EP REVIEW – SPARKS: MADDER!

The biggest constant throughout over half a century of Sparks has been their willingness to try something new. In the case of ‘MADDER!’, it is one of their least revolutionary acts, merely their first ever EP, and acts as a companion piece to ‘MAD!’ which achieved their highest ever UK album chart position. What is […]
When I was 16/17, I got really into writing poetry. That was largely because I was consuming a lot of bands that did spoken word set to music and the stuff I was writing massively ripped off the likes of Listener or whoever else I had on rotation at the time. I cringe to think […]

EP REVIEW – HOLYBONES: I GOT A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

EP REVIEW – LEI HOPE: INERTIA

A week before the release of his new EP, Manchester-based musician Lei Hope shared the dictionary entry of ‘inertia’ in a social media post: “a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged” or, in physics, the property of matter that causes it to rest or move in a straight line, unless an external force […]
People all process emotions differently. It is part of what makes us unique. Music for a lot of us is our outlet to let emotions such as grief, stress and anxiety come out, and that is why music tends to be so relatable. This is what metalcore duo Deadlands strive to emit through their music, […]

EP REVIEW – DEADLANDS: SEVEN

EP REVIEW – FARMER’S WIFE: FAINT ILLUSIONS

If you took lemonade, Pop Rocks, a little bit of mud and some glitter you would get something that resembles how this EP from Farmer’s Wife sounds. It comes as part of the ongoing shoegaze renaissance bringing a sort of backwoods goth vibe to the genre. I’m talking about the feeling of soil on bare […]
Capturing the familiar sentiment that comes with your teenage years alongside the heartbreak and relationship struggles that are also a part of youth, Public Order’s ‘Hello’ is a detailed journey through love, nostalgia and vulnerability. The group’s sun-soaked debut single ‘Feels like summer’ has quickly launched the band onto introducing playlists and festival lineups even […]

EP REVIEW – PUBLIC ORDER: HELLO

EP REVIEW – TRUPA TRUPA: MOURNERS

As post-punk and artists influenced by that era have been a large part of my musical diet for the past 40 years, it is understandable that music broadly linked to that genre has become jaded to my ears. Under those circumstances, it makes the excitement generated by Gdańsk, Poland trio Trupa Trupa’s new EP all […]
Intertwining heartbreak, romance and a sprinkle of flintiness, Arthur Hill’s In The Middle Of Somewhere is laced with undeniably honest lyrics. ‘Hey Arthur,’ the EP’s enticing first single and opening track begins with a quirky conversation. “Hey Arthur, who’s that girl who ruined your life,” a women’s voice asks, preparing you for the sincere, heartbreak […]

EP REVIEW – ARTHUR HILL: IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE

EP REVIEW – THE HOLY GRAIL: BILL CALLAHAN’S “SMOG” DEC. 10, 2001 PEEL SESSION

“So we gave them something to show them who WE were—Dale Coopers with our black coffees.” This is how Bill Callahan describes this December 10, 2001, Peel session. While I write this, I see the light sneaking in the horizon of Moss Side. It’s early, cold, and my coffee is not black because I always […]
There’s something uniquely cathartic about the marriage of bright, gleaming synth pop textures with tortured emo lyricism that you get on Moody Joody’s debut EP. Maybe it’s how it speaks to the time we live in and how one might stick on a smile to mask their real anxiety amid an increasingly uncertain world. Maybe […]

EP REVIEW – MOODY JOODY: DREAM GIRL