ALBUM REVIEW: INHALER – CUTS & BRUISES

With eleven tracks of pure rapture, Inhaler makes the wait so unbelievably worth it. ‘Cuts & Bruises’ is an album that needs to be listened to, screamed to, danced to, and, at a minimum, shared across the entire universe. Following the release of their debut album, ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’, which hit no. […]
We can’t deny it now can we, these 90’s reunion tours are getting old. But, sometimes when you’ve got such a great drum beat behind the band as well as the vocals, as in the case of Supergrass’ Danny Goffey, the prospect of a new project is a very exciting prospect indeed. I suppose we […]

ALBUM REVIEW: DANNY GOFFEY – BRYAN MOONE’S DISCO PUNK

ALBUM REVIEW – GINA BIRCH: I PLAY MY BASS LOUD

The Raincoats are a band whose influence dwarfed their record sales. Most famously, their late 1970s creative post-punk ethos inspired Kurt Cobain and they originally reformed to open for Nirvana, plans scuppered by his death. However, they have influenced subsequent generations as I witnessed when they shared bills with Bis (during their first wave of […]
David Brewis is fond of a good concept. In recent years, he has created the Trump-based School of Language ‘45’ album and Field Music’s ‘Making A New World’ album consisting of songs based on his research for shows at the Imperial War Museum about tangential discoveries emerging from World War I. With the debut album […]

ALBUM REVIEW – DAVID BREWIS: THE SOFT STRUGGLES

ALBUM REVIEW – ANNA B SAVAGE: IN/FLUX

Confessional singer-songwriters face a quandary of how much to reveal, whether to go down the misery memoir route or strive too hard to convey a positive message. With ‘in/FLUX’, Anna B Savage gives herself an examination that sounds like the best ever episode of the old Radio 4 series ‘In the Psychiatrist’s Chair’ while accepts […]
With a title like ‘Kyiv Eternal’, there is no escaping the associations with what, for many in the West, is a distressing reminder of the precariousness of our comfortable modern life but which, for those remaining in Kyiv, must be a constant source of underlying tension. This tension is the main feeling that Heinali’s new […]

ALBUM REVIEW: HEINALI – KYIV ETERNAL

ALBUM REVIEW – THE GOLDEN DREGS: ON GRACE AND DIGNITY

High or low, voices that hit extremes are exhilarating. There is a thrill to vocals that soar stratospherically, such as Billy McKenzie or Roy Orbison, but there is a contrasting engagement with singing that appears to emerge from the soles of hobnail boots. One of my earliest musical memories was making ludicrous attempts at singing […]
As a fickle music fan easily transferring affection to the latest exciting new performer, it is easy to miss out on the joys of eagerly following an artist through their (at the risk of sounding like a ‘Strictly’ contestant) journey. Since hearing ‘Part Company’ in 1984, The Go-Betweens and subsequently Robert Forster’s solo career have […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ROBERT FORSTER: THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME

ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN CALE – MERCY

‘Mercy’ is the first new album in over ten years from the Welsh legend and former Velvet Underground member, however those expecting an album of rock n roll tunes, should know by now that Cale likes to look forwards, not backwards, living by his own musical expectations and no one else’s. It’s one of the […]
A hardcore band who sample 13th Floor Elevators, creating soundscapes which recall Loaded era Primal Scream, Dealing With Damage are redefining what you thought a hardcore band could sound like. Formed of members from hardcore, punk and indie bands Done Lying Down, Sink, K Line and Jerry Built, Dealing With Damage’s second album is packed […]

ALBUM REVIEW: DEALING WITH DAMAGE – USE THE DAYLIGHT