ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 14 AUGUST 2026

Laura Veirs       Temple Songs  The first album Veirs has written, recorded, arranged, produced, and performed entirely on her own. She plays guitars, bass, drums, tambourine, percussion, and sings vocals; the only outside contribution is saxophone by a secret special guest. Jah Wobble & Tian Qiyi              Mystic Liverpool – The Beatles Psychedelic Psongbook               The album moves […]
The sun is shinning on Rochdale (who has ever said those words with a straight face?) and people are gathered outside the town hall, pints in hand and various Madchester era clothes on their backs. Clint Boon (BOON ARMY!) has just finished getting the crowd amped up with a DJ set, and you feel as […]

LIVE REVIEW – OMD, PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT, A CERTAIN RATIO: ROCHDALE TOWN HALL SQUARE – 07/08/2026

ALBUM REVIEW – SWEEPING PROMISES: YOU SAY I ROMANTICIZE

As a title, ‘You Say I Romanticize’ gives a misleading impression of what to expect from Sweeping Promises’ third album. No floppy-fringed, lovelorn poetry spouting offering, it is instead an adrenaline-soaked, post-punk missive on which they set out to capture their live sound. To this effect, they brought in touring drummer Spenser Gralla to augment […]
Two years after their last release, Crawlers are returning with their new EP TURN OFF THE TV. They describe the process of writing the EP as “patiently rebuilding everything around us and taking time to write music that felt healing in a time of hopelessness which then became our hope.” With endless teasing of tracks […]

EP REVIEW – CRAWLERS: TURN OFF THE TV

ALBUM REVIEW – MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW: CANNONBALL

You might read the name Man/Woman/Chainsaw for the first time and think – what the hell is going on? It’s a fair thing to wonder. But behind the abrasive, perhaps concerning image, soars a six-piece whose debut Cannonball plummets into a sea of organised chaos, leaving quite the splash. Born out of bonds formed in […]
In a generation of music where people search to be seen, needing to feel heard, Liverpool based band ‘Keyside’ has delivered exactly what’s been asked. Authenticity chased by a strong sense of realness. With their long awaited self-titled debut album. I’m sure it will help navigate the youth and help them feel that little less […]

ALBUM REVIEW – KEYSIDE: KEYSIDE

ALBUM REVIEW – THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: DAYS

Even if I knew nothing about The Mountain Goats, a glance at the track listing for ‘Days’ would instantly pique my interest. ‘Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds’, ‘Annie Haslam Imperial Phase’ and ‘Hidden Majesty of Later Venom Albums’ leap out as tales far from the ordinary. According to John Darnielle who is clearly […]
Rowena Wise                 Bad Things Feel Good Indie folk artist. Through candid poetic lyricism and raw live band production, the songs explore themes of heartbreak, estrangement and mental health. Sesame Girl     Butterfly Wing In A Silver Locket EP   Citing 90s alt-rock, grunge and shoegaze, pop, and alt-country as touchstones for where their sound lands, they […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 7 AUGUST 2026

ALBUM REVIEW – MARGARET GLASPY: I AM BOTH

“In any industry, success is measured by climbing as high as you possibly can, but these days I think of music as something more like a public service. You show up in city after city and you bring the music with you, and hopefully it reaches whoever needs to hear it.” Discussing her latest album, […]
Ariana Grande steps back into the music scene once again with her eighth studio album, Petal. The listener is softly guided into this new era through the gentle melodic opening of the first track, ‘kiss me’, one which instantly defies the original expectations of the album as Grande offers an alternative creative scope in comparison […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ARIANA GRANDE: PETAL