Yes Sir Boss - Desperation State (Album Review)

“So, we were driving to some gig in the arse end of nowhere. We were hopelessly lost and I tried to call the promoter but ended up calling Joss Stone by mistake...”

Written by: V O'Hagan | Date: Sunday, 28 October 2012

Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock (Album Review)

2010 marked the real emergence for Band of Horses with Grammy-nominated album 'Infinite Arms'. Two years on, and the Seattle folk-rockers return with indifferent follow-up 'Mirage Rock'.

Written by: Brian Thompson | Date: Thursday, 25 October 2012

Stone Sour - House Of Gold And Bones: Part 1 (Album Review)

Bold declarations can often oversell an album, but then again it's a pretty ballsy move when it's in the recording stages. But, Corey Taylor does not care to play it safe with his statements, and his comparison of this record to a cross between Alice In Chains' 'Dirt' and Punk Floyd's 'The Wall' at least proclaimed that the first instalment of their double record 'House of Gold and Bones' was to be different, for Stone Sour.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Rolo Tomassi - Astraea (Album Review)

There are some bands that follow and some bands that lead, and sometimes the bands that lead are the ones you would least suspect. Rolo Tomassi have probably suffered from preconceptions more than most innovators. Fresh faced and, shock horror, with a pretty female lead singer (who, it so happens, can out scream most hardcore legends), there are many out there who would look at Rolo Tomassi and dismiss them immediately out of hand.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (Album Review)

In a way, the surprise release of a new album by Godspeed You! Black Emperor should not have come as a shock at all. Any fan of the legendary Canadian ‘post-rock’ master craftsmen should know that, for this band, a reunion necessitates the release of new material. Of course, detractors will argue, the bulk of 'Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!' is not actually new at all. The two lengthy tracks on this record, 'Mladic' and 'We Drift like Worried Fire', are actually cuts the band initially wrote before their disbandment nine years ago, but the strength of their appearances here alone arguably makes the band’s reunion worthwhile.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Swn Festival 2012 - Cardiff - 18th-21st October 2012 (Festival Review)

Quickly building itself a reputation as the premier urban city festival in the UK, Cardiff's Sŵn festival is over for another year with more satisfied punters than ever going away with four days of memories and a list as long as their arm of new favourite bands.

Written by: David Ball | Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Neal Schon - The Calling (Album Review)

It takes a special guitarist to blend flawless technique with pure heart and soul. Too often an intellectual mastery of the instrument, along with superlative skill development, leads to sterile calculated playing that's awe-inspiring, but not particularly moving. The enduring appeal of Journey's iconic guitar maestro Neal Schon comes from his instinctive ability to bottle exceptional virtuosity with limitless emotional depth and a superb command of melody. From lightning fast passages to simple heartfelt phrasing, he's always possessed a near supernatural understanding of what a song needs. That's the sign of a truly great player. So, where most guitar based instrumental albums descend into monotonous show boating, with Schon you know you'll get something that's song orientated, supremely melodic and mightily impressive. That's exactly what he delivers on 'The Calling', an album he proudly describes as “one of the most rockin' records I've ever made”.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 22 October 2012

Kosheen - Spies (Single Review)

I was first introduced to Kosheen with the song 'Hungry' by my Dad when I was about 10-ish. If you don't recognise the title of the song, you'll definitely recognise the song itself. It came out in the late 90's on Kosheen's first album, 'Resist', along with 'Catch', which is another brilliant song. The great thing about Kosheen's music is that you can listen to it whilst chilling out, or you could listen to it on a night out; it's really versatile. The arrival of Kosheen into my life really kicked off my liking for what I'm gonna call "alternative dance", but according to Wikipedia it's more "British triphop/hip hop/rock", but whatever.

Written by: Emma Dodds | Date: Monday, 22 October 2012

Lionsex - (Not) What You Need (Single Review)

Following on from the success of their debut album ‘Get It’, released last year via Universal Music, Milton Keynes glam-rockers Lionsex have returned with renewed intent. The first of the songs to be made available to the public are delivered in the form of double A-side single ‘(Not) What You Need’ featuring ‘S.O.S’. Though many may have doubted their ability to produce something compeer to last year’s debut ‘Get It’, they have sure enough silenced them by creating these refreshingly raunchy little numbers.

Written by: Gemma-Louise Johnson | Date: Monday, 22 October 2012

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Lost Songs (Album Review)

There are few guitar bands of the last fifteen years or so that deserve as much praise as the delightfully awkwardly monikered ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. One of those rare bands who steer well clear of recording the same album twice, the Texans are known as much for their fabled live performances as for their studio output. Having said that, 2002’s 'Source Tags & Codes' took their hardcore influenced alt-rock to the very edge of the mainstream and was acclaimed from all sides, and the follow-up, 'Worlds Apart' was also well received.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 18 October 2012

The Birthday Massacre - Hide And Seek (Album Review)

Just in time for Halloween, Canadian power-pop sextet The Birthday Massacre return with fifth studio album ‘Hide And Seek’- their latest attempt to scale the touring highs of their acclaimed 2010 release ‘Pins and Needles’, adding rougher, dirtier punk elements to excellent effect, and last year's follow-up EP ‘Imaginary Monsters’ which cranked the aggression factor even higher through collaborations with industrial giants Combichrist and Assemblage 23.

