Amon Amarth - Jomsviking (Album Review)

Amon Amarth are more metal than you, and their 10th full-length, ‘Jomsviking’, proves it. There are beards. There’s brutality. But there are also a lot of surprises from a band who are often unfairly pegged as a meat and potatoes death metal act.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 24 March 2016

White Denim - Stiff (Album Review)

White Denim are bringing sexy back with their sixth album, ‘Stiff’. Throughout, the band’s unashamed love for the sounds of the ‘70s gets amorous with flirting funk, dirty blues rock and romantic soul tunes.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Wednesday, 23 March 2016

The Treatment - Generation Me (Album Review)

With the exception of the title 'President Trump', few things are as scary as having to replace the lead singer of your band. Once the most recognisable, and often alluring, part of a group's identity bolts out the door, most are pretty much screwed. So, while it may have been brown pants time for the Treatment when they faced up to that fact last year, it was actually just what the doctor ordered.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression (Album Review)

Iggy Pop is a rock legend. Whatever your musical preferences, there isn’t any use in denying it. With ‘Post Pop Depression’ positioned as his last hurrah expectations are understandably high, particularly as recent albums, such as 2009’s ‘Préliminaires’, failed to hit the spot for those craving the Iggy of old, despite having their own understated charms.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 21 March 2016

Brian Fallon - Painkillers (Album Review)

The most powerful and stirring singer-songwriter records are often concocted by tortured artists wrestling with their inner demons. Given the Gaslight Anthem's penchant for angst-ridden blue-collar punk rock, you may be expecting Brian Fallon to follow suit on his debut solo album, 'Painkillers'. But he's only gone and crafted a rather lovely Americana record, reflecting on his tribulations in a fresh, relaxed and deceptively upbeat manner.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 18 March 2016

Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend (Album Review)

Aurora’s debut album, ‘All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend’, is a mass of contradictions. At its heart is a seemingly boundless sense of imagination, but it’s one wedded to a palette of sounds that can appear unremarkable by comparison.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 18 March 2016

Christine And The Queens - Chaleur Humaine (Album Review)

It’s easy to approach ‘Chaleur Humaine’ as though it's a new record as every spin reveals something different; a decaying synth here, a wash of strings there. But it's also about reinvention. The songs here are a couple of years old, but have been reconfigured, (literally) translated and presented time and again to fresh ears.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 17 March 2016

Primal Scream - Chaosmosis (Album Review)

After the outstanding, free-form psychedelic rock of ‘More Light’, Primal Scream have chosen to veer off in a completely different direction once again for their 11th studio album, ‘Chaosmosis’, which is a familiar trait in a near 35 year career.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 17 March 2016

The Struts - Everybody Wants (Album Review)

Sometimes an album is so dazzling it forces you to stop and reflect on what the hell just happened. With flash and flair to burn, British rock ‘n' rollers the Struts have crafted a joyous debut boasting so much class and confidence it's like being struck by a sonic lightning bolt. Predictions are a tricky business, but put your mortgage on this lot becoming superstars and you could be in for a mighty windfall.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 16 March 2016

James - Girl At The End Of The World (Album Review)

“Bands talk about that difficult second album but it’s the trickster 14th one that’s the real motherfucker,” frontman Tim Booth said of the new James’ LP, ‘Girl At The End Of The World’. But with number 13, ‘La Petite Mort’, not even two years old, their ability to produce another collection so soon would suggest otherwise.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Macklemore And Ryan Lewis - This Unruly Mess I've Made (Album Review)

Macklemore catches a lot of hate for a guy who’s so excruciatingly harmless. To be specific, most of the criticism surrounding his latest collaboration with Ryan Lewis, ‘This Unruly Mess I’ve Made’, has revolved around one track, White Privilege II.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Tuesday, 15 March 2016

Nada Surf - You Know Who You Are (Album Review)

When does a band’s ability to deliver precisely what you want from them become a negative? In the case of Nada Surf, who are back with album eight some 20 years on from the arrival of their debut, not yet.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 15 March 2016

Tonight Alive - Limitless (Album Review)

Some bands, not many, reach a moment in their career when further success appears preordained. To that point, they’ve been laying groundwork. They’ve released well-received albums, played increasingly busy headline shows and leapt onto arena supports with like-minded bands who, a few years ago, were in the exact same spot. Tonight Alive are living that right now, and ‘Limitless’ is the album tasked with making the next step for them.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 14 March 2016

Big Ups - Before A Million Universes (Album Review)

Big Ups seem to have spent the two years since they put out their debut, ‘Eighteen Hours Of Static’, fusing their hardcore roots with an ability to show restraint and embrace the less is more mantra. The result is ‘Before a Million Universes’.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 14 March 2016

Polica - United Crushers (Album Review)

Minneapolis trip-pop quartet Poliça conjure a charged yet tentative atmosphere throughout the course of their third album, ‘United Crushers’.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 14 March 2016

Reckless Love - InVader (Album Review)

Hands up if you're a fan of Finnish sleaze-rockers Reckless Love and expected them to cite the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears as influences on their new album? If your digits are raised, and you also claim to be unsurprised at them integrating some hip-hop into their ‘80s melodic rock and metal mix, it's likely your leopard print pants are well and truly on fire right about now.  

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 11 March 2016

Lapsley - Long Way Home (Album Review)

The rawness of emotion that characterises Låpsley’s debut LP, ‘Long Way Home’, is profound. Its understated simplicity is enhanced by honest lyrical clarity, with her music betraying a deep-thinking soul.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 11 March 2016

The Coral - Distance Inbetween (Album Review)

There hasn’t been much news from the Coral in recent years. Aside from the release of their ‘lost’ album, ‘The Curse Of Love’, this is the first new utterance from the band since they went on hiatus almost six years ago.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Thursday, 10 March 2016

Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered (Album Review)

First, a caveat. ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, Kendrick Lamar’s genre-fusing opus from last year, did more than just win a few awards. It raised the bar for the entire hip hop movement and turned this writer into something of a Stan.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 09 March 2016

Killswitch Engage - Incarnate (Album Review)

If you saw Killswitch Engage at Download in 2012, you’ll know the feeling. Y’know, the one you get when you see something truly special. Not the hyperbolic 'special' that’s used to describe every band and their nana’s home baked casserole, but the kind of special that makes you say: “That was perfect.” With Jesse Leach back in the band, they just had to back it up in the studio.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 08 March 2016