LIVE: THE BLACK ANGELS – 17/09/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Considered by many these days to be among the top tier of neo-psychedelic bands, there are some who look no higher than The Black Angels. Well worthy of this type of lofty praise, their style of late night psychedelia is good enough to impress on first listen – or to put […]
Mark Lanegan has never been busier, but the abundance of projects he has taken on over the last two years hasn’t diluted the downtrodden intensity of his work. If anything, his identity as a musician has flourished, and despite much of his work being collaborative he still manages to make his presence felt alongside equally […]

Album Review: Mark Lanegan – Imitations

LIVE: CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN – 18/09/2013

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – One of the great things about radio is being able to switch it on and listen to a new band. Actually, even to listen to an old song from a classic band is what can make you feel great. It’s all closely linked, as you know each band […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Younghusband or Young*Husband as they sometimes like to be called was initially a bedroom project of Euan Hinshelwood.  Hinshelwood had been in a number of bands but when these failed to develop, he began to write and record his own music and after a few low-key releases , lead […]

LIVE: YOUNGHUSBAND – 17/09/2013

LIVE: THE ORWELLS – 13/09/2013

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Looking around, there is no shortage of garage rock crawling out of the bins in every suburb and back alley of America, infecting itself among the fuzz-demented noise craving youth.  That being said, barely legal Chicago five-piece The Orwells fit this mould of what you might call yet another “underground […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I’ve been wanting to see Manchester based duo, Bad Grammar for quite a while now and somehow it just never happens, so I’m glad to finally make it to the building of their gig.  Upon entrance my attention is immediately diverted to the merchandise stand where I find some […]

LIVE: GIANT DRAG / BAD GRAMMAR – 13/09/2013

LIVE: LOS PORCOS – 13/09/2013

– KRAAK GALLERY, MANCHESTER – “Welcome To Pork City” written on a newspaper stand ahead  of the dark back alley where Kraak Gallery is situated is about as ambiguous a notice as the band’s online surfacing, which carried with it a similar secretive obscurity. Signing to Caledonian records, the same label as upcoming Blaenovon, the band […]
A great artist releasing an album is always a good thing, but when new material comes at a machine-gun pace (hello Ryan Adams), it can sometimes detract from your relationship with their art. Listeners need time to acquaint themselves with an album, to let their perception of and relationship with the tracks evolve. Some days […]

Album Review: Nightmares on Wax – Feelin’ Good

LIVE: FUCK BUTTONS – 09/09/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Tonight Gorilla is darkly intense and chaotic, a quasi-bestial atmosphere collecting in anticipation of the sound explosion that Fuck Buttons promise to hurl. Touring their latest album Slow Focus after a near four-year hiatus, the Bristol duo recently headlined Glastonbury’s Park Stage and are on the brink of a world tour […]
The debut album from The Strypes, Snapshot, is a fast paced nod to the 60s rhythm and blues era. The preceding EP, Young, Gifted and Blue, came out in 2012 causing quite a stir. The timing of this record couldn’t be better, with the rise of stars such as Jake Bugg, the reemergence of The […]

Album Review: The Strypes – Snapshot