Courteeners - Pink Cactus Café (Album Review)

Manchester’s Courteeners have been one of the UK’s leading indie bands since the release of 2008’s ‘St Jude’, a record that set out blueprints for rock-solid songwriting and communal feeling. The group now return with the eclectic ‘Pink Cactus Café’, which takes their sound in some intriguing and ambitious directions, resulting in one of their most accomplished and varied records to date. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Thursday, 31 October 2024

Pixies - The Night The Zombies Came (Album Review)

Photo: Travis Shinn It feels like every new Pixies album gets praised by some as a reinvention and criticised by others for being too familiar. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Today, as they always have done, the band revel in taking small left turns, while retaining their signature quirky pop songwriting chops.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Megan Thee Stallion - Megan: Act II (Album Review)

It seems inevitable these days that whenever a major artist releases a new album, it’s swiftly followed by a deluxe re-release within about six months. Such is the case with ‘Megan: Act II’, which follows just three months behind Megan Thee Stallion’s eponymous third album.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Confidence Man - 3AM (LA LA LA) (Album Review)

Photo: Julian Buchan Confidence Man have recently graduated from a guilty pleasure to key players in the UK dance scene. In 2022, the Australian electro-pop outfit’s stock rose considerably thanks to their  second album ‘TILT’, and after following it up with a viral Glastonbury performance and a 2023 summer hit in Now U Do (with DJ Seinfeld) their appeal has only grown.

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Monday, 28 October 2024

Bon Iver - SABLE EP (Album Review)

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon will always be an enigma. Since 2007’s ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ stumbled from a Wisconsin hunting cabin into the hearts and homes of people seeking emotionally intelligent indie-folk, he has been remodelling their music to serve whatever purpose he sees fit. On their first new release since 2019’s Marmite, ‘i,i’, the ‘SABLE’ EP serves as a stripped-back system reboot.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Monday, 28 October 2024

Japandroids - Fate & Alcohol (Album Review)

When it comes to making a final album there are umpteen approaches you could take. But, really, it boils down to this: are you going to double down on what has endeared you to fans on previous releases, or are you going to take one last chance with something new? Japandroids very much go for the former on ‘Fate & Alcohol’, but in a way that manages to avoid feeling old hat.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 25 October 2024

Kylie Minogue - Tension II (Album Review)

Photo: Erik Melvin Sometimes things take on a life of their own. What began as a few more songs for an extended version of 2023’s ‘Tension’ turned into a sequel for Kylie Minogue, and one that matches its predecessor. Here the Australian icon showcases her ability to evolve while keeping the shimmering dance-pop coming.

Written by: Nieve Elis | Date: Thursday, 24 October 2024

Porridge Radio - Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me (Album Review)

With a band name like Porridge Radio, you’d be forgiven for expecting a certain degree of fun musical whimsy. The Brighton band’s first couple of records delivered that, exuding colourful, if straightforward, indie energy with charming vigour, leading to them steadily becoming one of the UK touring circuit’s most cherished darlings.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2024

Myles Kennedy - The Art of Letting Go (Album Review)

Photo: Chuck Brueckmann During a recent interview on Justin Hawkins’ YouTube series, Myles Kennedy was heralded as “the pre-eminent rock vocalist of our time” by someone who should know. But although that claim is merited, the Alter Bridge man’s hard-rocking third solo album once again showcases an artist who’s got more to offer than a recognisable voice. ‘The Art of Letting Go’ showcases his potent all-round game, from instinctive compositional smarts and sublime guitar playing to pensive lyricism and dynamic craftsmanship.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 22 October 2024

Touché Amoré - Spiral In A Straight Line (Album Review)

Photo: Sean Stout You can feel the emotion that roars from Jeremy Bolm’s voice in your bones and to know anything about Touché Amoré’s music is to know that their frontman should have been broken a long time ago. The California hardcore band’s previous two records dealt with the gravitational pull of grief following the death of his mother, finding catharsis but not necessarily a way out. Now, ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’ maps the way to exit. 

