EP REVIEW – NORMAL SERVICE: SONGS FOR SWINGING LOVERS

For the select few whose musical upbringing was shaped by the obtuse end of the C86 scene, the three track 7” single holds a special place in the imagination. It was associated in particular with bIG fLAME who romanticised it as the ideal format for communication: uneven, angular and demanding concision and urgency. The format […]
Twiddling your thumbs after finishing your A levels? Not if you’re Red Ivory. The South-London teenage four-piece released a new EP, Please Leave, I Need to Wake up Now instead. It’s gritty indie rock that hits you in the face – and the gut – offering confrontation rather than escape. The first notes of opener […]

EP REVIEW – RED IVORY: PLEASE LEAVE, I NEED TO WAKE UP NOW

EP REVIEW – DRESS & TIE: LOVE SUNG BY… DRESS & TIE

In just ten minutes, Dress & Tie have managed to capture everything that love is. In its more dramatic moments, it’s the backstreets of Paris, amoristic accordions pulled together by a crescent moon. In domesticity, it’s home video tapes, subtle ukuleles that reveal in their haze how lucky we are to know and be known […]
To anyone unfamiliar with London’s Windmill scene, The Orchestra (For Now) offers the perfect introduction. Named after The Windmill pub in Brixton, the scene offers a brand of art rock characterised by jagged urgency, regular stylistic spasms, and lyrics that read more like raw poetry than conventional songs. Black Country, New Road rode the sound […]

EP REVIEW – THE ORCHESTRA (FOR NOW): PLAN 76

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