LIVE: THE LEMONHEADS – 08/10/2022

Being old enough to have seen The Lemonheads plenty of times in the early 90’s, the fact they were returning to play the whole of one of my favourite albums, was a gigging opportunity which was not to be missed. Last time Evan Dando and his band toured the seminal ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ […]
The Black Angels never fail to make you lose yourself in their heavy-duty riffs, calling on the spirit of Sabbath, Led Zep and even the motorik grooves of Can, On album number six, the hefty guitar lines are there in abundance for a free-spirited ride yet one infused with thought provoking lyrics on environmental destruction, […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE BLACK ANGELS – WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS

Let's Eat Grandma

LIVE: LET’S EAT GRANDMA – 07/10/2022

-YES, MANCHESTER- Last time I saw Let’s Eat Grandma (LEG for simplicity and word count for the rest of this piece) I was in pain. It was a Monday night in April 2018 at the Deaf Institute, and I’d just cycled over from playing 5-a-side where I’d fallen awkwardly on my wrist. It was throbbing […]
One of the saddest musical losses of 2022 was the death of former Microdisney and Fatima Mansions frontman, Cathal Coughlan on 18th May. He enjoyed a prolific late period with 2021’s solo album, ‘Song of Co-Aklan’, and two full-length collaborations with producer Jacknife Lee under the guise of Telefis, ‘a hAon’ and the posthumously released […]

ALBUM REVIEW – TELEFIS: A DO

ALBUM REVIEW: BJORK – FOSSORA

Bjork occupies a unique place in pop music, famous enough to be accorded a Channel 4 documentary with David Attenborough and to be an answer in prime-time TV quiz shows, yet the creator of increasingly unlikely music. From the early wonky indie of the Sugarcubes, through the first two dance-inflected solo records that made her […]
Kramies is a Dutch singer songwriter from Ohio, who on his latest album has created eight tunes which he states are a like a “polaroid scrapbook of his life”. With inspiration for each song originating in the different life stages and situations he’s encountered over the years it could have made for a disjointed listen, […]

ALBUM REVIEW: KRAMIES – KRAMIES

Soccer Mommy

LIVE: SOCCER MOMMY – 20/09/2022

– Ritz, Manchester – Sophie Allison’s music as Soccer Mommy has always had a cathartic edge (see tonight’s encore closer ‘Your Dog’ from her debut album Clean, with the positively holler-able opening line “I don’t wanna be your fucking dog”), but rarely has it been so goddamn dark as it is on her latest LP […]
The name may conjure up smoky wood panelled rooms and hushed conversations, or loafing around on hazy Sundays, yet this lot couldn’t be further from that imagery if they tried. Lounge Society hail from Hebden Bridge and Todmorden and are the latest band to emerge on the wonderful Speedy Wunderground label. Not fitting in and […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE LOUNGE SOCIETY – TIRED OF LIBERTY

ALBUM REVIEW: KAMIKAZE PALM TREE – MINT CHIP

The art of falling apart, a theory put forward by those wise philosophers Soft Cell, serves as a succinct manifesto for creating thrilling songs. There is little more delightful than music which is beguilingly odd and unlikely yet still has immediate fluency. ‘The Hit’ by Kamikaze Palm Tree is a prime example, beginning with an […]
Just when you think you know Ty Segall as the modern king of psych rock, he blasts any preconceptions you have of him into outer space, as the ‘Whirlybird’ soundtrack released earlier this year demonstrated. Hot on the heels of that epic, comes his latest studio album ‘Hello, Hi’. There’s always been a touch of […]

ALBUM REVIEW: TY SEGALL – HELLO HI