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Monday, 21 October 2024

Goat - Goat (Album Review)

Goat’s sixth studio record sees the masked Swedish rockers saunter through afrobeat, funk, pastoral folk and more in a psychedelic journey of extreme joy. The result is a record of interstellar overdrive and creative overflow that jinks and zigs and spirals while just about hanging together.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 17 October 2024

Caribou - Honey (Album Review)

If earlier Caribou albums hadn’t already, ‘Honey’ proves that Dan Snaith is a sure pair of hands for energetic and musically intellectual dance music. But what sets it apart from previous endeavours is the pace. From the opening track, Broke My Heart, this record picks up momentum that evolves throughout and never wavers.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Drug Church - Prude (Album Review)

Photo: Manuel Barajas On the surface, Patrick Kindlon is one of the most comically cynical writers in hardcore’s recent history. But Drug Church’s fifth album ‘Prude’ is so much more than that — there is painfully catchy and arresting guitar work that keeps the record moving, along with genuine depth of feeling.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Tuesday, 15 October 2024

The Hard Quartet - The Hard Quartet (Album Review)

Photo: Atiba Jefferson The Hard Quartet’s lineup reads like a Comic Con lineup for indie heads, bringing together Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, The Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly, Chavez’s Matt Sweeney, and Dirty Three’s Jim White. Reflecting its members’ wandering tastes, the supergroup’s self-titled debut is a sprawling buffet of decades and genres.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Friday, 11 October 2024

Jake Bugg - A Modern Day Distraction (Album Review)

Photo: Kevin Westenberg When Jake Bugg burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old, his debut album’s distinctive throwback blend of indie, folk and skiffle set him up as a future giant. In the decade since, though, he has opted to experiment with different sounds, incorporating elements of country and electronic music with varying degrees of success. His latest ‘A Modern Day Distraction’, sees a return to the more raw sound of his early work. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Friday, 11 October 2024

Geordie Greep - The New Sound (Album Review)

Photo: Yis Kid Geordie Greep’s debut solo album is a smutty mix of chamber pop, Baxter Dury and Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads. Over 11 tracks we are introduced to energetic, desperate characters envisioned and performed by the former Black Midi guitarist — they plead and prate and ultimately fail to reassure. As a group they seem locked in an occasionally delicious death spiral of substance abuse and sexual ennui. You’re going on a journey, or actually, several.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 10 October 2024

Godspeeed You! Black Emperor - No Title As of 13 February 2024, 28,340 Dead (Album Review)

Photo: Yannick Grandmont Godspeed You! Black Emperor have always excelled at crafting poignant, expansive post-rock, telling instrumental stories where words won’t do. Never has that sentiment been more true than with ‘No Title as of 13 February 2024, 28,340 Dead’. The band’s eighth album’s title makes explicit reference to the death toll in Gaza and its six movements are odes to both the devastation wrought and also small glimmers of hope.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 10 October 2024

The Smile - Cutouts (Album Review)

Photo: ShinKatan x Weirdcore It has been almost a decade since the last Radiohead record landed, but it’s not like that space has been filled with silence. ‘Cutouts’ is the second release by The Smile — Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood alongside Sons of Kemet’s Tom Skinner — in 2024 and their third in two years. As we have come to expect it is another varied album charting their diverse range of influences in a more playful manner than Yorke and Greenwood might have in the past.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Wednesday, 09 October 2024

Coldplay - Moon Music (Album Review)

Photo: Anna Lee It feels like Coldplay aren’t really making albums anymore, instead they’re making setlist alterations for their stadium tours. ‘Moon Music’, like 2021’s ‘Music Of The Spheres’ before it, feels more like listening to the second disc of a best of compilation — you’ve heard all the hits so here’s some more, just not as good.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 09 October 2024

SOPHIE - SOPHIE (Album Review)

Photo: Renata Raksha Almost four years on from her death, SOPHIE’s influence continues to reverberate. Numerous artists operating in disparate genres have paid tribute to her groundbreaking work, showcasing a profound and lasting  impact on contemporary music. Honouring her legacy, though, poses a complex challenge.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Tuesday, 08 October 2024