The Good Natured ‘Skeleton’ (EP Review)

Previously, Berkshire three-piece The Good Natured have drawn comparisons to the likes of La Roux and Ladytron, thanks to their winning combination of infectious electro-pop with frontwoman Sarah McIntosh’s enchanting vocals. On this occasion however, for the title and lead track on their new EP ‘Skeleton’ – incidentally, their first release on a major label – The Good Natured have chosen what feels like a post-punk quality, more akin to the likes of indie-rockers Maximo Park. However, the haunting guitar intro and thundering drums soon give way to a rather more effervescent and catchy pop chorus, which bears similarity to a host of ‘80s dance tracks and hears McIntosh at her most melodic.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Tuesday, 21 June 2011

PS I Love You - Meet Me At The Muster Station (Album Review)

Listening to PS I Love You's debut album, 'Meet Me at the Muster Station', you'd be easily fooled into thinking you're listening to a four or five piece band. It came as a surprise to me then, to learn that this 'band' consists of only two people. I felt I needed to go and see PS I Love You in action, so when The Great Escape festival brought them to Brighton, I found myself inches away from a sweaty frontman Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson. What was intended to be an outlet for Saulnier's experimental pop songs - using loop pedals and synthesizers - was transformed in to an exciting experimental garage rock band with the addition of drummer Nelson and some seriously anthemic songs.

Written by: Emma Newlyn | Date: Tuesday, 21 June 2011

AWOLNATION - Megalithic Symphony (Album Review)

'Megalithic Symphony' is the forthcoming album from AWOLNATION solo project from Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants. The bumf that came with the review C.D. states the album is "sent from the future", unless it's regarding the time change I disagree. It is very on tap with now and of it's time, which is the present day don't you know.

Written by: Alice Findlay | Date: Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Heights - Dead Ends (Album Review)

“The people we used to be are dead to you and me” If you’re looking for pure, unbridled ferocity then Heights’ debut record is the place to come. It is rare for completely unrestrained anger to sound as utterly fantastic as this full-length from the Welwyn Garden City quintet. Having released the barnstorming, and freely available, EP 'The Land, The Ocean, The Distance' in 2009, Heights found themselves attracting the attention of hardcore enthusiasts up and down the country. The youngsters have quickly risen through seemingly constant touring and, in particular, festival slots afforded them by participation in the Red Bull Bedroom Jam competition last year. Having attracted attention from punters, the band then attracted the attention of the Mediaskare label and so 'Dead Ends' arrives as the product of Britain’s most promising signed hardcore band.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Kissy Sell Out - Wild Romance (Album Review)

Kissy Sell Out’s new album is classic camp electro. Half a decade ago Wild Romance’s sound would have complimented sound systems on dance floors across the country. Today however, the most fitting output is through a mobile phone on the back of the 388 bus to Hackney.

Written by: Chris Norman | Date: Monday, 20 June 2011

Matthew Morrison - Matthew Morrison (Album Review)

Known worldwide as Glee Club director Will Schuester on FOX’s astronomically popular ‘Glee’ and star of Broadway shows such as Hairspray and South Pacific, Matthew Morrison makes his move into the world of pop with his eponymous debut album, released on Mercury Records. With big-name producers, even bigger-name duets and a ukele, I quite liked the idea of this musical actor turned popstar but upon listening I found a slightly disappointing collection of songs in which Morrison impersonates a mainstream performer and fails to create anything worth a second listen.

Written by: Tom Bevan | Date: Monday, 20 June 2011

Boy Mandeville - Gorilla (Single Review)

Boy Mandeville are the latest band to jump on the indie-pop bandwagon, made up of Jack Parris (Guitar/Vocals), Mike Coxhead (Guitar/Vocals), Brian Cantwell (Bass) and Jono Cary (Drums).  The band released ‘Gorilla’ at the beginning of June via their own record label, Around The Dial Records.  They came onto the scene last year, and have already played venues such as the legendary Koko, although only in a supporting role.  After being previously released on East City Records (Chapel Club, Ten Bears, David’s Lyre) they’ve been played on XFM, BBC6 Music and the holy grail of BBC Radio 1.

Written by: Matthew Williamson | Date: Monday, 20 June 2011

Mr Big - Bitter Streets (Album Review)

I was five years old when Mr Big reached number 4 in the charts with their song ‘Romeo’. Back then the band were on the verge of making it big and were destined to become world-wide mega-stars but unfortunately for them, that never quite materialised and the band broke up soon after their only hit.  The band reformed for a while in the mid to late 90’s which again saw limited success and now founder member, Jeff Pain (aka, Dicken), is reunited with another original band member Eddie Carter for another chance for Mr Big to make it big with their new album ‘Bitter Streets’.

Written by: Lee Johnston | Date: Monday, 20 June 2011

The Vaccines - All In White (Single Review)

Formed but a year ago in London, indie band The Vaccines have been hyped into consciousness and now release their fourth single, ‘All In White’, from their debut album ‘What did you expect from the Vaccines?’.

