LIVE: DRIVER DRIVE FASTER – 17/06/2011

– KRAAK GALLERY, MANCHESTER – You hear a buzz about a local band, there are a few tunes knocking around on the interweb and you like what you hear. You go to their album launch in a hidden back street venue/art gallery and you buy the album from the merch stall… then you have trouble […]
The band name and album title suggest a disliking of the Post Office and the cover art depicts moody, painted skies… I’m expecting some retrospective analysis of the dreary UK here, from this Belfast five piece. Immediately after pressing play, the bright acoustic guitar chords on ‘Goldstar’ suggest a sunnier disposition, but the lyrics contain a […]

ALBUM: CASHIER NO.9 – TO THE DEATH OF FUN

LIVE: GOMEZ – 14/06/2011

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – As a relative newcomer to the music of Gomez, I’m not entirely sure what to expect from tonight’s Academy 2 gig, but based on good feedback from many fans that’d seen their shows and several intensive Spotify sessions, I’ve come to see their live act with high hopes. Support band […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – After 5 Long years the wait is over, Tom Vek returns to the stage to launch his second album ‘Leisure Seizure’.  Upon entering the Ruby Lounge I am greeted by a sense of anticipation and excitement for tonight’s sold out show, so  as the venue slowly fills to capacity […]

LIVE: TOM VEK/BRETON – 13/06/2011

ALBUM: WU LYF – GO TELL FIRE TO THE MOUNTAIN

They’re an odd bunch, Wu Lyf (aka World Unite! Lucifer Youth Foundation!). At a time when most unsigned bands would give their right arm for a record deal, these four men of mystery did anything but look for one. It seemed, for a time, that Wu Lyf’s manifesto was to shy away from the music […]
Sometimes, when you sit down to write a review, you have to be honest with yourself. I consider myself to be someone who ‘gets’ the music that falls within post-hardcore’s boundaries. But do I enjoy it? That is another matter. There is fun to be had when listening to experimental, futuristic sounds and song concepts. […]

ALBUM: GOODLUCK JONATHAN – THIS IS OUR WAY OUT

LIVE: KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS – 10/06/2011

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Inadequacy is not something that anyone would willingly choose to suffer from, but tonight I’m going to put myself in the firing line by going to see Kitty, Daisy & Lewis at Manchester’s Ruby Lounge. I first heard them on the wireless on Phil Jupitus’ 6Music breakfast show back […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Mono are in Manchester as part of their 2011 European Tour and following their stop in London two days prior for an extra special performance of the ‘Holy Ground’ concert, originally performed in New York in 2009 to celebrate the band’s ten year anniversary, accompanied by the 24-piece Wordless Music […]

LIVE: MONO – 09/06/2011

LIVE: Tera Melos/Tangled Hair – 09/06/2011

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – What’s going on here, then? Why has everyone swept to the front like some kind of beardy avalanche to see the support act? It transpires that Kingston trio, Tangled Hair, are a remoulded version of Colour, the math-pop pioneers who split in 2009 and whose delicate template Tubelord […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Male singer songwriter types playing solo with acoustic guitars are not my thing. The whole lonesome sensitive soul routine of acoustic indie rockers like Bon Iver et al just leaves me cold. On sight of another 20’s / 30’s male (and it generally always is males) with an acoustic […]

LIVE: SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE – 07/06/2011