The Drums - Abysmal Thoughts (Album Review)

Photo: Moni Haworth ‘Abysmal Thoughts’ is full of youthful yet distinguished songwriting. The Drums’ latest foray into indie-surf-rock darts through playful melodies and lightweight lyrics and when it connects, on tracks like Heart Basel and Mirror, it is fresh and urgent: a delicious musical margarita. It’s music for pool parties attended by skinny hipsters with little dogs.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 23 June 2017

Ride - Weather Diaries (Album Review)

With various band members declaring on umpteen occasions that a reconciliation was unlikely, it came as a thrilling surprise when Oxford shoegaze forerunners Ride announced they’d done just that in late 2014.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 22 June 2017

Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up (Album Review)

It remains something of a surprise, given the huge critical and commercial success of Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut, that the band – fronted by Robin Pecknold - haven’t exactly been prolific since. The release of their critically-acclaimed sophomore LP, ‘Helplessness Blues’, in 2011 was followed by the departure of drummer Josh Tillman (now masquerading as Father John Misty) and a recently-ended hiatus that found Pecknold enrolled to study at Columbia University.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Thursday, 22 June 2017

Halsey - 'hopeless fountain kingdom' (Album Review)

Another high concept approach can’t hide the fact that Halsey’s voice seems a little lost on ‘hopeless fountain kingdom’, her second album. This is a break up record set in a world inspired by ‘Romeo and Juliet’, yet the singer’s ideas seem to have been smothered by input from a long list of big name producers and writers.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Alison Moyet - Other (Album Review)

After almost 40 years on the scene, Alison Moyet is still putting out exciting records (alongside the modern twist of being a highly entertaining Twitter user). For those of you born after 1990, her run began as one half of the hugely successful Yazoo alongside Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode and Erasure, who troubled the charts with amazing frequency in the early ‘80s despite only releasing two albums and evaporating soon after.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Gov't Mule - Revolution Come…Revolution Go (Album Review)

They’ve been one of the finest rock ‘n’ roll acts on the planet for over two decades, gifting us a wealth of material that showcases their flair for improvisation and effortless ability to integrate numerous styles into their musical soup. But with ‘Revolution Come…Revolution Go’, Gov’t Mule have created a bona fide masterpiece that may well be their crowning glory.  

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Tigers Jaw - spin (Album Review)

‘Charmer’ was such a positive step forward for Tigers Jaw that it's hard not to feel like ‘spin’ is one back. The former was full of catchy pop-punk melodies, interesting hooks, fuzzy guitars and stacks of harmonies, but it was the last to feature contributions from guitarist and vocalist Adam McIlwee, bassist Dennis Mishko and drummer Pat Brier.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Dua Lipa - Dua Lipa (Album Review)

Dua Lipa is a dream signing for any major label. Songwriter, performer and model, she is a triple threat capable of sending ripples throughout the music industry.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 19 June 2017

London Grammar - Truth is a Beautiful Thing (Album Review)

In retrospect it’s unsurprising that the pop trio London Grammar made such waves with their 2013 debut album. After a period in which you couldn’t move without hearing a new noisy house or dubstep artist, minimalism suddenly became appealing again.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Monday, 19 June 2017

Kamikaze Girls - Seafoam (Album Review)

Kamikaze Girls are not interested in metaphors. Lucinda Livingstone and Conor Dawson tell it how it is, warts and all. On their debut EP, ‘Sad’, they dealt with anxiety, addiction and depression. Their debut LP finds them opening up even further, tackling mental health, self-loathing, love and lad culture, all while keeping their melancholic charm in tact.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 15 June 2017

Sleepy Sun - Private Tales (Album Review)

‘Private Tales’, the fifth studio album from San Francisco psychedelic rockers Sleepy Sun, arrives three years after an impressive predecessor, ‘Maui Tears’. With producer Colin Stewart returning after a two album absence, it’s almost as though the comfort of familiar friends being on hand, along with a newfound “spaciousness”, has brought them to a point where they’re making records in a much more relaxed state.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 15 June 2017

Saint Etienne - Home Counties (Album Review)

Rather than call their ninth studio album something glib like ‘Straight Outta Reigate’ or ‘…At Chelmsford Prison’ (after Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell’s respective hometowns), Saint Etienne have decided to continue their classy pop output with ‘Home Counties’; their first album since 2012’s ‘Words and Music By…’ and by and large a collection as excellent as that was.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2017

Rancid - Trouble Maker (Album Review)

In the years between the release of Rancid’s ‘Let’s Go’ in 1994 and the unveiling of their self-titled fifth album in 2000, punk changed. The Bay Area band were right at the heart of the genre’s explosion back into the mainstream, with the classic ‘...And Out Come The Wolves’ going platinum alongside monster releases from Green Day and the Offspring.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2017

Amber Coffman - City of No Reply (Album Review)

Many, many records have been swallowed by the narratives attached to their creation, and that attrition rate has hardly lessened with the advent of feverish online news cycles. It’s to Amber Coffman’s immense credit that ‘City of No Reply’, her solo debut, offers less than a noncommittal shrug to the storylines the music press wants it to feed. It’s too thoughtful and poised a collection of pop songs to allow for outside interference once you press play.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 13 June 2017

Phoenix - Ti Amo (Album Review)

Right at the end of the ‘00s, when the garage rock revival led by the Strokes was in its last death throes, Phoenix released Lisztomania; a song of skipping beauty that seemed to refresh and sustain that distinctive sound for another 18 months.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 12 June 2017

Ulrika Spacek - Modern English Decoration (Album Review)

Formed in Berlin by two long-time friends, Ulrika Spacek have spanned categories since their inception. Taking their moniker from the amalgamation of left wing extremist Ulrike Meinhof and film star Sissy Spacek’s names, the band were quickly tagged as avant-garde Deerhunter followers with Can-like krautrock influences and a touch of Television after the release of their debut, ‘The Album Paranoia’.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 12 June 2017

Dan Auerbach - Waiting on a Song (Album Review)

On his second solo album, Black Keys bandleader Dan Auerbach has attempted a case study in Nashville soft rock and, as far as this kind of genre exercise goes, ‘Waiting on a Song’ is excellent. But there's trouble afoot.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 09 June 2017

Lady Antebellum - Heart Break (Album Review)

If there were an auditory equivalent of the phrase ‘blink and you’ll miss it’, then it might easily be applied to the amount of country music you’ll hear on ‘Heart Break’, the seventh album from Nashville trio Lady Antebellum.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 09 June 2017

Roger Waters - Is This The Life We Really Want? (Album Review)

Roger Waters divides opinion. To fans of his music, he is somewhere between wrecking-ball egotist and misunderstood genius. To non-fans, he is a champagne hippy whose ostentatious stage shows highlight hypocrisy within the counterculture movement he led with Pink Floyd.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 08 June 2017

Lil Yachty - Teenage Emotions (Album Review)

Lil Yachty is an awkward character. He’s got conflicting feelings on masculinity, identity and his career. His debut album, ‘Teenage Emotions’, should have been an interesting brew of coming of age feels and epiphanies. Instead, it explores nothing but ego and bad taste.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 08 June 2017