Strand of Oaks - Hard Love (Album Review)

After three largely ignored folk-rock records, ‘HEAL’ blasted Timothy Showalter and Strand of Oaks to a position of significance. The album arrived in a blaze of glory; it was bigger, louder and at its heart was the majestic JM, a seven minute, slow-burning stoner rock tour de force.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 20 February 2017

Rag'N'Bone Man - Human (Album Review)

Rag'n'Bone Man has grand expectations of his audiences. Rory Graham’s music is designed to raise the roof and ignite hopes like wildfire. Disregarding the masculine preconception that emotion equals weakness, this brutish, bearded soul artist is a switched on, deep-thinking performer.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 17 February 2017

Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now (Album Review)

It feels lazy to liken Jesca Hoop’s sound to that of PJ Harvey or Tori Amos, especially when female indie singer-songwriters are often marginalised in wider public discourse. That said, this Manchester-based Californian’s seventh album, ‘Memories Are Now’, does share characteristics with the work of those artists, demonstrating a surreptitiously poppy vision via a strikingly independent sound.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 16 February 2017

Thunder - Rip It Up (Album Review)

Predictability can be a double-edged sword; both something to aspire to and rebel against depending on the context. Take British veterans Thunder. For nearly 30 years, their output has followed an established bluesy rock ‘n’ roll template with fairly consistent results. As such, it’s been easy to take them for granted. But on ‘Rip It Up’, the 11th record of their career, they’ve effectively painted a target on the back of our expectations and set about blowing them away.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 15 February 2017

Sinkane - Life and Livin' It (Album Review)

Sinkane’s ‘Life and Livin’ It’ might be the album you’ve been waiting for.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 14 February 2017

Big Sean - I Decided (Album Review)

Dr. Dre’s ‘2001’ changed hip hop in the wider public consciousness. Previously, gangsta rap was a popular subset in a genre that also promoted unbridled joy (De La Soul or Beastie Boys), cultural tolerance (A Tribe Called Quest) and jazz-infused ingenuity (The Roots) in equal measure. But the overwhelming critical and commercial success of ‘2001’ meant that a certain brand of misogyny, money worship and profanity began to dominate popular understandings of what hip hop is.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 13 February 2017

Black Star Riders - Heavy Fire (Album Review)

Ever since they morphed from a semi-legitimised Thin Lizzy tribute band into an original outfit under their own name, the question of identity has been a tricky one for Black Star Riders to negotiate. But on ‘Heavy Fire’, their third and best album to date, the group have taken a telling step towards sonic autonomy after toning down the overt and contrived nods to their Lizzy lineage. Well, most of the group.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 10 February 2017

The Menzingers - After The Party (Album Review)

There comes a time for bands with clout to match their ambitions when their sound/look/lyrical preoccupations become open to parody. If you were to sketch the Menzingers, for example, you’d set the four of them against the Philadelphia skyline in jean jackets and flannel shirts, etch some words about better understanding your place in the world beneath their feet and then set about screaming them at the top of your lungs.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 10 February 2017

Sampha - Process (Album Review)

Sampha’s evocative vocals betray the kind of battle scars life can inflict on an emotional soul. Clicking play on (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano, the lead single from his debut album, ‘Process’, is a revelatory experience.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 10 February 2017

Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol. 1 (Album Review)

Photo: Howard Wise Moon Duo have been producing synth-based drone rock for almost a decade, with each of their records representing a leap forward for their sound. Split into a “psychedelic opus” of two separate volumes representing Yin and Yang, ‘Occult Architecture Vol.1’ is, according to guitarist Erik ‘Ripley’ Johnson, the dark side.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 09 February 2017

Surfer Blood - Snowdonia (Album Review)

Funny old genre, surf rock. Despite sounding light and fluffy, it often seems laced with tragedy, violence and intense musical complexity. It’s a philosophical melange that seems to promote breezy diffidence in the face of hard-edged personal problems.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 08 February 2017

Allison Crutchfield - Tourist In This Town (Album Review)

Photo: Jesse Riggins Allison Crutchfield is no stranger to the lo-fi indie and punk scenes, having racked up records and miles with P.S. Eliot and Swearin’, as well as touring with Waxahatchee, her twin sister Katie’s project. Despite this rich lineage, ‘Tourist In This Town’ is surprisingly the first full-length solo offering from Crutchfield and for this new chapter she drew inspiration from the closing of others, namely the end of her relationship with long-time partner and collaborator Kyle Gilbride.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 08 February 2017

Lower Than Atlantis - Safe In Sound (Album Review)

The tail end of the 2000s gave birth to a crop of once abrasive alt-rock bands that can now be heard regularly on daytime Radio 1. Lower Than Atlantis are among the leading lights to have invaded mainstream airspace and ‘Safe In Sound’ is their latest attempt to perfect the fusion of hard rock and poppy commercialism.

Written by: Liam Turner | Date: Tuesday, 07 February 2017

Cloud Nothings - Life Without Sound (Album Review)

Photo: Jesse Lirola In a 2015 interview, Cloud Nothings frontman Dylan Baldi described the process of bringing a new song to the rehearsal space. “To be honest, we don’t even talk, like when we’re making stuff,” he said. "I’ll just be like, ‘I have this thing”, and I’ll play something and they’ll be like ‘That’s cool’ and, like, play something along with it, and there’ll be a song, you know - right there.”

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 07 February 2017

Elbow - Little Fictions (Album Review)

Elbow are like that piece of well-worn furniture in the corner of your living room: familiar, comforting and snug. Right now, their music is a safe haven from the political madness engulfing the world.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 06 February 2017

Kehlani - SweetSexySavage (Album Review)

A pop singer’s debut album is the best chance for artist and management to craft the perfect personality. It’s a product launch, and as such involves the same kind of testing (dropping mixtapes), market research (support slots) and brand adjustments you might expect if you were unveiling a smartphone, or political candidate. If this all goes well, the challenge then switches to maintaining relevance in a topsy turvy outside world.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 03 February 2017

Sacred Paws - Strike A Match (Album Review)

Photo: David Pollock ‘Strike A Match’ may be Sacred Paws’ debut album, but its captivating earworms and flashes of indie-pop brilliance betray Eilidh Rogers and Rachel Aggs’ pedigree as members of Golden Grrls, Trash Kit and Shopping.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 01 February 2017

Aaron Keylock - Cut Against The Grain (Album Review)

Whoever penned the biography for this ‘70s-loving rock ‘n’ roller needs a kick up the caboose for getting their facts wrong. The text hilariously states that he was only 18 years old when this record was made. Seriously? Someone that young could never have written such a classy debut, one that's overflowing with tasteful fretwork and without a single cover version in sight. Could they?

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Menace Beach - Lemon Memory (Album Review)

When indie rock ruled the British airwaves in the 1990s, there was a middle class of bands that flourished in the jet stream of the major-label juggernauts. Longpigs, Sleeper and Echobelly never scored a big hit, but they honed and deployed a genuinely independent sound that was freshly parochial and grungily hip. It was a vibrant cottage industry, and there were some seriously good bands operating under its umbrella.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart Of Life (Album Review)

Has it really been five years since ‘Celebration Rock’? Brian King and David Prowse left quite an impression on our eardrums with what would ultimately become one of the albums of 2012 - it was certainly winner of ‘Best Driving With The Top Down Anthems’ in my car - and subsequently toured heavily, racking up a couple of hundred sets over the following 18 months.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Monday, 30 January 2017