Teleman - Breakfast (Album Review)

If you are of the opinion that you can never have too many alternatives to laddy, lager-soaked indie, then Teleman, like Alt-J and Grizzly Bear before them, might be just the ticket for you.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Friday, 06 June 2014

Howling Bells - Heartstrings (Album Review)

Don’t call it a comeback. Or, well, do. If you like. ‘Heartstrings’ is the first Howling Bells record since they entered the nebulous world of the hiatus following the release of ‘The Loudest Engine’ in 2011, and something of a return to the sound that made their debut a sleeper hit.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Thursday, 05 June 2014

Fucked Up - Glass Boys (Album Review)

Photo: Brendan George Ko If Fucked Up have always held one thing dear, it’s the freedom to do what they want. In recent years, the Toronto natives have pushed at the boundaries of what’s expected from a hardcore band, dispensing with the need to keep things brief and expanding their already prog-indebted style into the dangerous world of the concept album.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 04 June 2014

The Orwells - Disgraceland (Album Review)

Garage rock means different things to different people. To some it’s the Strokes and the Black Keys, maybe the Black Lips and Thee Oh Sees. To others it’s the Marked Men and the Dirtnap roster. On their second album, ‘Disgraceland’, the Orwells occupy similar territory to the former, having largely severed ties with the scuzzy tones of their debut, ‘Remember When’.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Tuesday, 03 June 2014

Walter Trout - The Blues Came Callin' (Album Review)

Photo: Jeff Katz During the recording of this album, blues-rock icon Walter Trout was extremely ill, awaiting a liver transplant that subsequently arrived in the very nick of time. It's therefore no surprise that ‘The Blues Came Callin’’ is a poignant, deeply affecting work that could have only come from someone staring down the barrel of their own mortality.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 02 June 2014

Grouplove - Spreading Rumours (Album Review)

If you were taken in by Grouplove’s easy-going, sun-kissed debut, ‘Never Trust A Happy Song’, chances are you’ve already wrestled with its follow-up, ‘Spreading Rumours’, which received a UK release this week after making its bow across the pond last autumn.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Friday, 30 May 2014

Neil Young - A Letter Home (Album Review)

‘A Letter Home’ finds Neil Young embracing his status as an artist who, at this stage in an almost untouchable career, can do pretty much as he pleases. So, just a couple of months on from the launch of Pono Player, a new adventure in high-fidelity, we have this collection of 11 covers close to his heart, presented in grainy lo-fi.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Thursday, 29 May 2014

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There (Album Review)

‘Are We There’ is a record that hits you in the gut, peeling back layers of hurt, uncovering old wounds and laying bare emotions long neglected.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2014

Echo & The Bunnymen - Meteorites (Album Review)

There comes a time in almost every band’s career when they are no longer relevant. Echo & The Bunnymen, some 36 years after their formation in Liverpool, haven’t reached that point.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 27 May 2014

REM - Unplugged 1991-2001: The Complete Sessions (Album Review)

This collection, which pulls together REM’s appearances on MTV’s Unplugged, paints a picture of a band at two extremes. In 1991, they were the indie darlings gone rogue, blinking in the glare of a smash hit album, ‘Out Of Time’, and the contempt of their college radio devotees.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Friday, 23 May 2014

The Black Keys - Turn Blue (Album Review)

The first thing to say about ‘Turn Blue’, the Black Keys’ eighth studio record, is that it sounds gorgeous. It’s one to drink in slowly, letting each rolling beat, lethargic solo or scuzzy bass note do its thing.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Thursday, 22 May 2014

Conor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain (Album Review)

“Moved to a town that time forgot, where I don’t have to shave or be approachable. No, I can do just what I want,” Conor Oberst sings in the opening lines of Time Forgot, a song that gently introduces a man growing older both in a literal and creative sense.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Coldplay - Ghost Stories (Album Review)

Break-ups have provided inspiration for many of the finest songs and albums ever written, with the accompanying loneliness and despair an all-too-relatable situation for many.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 20 May 2014

La Sera - Hour Of The Dawn (Album Review)

As Vivian Girls’ flame guttered out, Katy Goodman turned her attention to La Sera, a solo project begging for a little extra care and attention. Fleshed out to a four piece, the band laid down ‘Hour Of The Dawn’ in LA last summer, repurposing a little of the city’s punk energy in the process.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Only Crime - Pursuance (Album Review)

‘Pursuance’, the third album from melodic hardcore supergroup Only Crime, finds the band regrouping after a seven year absence and with a new home, having shifted from Fat Wreck to Rise Records, who continue to add a punk spine to their existing metalcore roster.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 19 May 2014

Foxes - Glorious (Album Review)

There’s little doubt that if you’re a fan of modern pop, then you like your tunes delivered in as slick a package as possible. ‘Glorious’, the debut album from Foxes, ticks that box like a champ.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2014

Sabaton - Heroes (Album Review)

Power metal isn't cool, and if we’re being honest, it never has been. Years of blokes singing in falsetto about dragons and shit have cemented the genre as the Crocs of the metal world, but Sabaton have always been content to buck this trend.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Michael Jackson - Xscape (Album Review)

There’s no getting away from it; posthumous albums make for a pretty ugly bunch. Almost universally cynical and money grabbing, they are right up there with musicals as the weapon of choice for destroying legacies worth protecting. ‘Xscape’, the second effort released since the death of Michael Jackson, though, has just enough about it to avoid the pitiful fate of its predecessor, ‘Michael’.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Christmas Island (Album Review)

Taking on a new Andrew Jackson Jihad record is not a suitable task for the faint of heart, as it’s something that requires willingness to enter the world of Sean Bonnette, which is at times overwhelmingly sad, hilarious, colourful and loaded with pop culture references and in-jokes.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 09 May 2014

Lily Allen - Sheezus (Album Review)

So, ‘Sheezus’. A witty comeback record from an arch pop commentator, or an empty exercise in baiting? Well, as is so often the case, it’s a bit of both.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Friday, 09 May 2014