ALBUM REVIEW – ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND: LEAN IN

Starting off with a looped beat, followed by some ambient sounding synthesiser, ‘Doing Laps’ is an interesting track to start the album. It feels almost dreamlike with Art School Girlfriend’s whispery sounding vocals, with a backdrop of ambient synths, almost new age sounding ambience. The outro sounds like something Boards of Canada would come up […]
Chris Difford is one of pop’s greatest storytelling lyricists. Classics like the kitchen sink drama ‘Up The Junction’ (a rare song in which the title makes its solitary appearance in the final line) and the countrified tale of poverty and addiction ‘Labelled With Love’ were both UK top ten hits over 45 years ago and […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SQUEEZE: TRIXIES

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 6 MARCH 2026

Sons of Town Hall         Of Ghosts and Gods    It’s part folk record, part storytelling adventure that evokes Tom Waits-like lyricism and Everly Brothers-style harmonies while featuring atmospheric strings arranged by Will Robertson, horns played by Jordan Katz (De La Soul, Father John Misty, Macy Gray) and the imaginative textures of percussionist and drummer Mathias Kunzli […]
There are some bands that make a living out of exploring the boundaries within the genres of music they play, and there are others who completely change the game with their music. Upon first inspection, combining black, progressive and death metal with jazz should not work, however, Agabas are not your typical alternative musicians. Incorporating […]

ALBUM REVIEW – AGABAS: HARD ANGER

ALBUM REVIEW – CONVERGE: LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH

Converge. Possibly the most legendary and revered hardcore band of all time, an institution of no-frills brutality and absolute commitment to the craft. Well into their fourth decade as a band, Love Is Not Enough is the newest entry in their flawless discography, and it’s a worthy offering.  Converge have a reputation, no pretention, no egos, no holier than thous. This record is one of the gnarliest they’ve produced in their […]
“Thank you Manchester, for rejecting fascism last night.” Stuart Brathwaite – guitarist and vocalist for Mogwai – stands in front of a Palestine flag and celebrates the outbreak of common sense that brought Hannah Spencer of the Green Party the Gorton and Denton seat in this week’s by-election, beating Reform. He is met by a […]

LIVE REVIEW – MOGWAI: MANCHESTER APOLLO – 27/02/2026

BOOK REVIEW: PENNY KILEY – ATYPICAL GIRL: PUNK ROCK, LIVERPOOL AND TRYING TO BE NORMAL

The Liverpool punk and post-punk scene centring around legendary club Eric’s has been celebrated in a number of books. Performers whose names are indelibly linked with the venue have offered memorable recollections, starting with Julian Cope’s Head On and followed more recently by Will Sergeant’s Bunnyman and Paul Simpson’s Revolutionary Spirit. As a scene whose […]
Peter Gabriel, the mastermind behind Genesis, and the procurer of a great solo career afterwards, has returned in all of his Progressive Rock glory. He has gifted us with a new live album from arguably one of the best times in his music career. The date was November 23rd, 2003, and Gabriel had decided to […]

ALBUM REVIEW – PETER GABRIEL: IN THE BIG ROOM

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 27 FEBRUARY 2026

By far the busiest week of 2026 for new releases so far, plenty of high quality as well. Deathcrash       Somersaults     London-based slowcore quartet. Thematically, ‘Somersaults’ began to deal with a more discreet, more complicated, second “coming of age” period. Buck Meek       The Mirror         Conceptually, The Mirror emerged from the idea to combine Meek’s band’s live, […]
Willy Vlautin is a master world builder. Over the course of half a dozen albums with The Delines, he has created the equivalent of an intricate portmanteau movie with recurring themes and characters making return appearances. In his other career as an author, his most recent novel ‘The Horse’ was about an old musician riddled […]

ALBUM REVIEW – THE DELINES: THE SET UP