Alvvays - Alvvays (Album Review)

A great single is both a blessing and a curse. We’re not talking a smash hit here either, simply a great single. A song that could be pressed on a 7” and left alone for all time. Alvvays have one in Archie, Marry Me, but they’ve managed to avoid the accompanying pitfall: the filler record.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Wednesday, 23 July 2014

La Roux - Trouble In Paradise (Album Review)

In the five years since La Roux’s self-titled debut knocked a hole in the discerning pop fan’s summer playlist, much has changed. Two have become one, with Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid severing ties, while Jackson has battled performance anxiety, her relationship with fame and frequent ham-fisted media jabs at her sexuality. ‘Trouble In Paradise’, then, would seem an apt title for a thunderous dud. Instead, what we have here is one of the pop records of the year.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 22 July 2014

Jungle - Jungle (Album Review)

With a somewhat pretentious don’t-even-attempt-to-Google-it band name, an air of mystery about their identity and record deal with XL, Jungle could easily be dismissed as hipster nonsense. Fortunately, though, the duo, known only as J and T, have produced some unbelievably soulful beats on their self-titled debut.

Written by: Ryan Crittenden | Date: Monday, 21 July 2014

Slow Club - Complete Surrender (Album Review)

Bands generally like to talk the talk when it comes to their creative evolution. It’s an accepted part of the pre-release merry-go-round, like a football manager telling you that the team will be taking things ‘one game at a time’. Slow Club, though, have walked the walk.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Friday, 18 July 2014

Rise Against - The Black Market (Album Review)

Fuelled by Tim McIlrath’s call-to-arms lyrics and throat-shredding delivery, Rise Against have fired shots at their share of deserving targets - take a bow big business and war-mongering governments - over the course of the last decade or so, but ‘The Black Market’ finds them in a self-analytical frame of mind.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 17 July 2014

Wilson - Full Blast Fuckery (Album Review)

It's hard to please anyone in the metal scene at the moment. Hardened veterans sneer at anything recorded after Bruce left Iron Maiden, while the whippersnappers aren’t any better: 'Black Sabbath ain't even heavy, man – listen to some Chelsea Grin'. We are in a state of disarray. We need something to bring the camps together. We need Wilson.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business (Album Review)

Photo: Michael Muller Thirty years on from the release of ‘The Smiths’, Morrissey still revels in his role as one of music’s most polarising figures. Is he an arch, rakish wit, or a perpetual sixth former? ‘World Peace Is None Of Your Business’, his 10th solo record and first in five years, will provide plenty of ammunition for both sides of the argument.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Night By Night - NxN (Album Review)

With Voodoo Six and Sisters Of Mercy featuring on the CVs of singer Henry Rundell and guitarist Ben Christo respectively, it’s no wonder Night By Night have begun to make waves.

Written by: Gemma Johnson | Date: Monday, 14 July 2014

Eugene McGuinness - Chroma (Album Review)

There’s a difference between being aware of something and understanding it fully. Eugene McGuinness, now four albums into his career, clearly has British pop down. ‘Chroma’ displays a deep well of affection for and knowledge of its best moments, jumping from subtly psychedelic melodies to driving Kinks guitars in a flash.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Friday, 11 July 2014

Manic Street Preachers - Futurology (Album Review)

Few bands are brave enough to take turns into new territory nearly 30 years into a successful career, and even less do so by forging retro-futuristic records inspired by painters, philosophers and a German expressionist art movement. With renewed fire and a desire to experiment in their bellies, Manic Street Preachers have created a masterful album by doing just that.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 10 July 2014

Example - Live Life Living (Album Review)

‘Live Life Living’, Example’s fifth album, is one that spends the majority of its running time looking back. Elliot Gleave’s latest collection of dancefloor imperatives mines his influences for inspiration, creating an air of mid-’90s Top Of The Pops amid more of the melodies that have made him a chart staple in his own right.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Thursday, 10 July 2014

Braid - No Coast (Album Review)

Don’t call it a comeback. Braid, 16 years on from the release of ‘Frame & Canvas’, have set a new benchmark. ‘No Coast’ is a record that not only goes toe-to-toe with the band’s finest hour, it pulls the rug out from beneath a few of the scene’s new boys. This is no exercise in nostalgia.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 09 July 2014

Sia - 1000 Forms Of Fear (Album Review)

If you count yourself as a pop fan, there’s a good chance that Sia Furler’s fingerprints are all over something you love. Formerly of Zero 7, the Australian is currently one of the world’s most sought-after hitmakers, with her midas touch yielding major songs for Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Britney Spears in recent years.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Tuesday, 08 July 2014

George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage (Album Review)

Remember this: you are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. And, with that said, it’s just fine to enjoy something that’s done well, even if you’ve heard it all before. George Ezra has broken precisely zero moulds on his debut, ‘Wanted On Voyage’, but nevertheless it’s an engaging record imbued with great promise.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Wednesday, 02 July 2014

Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown (Album Review)

A Warrior Splash just won’t cut it. ‘From Parts Unknown’, Every Time I Die’s seventh album, kicks like a Hogan big boot.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 01 July 2014

Ministry - Last Tangle In Paris: Live 2012 (Album Review)

So, 2014 seems like a good time to be Al Jourgensen. Having unleashed the best Ministry album in over a decade – 'From Beer To Eternity' – last year, completed a successful stint in rehab and seemingly announced plans to tour one last time, things are on the up for Uncle Al.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Monday, 30 June 2014

Greys - If Anything (Album Review)

Greys sound like a bunch of other bands. They’re indebted to the Dischord roster, Nirvana, Jawbox and a few Canadian acts of the late ‘90s. And, you know what? It doesn’t matter one bit. ‘If Anything’ is a great record.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Hamilton Leithauser - Black Hours (Album Review)

If you're checking out Hamilton Leithauser's stuff, chances are you're a fan of the Walkmen. Their "extreme hiatus" is now about seven months old and has, to date, produced a trio of solo records. ‘Black Hours’ is Leithauser’s and perhaps, thanks to his remarkable voice and its ties to his former band, the most anticipated.

Written by: Natalie Lam | Date: Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Ed Sheeran - 'x' (Album Review)

Ed Sheeran’s rise to pop’s stratosphere has been one lifted straight from the underdog handbook. He seems like a nice bloke, he's endearingly messy, has worked tirelessly and he can play a bit. He’s the everyman that we can get behind, right?

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Monday, 23 June 2014

Tomas Doncker Band - Moanin' At Midnight: The Howlin' Wolf Project (Album Review)

Tomas Doncker has described ‘Moanin’ At Midnight’, his tribute to Chicago blues legend Howlin’ Wolf, as a “hardcore blues record”.

Written by: Sam Hailes | Date: Monday, 23 June 2014