Even from its very first beats, Awake and Hungry, the debut EP by London-based collective Folly Group, sets out to challenge its listeners. Out this June for So Young Records, this is a hugely ambitious work by a group of artists who have a very clear idea of where they’re going and what they want to […]
Squid are one of those bands whose output has been steadily growing in quality through the last couple of years, which makes their debut album Bright Green Field one of the 2021 records I was awaiting most eagerly. It contains some familiar tunes and a good number of bold new ideas, packaged together in an […]
2021 is already gearing up to be a very interesting year for the British punk scene. While some of the more established names in the genre have been delivering new music at a very high level of quality, it is just as interesting to take a look at the up-and-coming names and what they have […]
Some albums have a standing almost more as a work of performance art than one of music, and this The Sticky Fingers, the work of Berlin-based singer-songwriter Albertine Sarges with her newly-formed band of the same name, very much feels like one of those. Not only the lyrics are heavily conceptual in nature, touching upon […]
The highly anticipated second album by Shame has finally arrived, and it confirms the impression that 2021 has started with a bang and promises to be a very good year for UK music. The South London band has risen to the challenge of the sophomore long player with the same bold attitude they bring to […]
LICE have really come a long way. Originally hailed as punks, the Bristol band soon after took a detour by unexpected routes into post-punk territories, and now they have emerged after two years of work with a concept-heavy album that is something else entirely. The album comes accompanied by a booklet – in a style […]
“Where to begin?” the lyrics to ‘Strangers,’ the first single out of Man of Moon’s debut album Dark Sea, to be released in September, ask; “I’m back to the start,” they immediately answer. Perhaps this is the key for reading this song; a haunting, hammering mix of rock and electronica that is both heady and […]
It’s often said that the second album is the hardest in the career of any artist, and it’s even harder when it follows a debut album that has propelled you to being one of the highlights in the current rock scene. The Blinders have definitely enjoyed such a spot since the release of their first […]
Live events might have ground to a halt in the very unusual lockdown times that we’re living in, but music isn’t stopping, and punk in particular has a history of thriving in times of adversity. We have been witnessing a bit of a moment of spotlight for the genre in recent years, but this might […]
Over the last couple of years, and over a good number of brilliant live performances, Indian Queens have done something that every band should do before releasing their first long player: they have built very strong foundations for it to stand on. They have refined their sound, made it immediately recognisable in all its trademark […]
If there’s a band in the British alternative music scene right now that has had an impressive growing curve in the last couple of years, that band has to be Sorry.
Three years after a very tight, very eloquent debut, eclectic Glaswegians Catholic Action are back with a second album that confirms some of the trends from their first outing while attempting in some ways something entirely different. In its eleven tracks, short and sweet for the most part – the longest song, perfectly situated at […]
“I don’t ingratiate myself to you“: this one lyric, snarled multiple times with increasing abandon is one of the crescendos of LICE’s new single ‘Conveyor,’ is in a way a perfect summary of everything the Bristol band has done in the past, is currently doing, and quite clearly plans on doing in the future. Having […]
Talk Show have revealed the first single for their upcoming EP, and if this is setting the tone for what is to come, it promises to be a truly explosive release. ‘Banshee‘ is not wailing and desolate as the title might suggest – on the contrary, it’s a powerful, high-energy track which starts with a […]
YOWL are out with a new EP, and it’s a lush, multi-layered record crafted with a certain ingeniousness and a wise attitude to production, which requires more than one listen to fully catch all that it has to offer. The band has created a deep, rich texture of sound that is best enjoyed slowly and […]
It is a busy moment for The Elephant Trees. The Manchester-based band has just embarked on a tour (under the emblematic title of ‘Depressed Kids Disco’), they are now out with their debut EP, quite possibly marking the beginning of a new phase in their production and bringing to the studio some of the immersive […]
Seatbelts are back with this mellow, warm-sounding ‘Black Spring,’ with lyrics claiming to be inspired by the writings of Henry Miller and an undercurrent of subtle dissonance running through it, providing it with an unlikely backbone. It’s a track you could almost dance to, albeit with a feeling of vague unease, like something is not […]
Even in the middle of what might well be the wettest Autumn Wales has seen in a long time, the sun shone on the 2019 edition of Sŵn Festival, both literally and figuratively. In its long history, the festival has rarely attempted to fit within its programme not only such a number of quality acts […]
Two years after their last release, Seattle indie rockers Great Grandpa are back with something that sounds decidedly different from their previous effort, deceptively softer at face value but with a dark depth immediately underneath that surfaces in more than one point of this Four of Arrows, a long player getting its name from a […]
There are artists who approach their first long-player cautiously and others who like to go in all guns blazing, and even on the very first listen it quickly becomes apparent that FEET are definitely part of the latter group. The Coventry band’s debut album, What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham, more than keeps the promise […]