LIVE: FUN ADULTS – 18/10/2013

– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Standing, as if to attention, the drummer lifted a clarinet to his mouth enchantingly joining forces with the trumpet of the co-lead singer, spiralling mournful notes around the fittingly haunting back room at The Castle, with its wooden-clad tremulous chandelier and high roof, which amputates and ghoulishly echoes the […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – My introduction to Lanterns On The Lake was a few weeks back, when I reviewed their latest album, Until The Colours Run. I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of the tracks and made a mental note to catch them when they play Manchester. So naturally, I was pretty stoked to […]

LIVE: LANTERNS ON THE LAKE – 15/10/2013

LIVE: DEPTFORD GOTH – 17/10/2013

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Daniel Woolhouse aka Deptford Goth, is a downbeat kinda guy. Cut from the same cloth as Active Child, How To Dress Well and Perfume Genius, he makes what I’ve come to term as ‘mopey RnB’. And lord knows, I like me a bit of mopey RnB. I saw him […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – OK, cards on the table… I am a Liam Frost fan.   A huge Liam Frost fan.  As huge as he once himself, was, when I saw him play at the opening of the 235 Casino…. Many moons, and many drained bank accounts past.  What he has lost in weight […]

LIVE: LIAM FROST – 4/10/2013

LIVE: EVERYTHING EVERYTHING – 11/10/2013

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s a rarity within the contemporary music scene that one can actually escape the world of fashion bands and “rich kid” gigs and actually have the chance to see a band that are genuinely engaging and passionate. Everything Everything are the band to watch when it comes to live music. […]
– THE ROADHOUSE,  MANCHESTER – Let’s not ‘fuckabout’…Drenge totally, completely, 100 percent rule tonight. The Loveless brothers (amazing name) from Castleton tear through their debut album, imaginatively titled Drenge, with all the exuberance that youth brings at The Roadhouse, a fitting venue for their down and dirty music. The room is packed to the rafters, […]

LIVE: DRENGE – 15/10/2013

EP Review: The Growlers – Not. Psych!

The Growlers are one of those rare bands that just don’t give a shit; they play the kind of music they want to play and do it in their own way. Any band that has a record called Greatest Shits and a single named ‘Gay Thoughts’ is destined for stardom in my eyes. Made up […]
For those of you who don’t know, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip (or dlsvsSP, as I will incorrectly refer to them) are a pair of lads from Essex, who collaborate to make some form of urban. The ignorance at the end of the last sentence is only partly feigned, though there is enough spoken […]

Album Review: Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – Repent, Replenish, Repeat

LIVE: JUNGLE – 10/10/2013

– THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – During the opening dramatic instrumental which shakes yet innocently chimes around The Roadhouse, it is clear what the audience are thinking; “Any minute now those green-tracksuit clad, roller-skating guys are going to dash enthusiastically on stage.” A thought which takes on deeper significance when ‘The Heat’ begins to jive around […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I am prepared for a No Age show. Or at least I think I am. I have heard about their ferocious live reputation, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall melting the eardrums of everyone in attendance with their incredibly loud drums /guitar combo, sending punters home covered in sweat and […]

LIVE: NO AGE – 10/10/2013