Written by: Tom Bevan | Date: Monday, 20 June 2011

I Set My Friends on Fire ‘Astral Rejection’ (Album Review)

Upon hearing the name of these Floridian experimental hardcore rockers for the first time, you’ve probably already been given a vague idea of what I Set My Friends on Fire have to offer in their music. Look back to their 2008 debut ‘You Can’t Spell Slaughter Without Laughter’, which features song titles such as ‘Beauty is in the Eye of the Beer Holder’ and ‘Reese’s Pieces, I Don’t Know Who John Cleese Is’, and this early impression is likely to be reinforced somewhat. Much like their bizarrely-named songs and their even more bizarre band name, I Set My Friends on Fire’s modestly-titled second album ‘Astral Rejection’ displays the kind of music that would make most people look on in a mixed state of horror, puzzlement and a certain level of perverse curiosity. It blends a number of diverse musical genres that are clearly close to the group’s collective heart, despite being as compatible as cheese and chalk. Pop, R&B and dubstep are among the various influences that I Set My Friends on Fire have chosen to throw into their experimental melting pot of noise. However, anyone drawn in by this brief introduction should beware as you may be in for a shock.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 20 June 2011

Vetiver ‘The Errant Charm’ (Album Review)

If you are able to imagine a much mellower and ever-so-slightly more cheerful Eels, then you are partway towards understanding what ‘The Errant Charm’, the latest album from US folk band Vetiver, may sound like. It is in fact the fifth offering from Vetiver – a project fronted by Devendra Banhart collaborator Andy Cabic, who was once a member of indie band The Raymond Brake before moving to San Francisco to form Vetiver.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Thursday, 16 June 2011

CocknBullKid - Asthma Attack (Single Review)

Asthma Attacks, from someone who has witnessed a fair few, are potentially deadly, frightening and far too frequent for comforts sake. Therefore, this song is the exact opposite of one, which is good. I’d hate to be struggling for breath as a result of listening to a song about someone who seems to have Stockholm Syndrome for good old London Town.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Thursday, 16 June 2011

The Apartments - Drift (Album Review)

So I guess we need a little background on the Apartments. First up, this Australian group don’t exist anymore, and haven’t done since 2007, and even that was for a series of gigs rather than a release or anything new. In fact, since the late 1970s, this group have formed and split no less than three times, and have had 22 different members. Some of their work is critically acclaimed, and some of it is guff. This one, sadly, is guff.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Thursday, 16 June 2011

The Sounds - Something To Die For (Album Review)

I remember reviewing an album a few weeks ago where I was harping on about how no-one knows how to write an album anymore. There are loads of collections of “songs” but little flow between them. The Sounds ignore this completely and start this one off with a beautiful little slow burner that pricks under your skin just a little bit, wiggling around almost unnoticed as the thumping bass drum gets a little more forceful. You’re locked in now. You can’t escape. The hi-hat trills gently as the trance synth fades in, followed by the repetitive, but needfully so lyrics. “It’s so easy when you know how it’s done. You’ve got to seize the moment before it’s gone” This “moment”, or “album” as most should call it, is 41 minutes long, and it’s not far from being the longest, and greatest moment ever.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Thursday, 16 June 2011

The Travelling Band ‘Screaming is Something’ (Album Review)

Coming from Manchester, The Travelling Band have got a lot to live up to and you may be forgiven for anticipating another mouthy bunch of swaggering, parka-wearing gentlemen again on this occasion. However, The Travelling Band are not the usual group of indie-rock upstarts that we’ve come to expect from that particular part of the country. But on the other hand, they may certainly fit in with the standard of music that England’s fountain of “all things pop” has kindly given us over the years. Sidestepping the city’s usual brand of brash guitar rock, The Travelling Band end up in a place much more rewarding in terms of its musical progression. ‘Screaming is Something’ is an album of such awe-inspiring diversity and ability, that it at first seems difficult to imagine them amongst the ranks of other English indie bands at all.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Thursday, 16 June 2011

Antlered Man - Outrages 1 Ta 3 (Single Review)

It’s a little bit hard to understand why there seems to be a growing media buzz about Antlered Man. They are, generally speaking, the sort of band that hip music journalists (or even less hip ones like me) tend to steer clear of. They don’t fit neatly into any particular genre so they can’t be easily categorised. They don’t write songs that are three minutes long and have hooks the size of Wales. They don’t even have clearly audible lyrics. I mean, for Christ’s sakes guys, get a bloody grip. Do you really expect Radio 1 to go anywhere near you?

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Cher Lloyd - Swagger Jagger (Single Review)

Normally a review will give a brief introduction about an act, but let’s face it: there’s not much point with Cher Lloyd. You know who she is, I know who she is - even the 1% of the British population who weren’t unwillingly drawn into the bright lights of 2010’s ‘X Factor’ couldn’t help notice Lloyd in passing. You know the one - the girl who constantly looked scorned like she had just been forced to eat a kilo of gravel.

Written by: James Conlon | Date: Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Bleech - Nude (Album Review)

How I miss the days when female-fronted indie bands littered the lower-echelons of the top 40. In those heady years of the mid-to-late-90s, you couldn’t open a copy of Vox, Melody Maker, Select or NME without stumbling across an interview with a super-hot, female singer with her music-playing wallpaper (aka ‘the band’). Echobelly, Republica, Lush, Salad, Sleeper… there was the good: Skunk Anansie. The very good: Black Box Recorder. The bad: Kenickie (Lauren Laverne, we’ve not forgotten. Or forgiven.) The god awful: Bis. And the god-forsaken: Hole.

Written by: Alex Mead | Date: Wednesday, 15 June 2011

The Plea - I Am The Miracle (Single Review)

The sleepily humble village of Ballyliffin isn’t exactly known for the birthplace of Indie-Rock bands. A view that is fairly much agreed upon for most of its history, that was until local foursome The Plea’s tightly thumping Indie tune, ‘I Am The Miracle’, hit the shelves.

Written by: Ryan Tinslay | Date: Wednesday, 15 June 2011

The Paper Scissors - In Loving Memory (Album Review)

In some ways, despite being only 40 minutes long, 'In Loving Memory' is a truly exhausting record. The Aussie trio have packed so many ideas into the cauldron; it is a real surprise that the mix does not simply bubble up into ruin.

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 15 June 2011