• Shrug Life – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    Every now and then you get hit with shocking realisations about local groups: some of them are actually brilliant. Not just in “ah for a bunch of lads from Fairview, they sure can write a tune” manner, but in a real proper sense. The North and South have produced a few of these: And So I Watch You From Afar, Hozier, Rubberbandits and Lisa Hannigan, to name a few. Given how exclusive of a club this really is though, it’s a marvellous joy to encounter them in the wild. Dublin’s Shrug Life is one of those groups. Bouncy, energetic Gang of…

  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    Of all the bands that have reunited over the years, one would not have expected Godspeed You! Black Emperor to have stuck to it. And yet, Luciferian Towers marks the Montreal ensemble’s third album since their return to touring in 2010, following on from 2012’s Polaris Prize winning Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend and 2015’s Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress. Those albums saw a progression of sorts in the collective’s signature sound, with both  featuring more thick drones and towering examples of thunderous interplay from guest orchestras. That a group of such inherent breath and scope can continue to expand and develop their sound…

  • METZ – Strange Peace

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    The first two albums by Canadian trio Metz were loud, bludgeoning noise-rock records very much in the spirit of the band’s ear-splitting live shows. But as viscerally thrilling as both their self-titled debut and follow up II were, they weren’t the sort of albums a band can make a career out of repeating ad naseum, and on the latter there was already a sense of déjà vu creeping in before the end of its half hour duration. Third album Strange Peace then, feels like something of a make-or-break moment for the band’s continuing momentum. While a degree of progression might be…

  • Chad VanGaalen – Light Information

    September 21, 2017 - By 

    After a decade in the business and with seven full-lengths under his belt, Chad VanGaalen is starting to show his wear. The Canadian indie rocker has been a darling in certain circles for an age so any new material is normally a cause for celebration. Sadly, his latest LP, Light Information, is pretty by the numbers stuff; a record with a handful of quite nice moments and interludes that are primarily punctuated by stretches of tedium. The man can spin up a very fine tune when he needs to and knows how to twist in a hook in such a way…

  • Midland – FABRICLIVE 94

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    There’s a point early in Midland‘s FABRICLIVE mix where the swooping synths of Daphni‘s ‘Vulture’ are followed by the sparse ‘Demented Drums’ of Tres Demented, a Carl Craig alias from 2003 – the year Midland fell in love with dance music, according to the text that accompanies this release). It’s easy to picture a crowd’s reaction to that transition, the primal energy of those rolling drums, the track’s booming sub-bass evoking feelings of a dance floor brimming with tension, eagerly following the DJ’s direction. Midland, a UK DJ who occupies a curious space that covers “serious” heads-down club music as much…

  • Foo Fighters – Concrete and Gold

    September 19, 2017 - By 

    The Internet loves a good pop culture theory right? Tarantino films all share the same universe. Ed, Edd n Eddy is actually a metaphor for hell. People actually enjoy listening to Father John Misty. The list goes on. I’d like to put forth my own one which I think holds some water:         The quality of a Foo Fighters’ album is inversely proportional to the number of members of the Foo Fighters. Let’s look at the evidence shall we? We can all agree that the first album is probably the best thing that the group has put…

  • L.A Witch – L.A Witch

    September 18, 2017 - By 

    L.A Witch‘s eponymous debut long player is the movieless soundtrack of the year, one that is utterly addictive and that will leave you begging for a visual counterpart. From their brooding vocals and hazy riffs, the Californian psych rock trio take us on a cinematic journey through the seedy bars and clubs of 1960s Los Angeles. L.A. Witch have set out to capture a hazy, Californian dream; a sound lost and found only in the depths of David Lynch’s surreal, on-screen exposés of the Southern Californian underbelly. Any of these nine tracks would slip neatly into this scene; crackling in the background…

  • Sløtface – Try Not To Freak Out

    September 18, 2017 - By 

    A name like Sløtface tends to be a bit of a giveaway that you might be trying too hard. If you want a title like that, you best have the chops to move beyond it. Fortunately for the Norwegian four-piece, they’ve certainly got excellent cuts in their repertoire. Having made a splash last year with their previous EP, Empire Records, the pop-punksters have set the stage for their,  surprisingly solid, debut, Try Not To Freak Out. Taking all the best bits from the ilk of Green Day and Blink-182, the album works because it is unabashedly youthful. This is a…

  • Deerhoof – Mountain Moves

    September 15, 2017 - By 

    Mountain Moves is the 14th album in 23 years from Bay Area art-rock stalwarts Deerhoof. Though the band have changed labels, styles and members over the years, they have always retained their singular madcap approach to writing and recording music. They’ve been a stable four piece since Ed Rodriguez joined on guitar before the recording of 2008’s Offend Maggie and have been releasing an album roughly every two years since then. At times this work rate seems to have flattened the quality of the releases, never quite reaching the heights of 2003’s Apple O or 2005’s The Runners Four but always retaining a certain consistency. During this time they’ve…

  • Zola Jesus – Okovi

    September 15, 2017 - By 

    To aid in writing and recording her fifth album, Nika Roza Danilova – better known as Zola Jesus –returned to the sparse landscape of her childhood in Wisconsin. In turn, the woodland environment itself contributed greatly to the inception Okovi and the soundscapes that pervade it. As a body of work, Okovi is unsettling, unpredictable and conjures the illusion of being lost in uncharted terrain populated by deafening drum machines, sinister synths and, of course, her incredibly powerful vocals. It has been three years since Zola Jesus released new material. The interim facilitated a brief period of collaborating with Dean Hurley – David Lynch’s primary sound designer who recently shared a…