The prospect of going to watch a live band is typically formulaic. It is based on tradition and what has come before. But little is typical about an act whose almost annum-old debut single is titled to proclaim ‘We Are The Freaks’. Never was a freak so cool.
Heir cut a reminiscent pop template of decades gone by, as they energetically blast The Castle Hotel’s tightly-packed capacity crowd back to the ’80s. It’s a fitting warm-up to prepare for long-awaited appearances at Reading & Leeds Festivals.
Reputation unblemished, the soaring expectations set by Larkins for their homecoming live show – after a heavy summer of festivals and tours of Germany, and the UK – are at rocket level.
There is a moment right at the end of Warm Healer, the closing track from Everything Everything’s third album ‘Get To Heaven,’ where suddenly, the lights dim. “You don’t want me sucking you down”, intones frontman Jonathan Higgs as an ominously pulsing bassline does exactly that, his disembodied, pitch-shifted voice warped and shrouded by atrophying […]
Elle Mary & The Bad Men share a vibrant dose of grungy folk-noir on new single ‘Behave,‘ ushering ever closer the rewards of their forthcoming debut album, ‘Constant Unfailing Night’.
Maddy Storm’s ‘Tempest’ is deliciously turbulent. It opens with a note of longing, before a rousing drumbeat and exploratory vocals flick open the emotions like a brilliant blade of sound.
Fling: a short period of enjoyment of wild behaviour. You may think it’s lazy for a reviewer to use a dictionary definition to sum up a band’s ethos, and you’d be right. However, I shall continue regardless, because frankly, its been a while since I’ve written a review, and Fling’s latest track ‘Just A Dog’ has put […]
A small collection of intimate shows were announced in April, that would see the Manchester art-pop collective Everything Everything squeeze their five person live set-up into some of the country’s most exciting venues – the hometown show to take place in the marvelled Albert Hall. Arriving on the hottest day of the year, a few […]
After a year in America, The Staves have returned home for a string of intimate shows on British soil, beginning at Gorilla in Manchester tonight. Their latest release was February’s ‘Tired As F*ck’ single, providing the name for this mini tour.
London’s Flyte shift the perception of what it is to be a modern band; their music remains timeless through a love for the sounds of yesteryear and a pureness of natural dynamics. Since launching a collection of homemade videos filmed in a London flat, the four-piece have continued to retain the subtle charm of their […]
Returning once again to the great city of Manchester (on a particularly scorching sun-packed day) was multi-venue spectacular Dot to Dot Festival, and this year was to mean even more for all who attended. The organisers switched up a few fundamentals this year, mainly being the inclusion of new venues like Old Granada Studios and […]
There’s something oddly calming about Haunt The Woods. They’re undoubtedly talented players, and demonstrate a love for searing guitar solos that matches their romantic intensity, and yet watching them play a Tuesday night set at Night and Day cafe is strangely soothing. Perhaps it’s the tone of the evening; everyone was sat, the lights low, and […]
Since releasing debut solo album ‘The Wave’ last October, Tom Chaplin has toured the Western hemisphere once over, taking in dates across the UK and the US. Now into the second leg of a more extensive touring spell, Chaplin and co. are on the road throughout May and will reconvene in the summer for a selection of […]
Sivu (aka James Page) traces the familiar with a distinct flavour of his own merit – shaped from experience, wrought by matters of a greater existence and expressed as emotional burrows into the essence of the human condition. Born in St Ives, relocation has seen the singer/songwriter move between the city and the further reaches […]
The Big Moon’s shows are hailed for their boisterous and playful nature, and tonight we are lucky enough to witness the London hailing group’s debut record ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ in its animated live format. The debut captures the transient fun of millennial youth in catching garage-pop raucous, a sound at its most destined […]
After some confusion with Google and a narrowly avoided taxi fare to an identically named church in Middleton, we finally find St Michael’s tucked away on a quiet street in Ancoats. Originally founded in 1858, it was once the heart of the Roman Catholic community in Little Italy. Tonight, it’s a music venue with arched […]
Leeds collective The Golden Age of TV are quickly becoming one of the city’s most beguiling new acts. Bringing a surprisingly direct pop edge, their latest single ‘Dust’ is bright, fierce and nostalgic.
Following the release of their second studio album and the departure of Joey Haynes in 2016, Bear’s Den led by Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones, kicked off a number of UK dates in March, including a night at the o2 Apollo in Manchester.
They may be the new band on the block but they certainly won’t be forgotten anytime soon. OUTLYA are making a play to redeem the ever-saturated pop genre, and they have a fighting chance to succeed. With two tracks to their name already released, we can now fully start to appreciate their output – ‘Higher’ […]
Otherkin roar like no other, their brutal thrill-ride of garage punk and upbeat rock is an undeniable pleasure. This March saw the band take their show out on the road for a huge UK tour, stopping off everywhere in between Manchester and Reading, to Leicester and Liverpool. The gigs have been rowdy from the get-go, […]