Category: Rock
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Little Brother: Eli Cold Tales
No-one likes a smart alec graduate turning up and telling them what to do at work, with all the experience a piece of paper brings, and no-one seems to like a slick rock band that turns up anthem-ready. Like learning on the job at work, we expect bands to play the toilet circuit and evolve…
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The Limiñanas: Malamore
This came out in June and we’ve dipped into it over the weeks without getting much back. Then we went to the Blue Dot festival at Jodrell Bank, heard lots of pscychadelic rock and got straight into it. The Limiñanas are from Perpignan and there’s a fair amount of French on here, though non-Frenchman Peter…
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Jeff Finlin Life: After Death
This is another album to beat anyone who says “there’s no good music any more” over the head with, before administering a blow to the temples. True, Finlin is a veteran performer who has a decent fan base but not his own Wikipedia page; he’s probably one of those people whose fans can’t believe he’s…
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Jeff Beck: Loud Hailer
“The revolution will be televised” via a loud hailer effect are the opening words on this strong new album from Jeff Beck; now 72, he rather disproves our belief that aging white men playing the guitar have little left to say and are mostly dull. This new album is neither dull nor lacking in interesting…
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The Outlines: Streets of London
We’ve been going to Biddulph Moor’s Rock on the Rocks for a good decade and The Outlines are without doubt the best band we’ve seen play. Awesome. It’s not just the music: they were so clearly focused on what they want to say, and had their stage presence sorted down to a T. They were…
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Fantastic Negrito: The Last Days of Oakland
Xavier Dphrepaulezz (pronounced De-Frepple-Ez) is about the most interesting musician you could come across. Ignore that qualifier: the most interesting person, full stop. Dphrepaulezz was born in western Massachusetts, the eighth of 14 kids in a strict religious family. His Oxford-educated Somalian father ran a restaurant — his dad was born in 1905 so he…
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Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Getaway
After years of turning out cool, funky rock the Chilis hit a sound with By The Way, packed full of hits but much slicker than the previous work; we’ve found that and their subsequent work a bit samey. They also like lengthy albums — 2006’s Stadium Arcadium seemed about two weeks long. You could certainly…
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King Harvest and The Weight: Maps
We’ve played this as much as any album we’ve reviewed, and he’s certainly a guy with talent, blending The Darkness with the Isley Brothers, and Queen with Humble Pie. Early on, it seems a bit all over the place, one minute a tight rock tune the next more soulful, but you soon get into the…
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Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
“Outlaw country” musician Simpson has delivered an interesting album that musically sounds like what the Blues Brothers set could have been, had they delivered a proper show at Bob’s Country Bunker (where they had both kinds of music, country and western). He sounds old school country — Waylon Jennings is the obvious comparison — but…
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Goo Goo: Dolls Boxes
Goo Goo Dolls have sold 10m albums but we bet 9m+ of those are in the States, where formulaic music goes down well. The British are more discerning. We’ve had several Goo Goo Dolls albums over the years, and it’s melodic rock we think we should like more but just never play. If you want…
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