Written by: Gemma-Louise Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Reckless Love - Born To Break Your Heart (Mini-Album Review)

For many, eighties rock bands were either shameless purveyors of joyfully uplifting party anthems or hairspray soaked, spandex wearing lady boys with as much musical depth as Darth Cowell's record collection. Either way, the nineties dawned and the world became serious. The global recession, AIDS and the arrival of grunge significantly changed the musical map, rendering debauched glam metal acts outdated and tasteless. Since then 'hair metal' has thrived in a cult capacity, gaining momentum over the last decade as bands inspired by Motley Crue and their ilk have spread like fire gone wild. Finnish four piece Reckless Love are on a particular mission to resurrect the hedonistic traditions of Los Angeles infamous Sunset Strip, delivering stiletto sharp riffs, bombastic choruses and lascivious lyrics with minimum subtlety. It's as cheesy as Mr McCheese's cheese making factory in cheese land, but also a nice reminder of a carefree time when life wasn't quite so po-faced.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 15 October 2012

Paul Gilbert - Vibrato (Album Review)

As one of the most technically dazzling rock guitarists of his generation Paul Gilbert is renowned for knocking out an endless avalanche of top drawer riffs and brilliantly executed solos with damn near superhuman levels of virtuosity and speed. But with 'Vibrato' he doesn't so much break as shatter his own mould, having brewed up a mouth watering concoction of funk, soul, blues, gospel and jazz that seamlessly blends thrilling instrumental tracks, fantastic vocal numbers and a trio of inspired live cover versions. All the while boasting the kind of jaw dropping fretwork that's become his trademark. It's quite simply an artistic tour de force from a maturing musician at the top of his game.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 12 October 2012

Ufomammut - Oro: Opus Alter (Album Review)

Back in April I suggested that Ufomammut’s first album of 2012, the dense yet spacey 'Oro: Opus Primum', would make far more sense once its companion piece arrived later in the year, and so it has turned out. Where 'Opus Primum' was akin to a disturbing trip in the world of psychedelic stoner rock, 'Opus Alter' is, by contrast, almost refreshing. This Italian trio are still far from accessible but there are slight concessions to less hardy listeners here, and as such 'Opus Alter' is probably a better all-round record than its earlier companion.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Nine Black Alps - Sirens (Album Review)

You could be forgiven for not noticing when Nine Black Alps slid off the radar a couple of years back. After all, it is now a good seven years since the band first threatened to make the big time. 2005’s 'Everything Is' came at a time when British rock had just failed to make a return to the big time. Biffy Clyro were digging roads to make ends meet, Hell is for Heroes and Hundred Reasons were struggling to recover from difficult second albums, and Frank Turner was still just ‘that bloke in Million Dead’. Oh, and Feeder were set to headline Download...but only after releasing a big selling album of sub-par Coldplay balladry.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 09 October 2012

Down - Down IV: Pt.1 The Purple EP (EP Review)

Half a decade after the release of their third album ‘Down III: Over the Under’, the Big Easy’s finest bestow upon us the first of four instalments of EPs. Long-awaited new material in the form of ‘Down IV: Pt.1 The Purple EP’ is within our gammy grasps and our curiosity, impatience and downright pining can finally be smothered.

Written by: Chloe Scannapieco | Date: Tuesday, 09 October 2012

Muse - The 2nd Law (Album Review)

Before I begin this review, I should probably pre-warn you about the amount of gushing and similar positive phrasing I may spout. I've been a Muse fan for a long time, seen them live exactly 20 times, and probably can't put into words how excited I was to tear the cellophane off my copy of The 2nd Law when I bought it on release day. So there's quite a large chance that this review may rave about the album and band until the point of inducing vomit - but fear not, I will also be completely honest about the Devon trio's sixth studio album, their first in 3 years.

Written by: Katie Territt | Date: Thursday, 04 October 2012

Hammock - Departure Songs (Album Review)

Nashville-based duo Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson make up the group Hammock, widely associated with a gentle ambient sound to varied forms of shoegaze and post-rock. They have been prolific since their debut album 'Kenotic' in 2005, and on their most recent seventh full-length studio release 'Departure Songs', the duo return to grace listeners with their celestial soundscapes. The double-album features many tracks tinged with sadness, addressing the powerful human want of hanging on when needing to let go.

Written by: Jonathan Lin | Date: Wednesday, 03 October 2012

Tori Amos - Gold Dust (Album Review)

There's always a sense of dread when artists revisit their past work. Great songs capture an artist's mental and emotional perspective at a particular point in time, and that original intent is inevitably lost when they're reworked years later. Enter flame haired piano spanking Goddess Tori Amos, intent on bucking the trend. As one of the most idiosyncratic and eccentric musicians of her generation the thought of Tori revisiting her back catalogue is intriguing. Especially when said songs have been reinterpreted with a concert Orchestra. The result, however, is a surprisingly conservative affair that on the one hand gives so much, but on the other could have been so much more.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 01 October 2012

Papa Roach - The Connection (Album Review)

Papa Roach are one of those bands who have consciously developed their sound throughout their career while maintaining a cores essence of self in its midst. As their latest offering 'The Connection' sees them dabbling in a more electronic field, one thing is still clear: This is Papa Roach, and they won't compromise.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Monday, 01 October 2012