of slacker about it. Part of the appeal is the live […]
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