ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 28 FEBRUARY 2025

Panda Bear    Sinister Grift  Noah Lennox transforms Panda Bear into something resembling an old-school rock ensemble, playing nearly all the instruments himself and inviting kindred spirits into the process such as Cindy Lee, Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede, and—for the first time on a Panda Bear solo album—each of his Animal Collective bandmates. Dragon […]
Normally, one would not think of combining thrash metal, death metal, black metal and even prog on the same album unless you are extremely confident in your musical ability to master your instrument. These genres usually stay separated with only a handful of bands I can name who attempt to combine some of these genres […]

ALBUM REVIEW – CRYPTOSIS: CELESTIAL DEATH

ALBUM REVIEW – WILL STRATTON: POINTS OF ORIGIN

The notes that accompany Will Stratton’s eighth album, ‘Points of Origin’, state that it is a work of fiction and that any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. It is the type of statement that would normally form the caveat at the start of a film and offers […]
“I appreciate a few songs ago I told you to sing ‘open your eyes’ and now I’m asking you to sing ‘shut your eyes’… but… fuck it.” To be honest Gary Lightbody could ask this crowd to sing ‘Half a Pound of Tuppeny Rice’ and they would gladly comply. And that’s quite something when you […]

LIVE REVIEW – SNOW PATROL: MANCHESTER CO-OP LIVE – 22/02/2025

ALBUM REVIEW: ARTISTS – C92

From the way it’s often reported you would have thought that the early 90’s indie music scene in the UK was a barren wasteland, dominated by the success of US alternative bands, just waiting for Britpop to happen. As a teen going to gigs around that time, I can definitively confirm that nothing could be […]
Annie Dressner has released ‘For The Thrill Of It’ on 21 February 2025. A great standalone single, it is a song that combines the giddy rush of a cracking pop tune with a wonderfully crystal-clear voice while its lyrical list of micro aggressions point to its serious subject matter, male entitlement and misogyny in the […]

INTERVIEW – Annie Dressner discusses her new single and forthcoming tour

ALBUM REVIEW – GRIMA: NIGHTSIDE

The wilderness is a very common concept in alternative music. Every artist has a different approach to writing about the wilderness, and it is very hard to capture the true essence of a forest, or the weather that an artist experiences. This is where GRIMA enters. This Siberian black metal act has aimed to pay […]
With a timeless discography in a modern world, Sam Fender’s third studio album People Watching is welcomed with open arms. Delving into hope, grief and solidarity, a mosaic of emotions is skilfully pieced together. Like a mirror ball, every version of himself is reflected. Beneath a candid light, this array of songs evokes the conflicts […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SAM FENDER: PEOPLE WATCHING

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 21 FEBRUARY 2025

Here is our weekly roundup of new releases. Parastatic       Concrete Reborn       Trio that fuses motorik grooves with thumping synths and magical guitar sounds and have joined forces with Valencia-born, Newcastle-based spoken word artist Late Girl for an album that celebrates the monolithic power of brutalist architecture. Their groove-filled soundscapes bring to mind the excellence of […]
The artist name and album title neatly capture the conflicts and contradictions of this record. Sunny War is a variation on her birthname, Sydney Ward, while ‘Armageddon in a Summer Dress’ reflects the contrast between the darker and political nature of her subject matter with the tuneful, rootsy accessibility of her songs. Her biography points […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SUNNY WAR: ARMAGEDDON IN A SUMMER DRESS