• Tacocat – Lost Time

    March 30, 2016 - By 

    On first impression, Tacocat is a very unfortunate group. With their vaguely cutesy palindromic name and a clear sense of irreverence, they appear to be disciples of the worst kind of “lol, random” sensibility; the sort of Youtube videos and Tumblr posts that make you want to peel your skin off. On their most recent LP, Lost Time, the haphazard references to X-Files and REM don’t really do much to quell these concerns and, on initial examination, there is a sense that all they are is a flashy bit of fluff. While there is definite merit to that primary reading,…

  • Primal Scream – Chaosmosis

    March 28, 2016 - By 

    Primal Scream are the definition of British indie-rock royalty: former Jesus and Mary Chain drummer Bobby Gillespie’s genre hopping crew – which has welcomed contributors as diverse as Kevin Shields, the Stone Roses’ Mani, Robert Plant and Kate Moss – have constantly evolved their sound, from the jangle of early singles such C86 standout ‘Velocity Girl’ to the generation defining acid house crossover smash Screamadelica. After refusing to cash in on its success with following records, the band have embraced Stonesy boogie – Give Up But Don’t Give Out, Riot City Blues -, pulsating Krautrock – XTRMNTR -, B-movie soundtrack – Vanishing Point–  and everything in…

  • Sheer Mag – III

    March 28, 2016 - By 

    Sheer Mag are essentially the Jackson Lo-Five; that’s not meant as a term of derision, rather one of the endearment. They’ve taken the best parts of the Jackson Five, which would be Michael’s vocal melodies, wrapped it up with early 1970s classic rock and punk music and filtered it through early 1990s lo-fi recording a la Pavement or Beat Happening. While there’s no denying that it is a great deal of fun, the group’s previous singles are a testament to that fact, with their most recent 7 Inch release, III, it’s becoming apparent that are signs of strain in their…

  • Underworld – Barbara, Barbara, We Face a Shining Future

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    “Barbara, Barbara, we face a shining future”; these were some of the final words spoken by Underworld frontman Karl Hyde’s father to his anguished wife on his deathbed. It’s a simple, yet beautiful phrase brimming with melancholic hope. Underworld’s decision use this as the title of their ninth studio LP, their first in sixth years, makes a great deal of sense as it not only works as a tribute to Hyde’s father but also as the rosetta stone to understanding the whole disc. Every song on the record has this genuine sense of foreboding and menace, manifested in the form…

  • Lust for Youth – Compassion

    March 15, 2016 - By 

    On Lust For Youth’s breakthrough LPs, 2012’s Growing Seeds and 2013’s Perfect View, the band made music that sounded like a normal dance record left to warp and decay for a few years inside a nuclear reactor for a few years. There were beats and melodies, but they were pushed deep beneath fog and murk and cloaked in nausea and sick tension, with only a few ghostly hints at the music as we normally hear it appearing from time to time. It was concrete cold and frontman/ mastermind Hannes Norrvide’s ability to make something that sounded so alien to the…

  • Dead Stars – Bright Colors

    March 14, 2016 - By 

    A four note, staccato bass opening can’t help but throw you head first into Pixies territory. That niche was so intricately carved that even gesturing towards its opens up the floodgates to a whole host of connotations and comparisons that the majority of bands who do so buckle under. But Dead Stars opt to do so on the inaugural track of their second LP, Bright Colors, and you can see why. It’s a fitting place to begin, the group’s sound is entirely indebted to Frank Black as well as Evan Dando, Rivers Cuomo and Fountains of Wayne. There are shifting…

  • The Bonnevilles – Arrow Pierce My Heart

    March 13, 2016 - By 

    One word that is regularly attributed to bands that fall under the rock ’n’ roll, blues or garage-punk monikers is ‘raw’. By that I mean there is more often than not a pure and unadulterated rawness or dirtiness, as it were, related to an artist’s playing style that it can be classified as such. When it comes to Lurgan duo The Bonnevilles’ latest album Arrow Pierce My Heart, it is clear as day this term can be used when pinpointing their homage to these genres. Andrew McGibbon Jnr. and Chris McMullan have come out swinging on what is their third…

  • The Coral – Distance Inbetween

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    The Coral have always been outsiders. Springing up in 2002, this young and fully formed six-piece dazzled listeners with Captain Beefheart-esque psychedelia, pop hooks and classic songwriting. At the time, the NME led New Rock Revolution was in full swing and aside from The Zutons, they seemed completely out of step with the predominantly garage rock bands they were sharing column inches with. Producing outstanding albums as a frenetic pace –their first two albums in particular still sound spectacular—could not last and the past few years have been one of contemplation and regrouping for the band. Losing the outrageously talented Bill Ryder-Jones and original guitarist Lee Southall…

  • Little Green Cars – Ephemera

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    Following on from Little Green Cars’ stunning debut LP Absolute Zero was always going to be a challenge. The album, which was released in 2013, was a culmination of a young band’s determined and remarkably capable work up to that point. It was rife with brittle, anxious lyrics, ambitious yet subtle musicianship and stunning vocal harmonies, and was at times almost like listening to someone speak when their nerves have lead to a jarringly frantic output. Everything they had to give was thrown at us to ensure something stuck. And it did. Thankfully, there was scarcely a note on that…

  • Emmy The Great – Second Love

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    Second Love, the new LP by Emmy The Great and her first in five years, is secure enough to know exactly what it wants to be. The title, which by design immediately evokes her 2009 debut First Love, implies this continuation and growth that runs deep at the core of the album. Musically, ETG begins moving away from the acoustic folk styling which characterised her earlier releases in exchange for a more minimalist electronica. While the record as a whole is a very mixed bag, what shines throughout are the lyrics, which still retain the incisive power of her debut…