Devon Allman Talks the Allman Betts Band Coming of Age on 'Bless Your Heart'
Parents can be a tricky presence in our lives. To most of that simply means suffering countless embarrassments at their decidedly uncool hands during our teenage years. But when said folks happen to be legendary musicians who formed one of history’s most influential bands, that’s a whole different ball game. Especially if you’re looking to follow in their sizable footsteps.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 07 September 2020
Bring it On, Come What May: Gregory Porter is Here to Help Us Rise
Photo: Amy Sioux Life is tough. We’re facing an extraordinarily challenging time right now, with the Covid-19 pandemic serving as the latest trial to test humankind. We can’t avoid or ignore problems like this. But we can choose how to respond. We can stay positive as the storm encircles us, and we can rise above adversity and fight.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 27 August 2020
A Ride on the Boardwalk: Inside Nicole Atkins' Eclectic New LP 'Italian Ice'
Photo: Barbara FG After absorbing Nicole Atkins’ eclectic new album ‘Italian Ice’, you might wonder if the New Jersey songwriter possesses psychic abilities. And it’s not just that the material boasts some eerily prescient lines that resonate with the current pandemic crisis despite being penned over a year ago. It’s also down to the way she assembled a seemingly incompatible group of musicians in order to craft a boundary-pushing, timeless sound with foresight that indicates an almost prophetic vision guided her creative hand.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 04 June 2020
Farewell The Old: Caligula's Horse Discuss the Vibrant, Introspective Metal of 'Rise Radiant'
Photo: Rachel Graham It’s 6:30p.m. in Brisbane, Australia, and, for Sam Vallen’s baby boy, it’s showertime. He doesn’t seem to like showertime. “Excuse him, he’s having a bit of a cry,” the youngster’s father apologises, safely sealed away in his home studio the next room over. “Whenever he’s having a shower, it’s a very crazy and chaotic time.”
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 21 May 2020
Tragic Idols: Paradise Lost On Encapsulating Three Decades Of Doom With 'Obsidian'
Photo: Anne C. Swallow This year has been shit. From COVID-19 to the Australian wildfires to ‘murder hornets’, it seems the only thing 2020 has wanted to do is spread panic and hopelessness worldwide. People are scared. Nick Holmes is also grimly fascinated.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Introducing The Hirsch Effekt: The Eclectic Metal Trio That Can't Be Pigeonholed
Photo: Christoph Eisenmenger For over 50 years, the key appeal of heavy metal has been its grassroots aggression. Early progenitors such as Black Sabbath, and even blues-adjacent rock bands including Led Zeppelin and Cream, connected with their audiences not because of their technical ability, but rather their gloomy yet exciting approach resonating with the angst of the working class.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Wednesday, 06 May 2020
Surrounded By Music: Introducing Garage-Rockers Cruel Hearts Club
"Artists who are mothers used to be a minority, a novelty and a rarity. It's just not that way anymore. We want to be represented as prevalently as male bands."
Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 04 May 2020
Band Together: How The Music Industry Is Reacting to Covid-19
Photo: Craig Thomas/TallBoy Images It would be an understatement to say that the impact of the coronavirus on the music industry has been swift and devastating. As more and more gigs, festivals and album releases get postponed or cancelled by the day, many of us have had to cut our losses and realise that this escalating situation is ever-changing, with no real end in sight.
Written by: Sophie Williams | Date: Friday, 24 April 2020
Introducing Irist: The Ambitious Crew Out To Push Metal Forward
Photo: Susy Irais Reyes “Ultimately, I want our legacy to be that we pushed the heavy metal genre forward,” Irist frontman Rodrigo Carvalho says, laying out his band’s mission statement in one simple sentence.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Monday, 30 March 2020
The Best Buzz: Leif Erikson Pose Some Serious Questions
London-based guitar outfit Leif Erikson have made a habit of creating elegant sounds. On their latest EP 'Question Time', the band explore the current socio-environmental climate, discussing the changes to our planet and the responsibility we have in seeking a halt to the destructive curve we are riding.
Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Some Very Good Years: Getting Reflective With The Shires
When poised to move forwards and embrace exciting new opportunities, it’s often worthwhile to look back and take stock first. We have to know where we’ve been to appreciate where we’re going. Following a short hiatus that saw them recharge and reflect, the Shires are set to return with ‘Good Years’, an album that meditates on their journey so far while also being tailor made to catapult the duo to even greater heights in future.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Sonic Architects: Introducing Haunt The Woods
Haunt The Woods are ready and willing to treat lovers of progressive, folk-flavoured rock with a gift basket of epic emotional and textural vistas. The Cornish four-piece arrive armed with a grandiose sound that’s as pensive and melancholic as it is raging and explosive.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 09 March 2020
Tired of Tears: How My Dying Bride Overcame Adversity to Make 'The Ghost of Orion'
If their name doesn’t give the game away, My Dying Bride are an extremely miserable bunch. As of 2020, they’ve been peddling depressive doom metal for exactly 30 years, and are responsible for 13 albums packed to the brim with melancholia.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 05 March 2020
With The Force Of A Thousand Guns: Inside The Night Sabaton Seized Command of Wembley
td#right {display:none !important;} Photo: Hannah C - @wtchfndr Sat in his band’s dressing room at London’s Wembley Arena, Sabaton frontman Joakim Brodén looks oddly…normal. Over the past 15 years, the singer has worn onstage attire that's become iconic among his fans: aviator sunglasses, loose urban-camo trousers and a black battle vest, complete with steel abs and pectoral muscles.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 03 March 2020
Wet Plate Portraits: Chris Farren at Le Pub
td#right {display:none !important;} Photo: Gareth Jarvis People make important breakthroughs every day. Using a process that dates back 150 years, photographer Gareth Jarvis captured this shot of Chris Farren at Newport’s Le Pub midway through his UK tour, answering one of life’s most pressing questions: would Chris Farren have been hot in cowboy times? To repurpose his stage patter: hell yeah, baby. Chris Farren: born hot in 1986. Chris Farren: born hot in 1886.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 02 March 2020
Music, Energy, Vision: Jared James Nichols Sets His Sights On The Top
It’s by no means unreasonable to declare that any fan of great blues-rock who isn’t mesmerised by the firebrand axe work, and high voltage energy, of Jared James Nichols is either a complete charlatan or the victim of an undiagnosed hearing condition. As passionate about his own work as he is the wider world of classic blues-rock, this guitar god in the making is on a mission to bring his music to the people and make an asteroid-sized impression on the genre he worships.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 24 February 2020
City of Gold: Marcus King on the Road to 'El Dorado'
In the life of every ambitious musician there comes a time to take leave of the mother ship and boldly head for unexplored space. Unlike Marcus King, though, most of those pilgrims don’t venture into new territory before they hit their mid-20s. Yet such a bold move only highlights how, in conjunction with his recently released autonomous bow ‘El Dorado’, this singer, songwriter and guitar prodigy from South Carolina is anything but an ordinary young man.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
A Career Less Ordinary: Ash Reflect on Their Crazy 25 Year Odyssey
The clear standout on Ash’s potentially disastrous second album ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’, Wildsurf is a title that perfectly encapsulates the band’s 25 year sojourn through the highs and lows of the music business. Since crashing the mid-'90s Britpop scene as fresh-faced teenagers who sounded like, to paraphrase Bono, ‘Brian Wilson in a punk band,’ the Northern Irish trio have been on a non-stop sinusoidal thrill ride.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 14 February 2020
A Connection Just Out Of Reach: Bambara Return With 'Stray'
Bambara’s monumental third album ‘Stray’ is a black-hearted work of art; a sinister cacophony of post-punk instrumentals with death on its mind. Constructing an orchestra of sounds around its expansive skeleton, blending ethereal and baritone vocals, it is a challenging piece of work that rewards those who tap into its wavelength.
Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Something Bigger Than Ourselves: The Lone Bellow Return With 'Half Moon Light'
Photo: Shervain Lainez Life is virtually unliveable without hope. In our darkest days, even the merest chink of light can provide an all important spark to keep on fighting. Just ask the Lone Bellow, a three piece Americana outfit born from the ashes of tragedy and its damn near miraculous resolution. They may know all about trying times, but with spiritually resonant harmonies and impassioned empathy to the fore, the trio’s existential songs consistently make an optimistic stand.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
'I'm Happiest on Stage': Introducing Jazz-Pop Star of the Future Reuben James
“I’m happiest on stage. When I'm performing that’s the only place that I truly feel like I belong. That feels most like home.”
Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Think Happy Thoughts: The Return Of My Chemical Romance
Think happy thoughts.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 23 January 2020
No Boundaries: Haggard Cat Talk New Album 'Common Sense Holiday'
Photo: Carla Mundy How do you make a sound like Haggard Cat? No, not the high-pitched yowl of a scrawny feline, but hefty, high-energy, blues-driven noise. The answer, surprisingly, isn’t found by assembling a boat-load of angry punks ready to thrash out an adrenaline-fuelled racket. Instead, the raw materials are provided by but a pair of humble, giggly mates from Nottingham. “The rawest, most honest form of us playing music is just the two of us,” guitarist and vocalist Matt Reynolds notes. “That’s how we write.”
Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 16 January 2020
Knotfest: Why Slipknot Are Still A Festival Must See After All These Years
Some bands appear to have been laboratory engineered for festival success—they radiate inoffensive late afternoon mass appeal from each empty chorus and $500 distressed Rolling Stones tee.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 14 January 2020
New Year, New Gigs: Stereoboard's Pick Of 2020 Events
td#right {display:none !important;} Aaaand relax. The Christmas songs are behind us. You made it. Mariah and Bublé are going back in their vacuum sealed boxes for another 11 months, Santa’s having a well-deserved rest with the new headphones he got from Mrs Claus, and we in the wider world are finally allowed to listen to tunes that don’t involve sleigh bells. Thank baby Jesus for that. With this in mind, you might be wondering what 2020 has in store for live music fans. Luckily for you, Stereoboard has compiled a list of the best events throughout the year, organised in calendar-friendly chronological order. It’s going to be a great year for gigs. You are welcome.
Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 10 January 2020
Now and Next: Stereoboard's Ones to Watch in 2020
td#right {display:none !important;} Each year brings with it a breakout star or two, and every January thousands of words are duly spilled trying to predict who they might be. Well, who are we to break with tradition? Head below to check out some fresh music from artists who might go on to enjoy a massive 2020.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
The List: Stereoboard's Top Tickets Of 2019
td#right {display:none !important;} td#right {display:none !important;} Live music offers an escape. With all the uncertainty in the world, be it political, financial or environmental, there's always comfort and reassurance to be found in hearing one of your favourite bands sing one of your favourite songs, and being able to scream their lyrics back at them in person. The statistics back up that the sentiment. This year has been another busy one for live shows, and here we take a look at which tickets were the most sought-after across the past 12 months.
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 20 December 2019
The List: Stereoboard's Best Albums Of 2019
td#right {display:none !important;} That's 2019 almost cooked, folks. In a few weeks we'll start a new decade, find new favourites, new heroes and new villains. So, for one last time in the 2010s let's take a look back at 12 months in music to celebrate the records that made us cheer, laugh, cry and marvel.
Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Monday, 16 December 2019
"Roundaboutly Winging It": Amyl And the Sniffers On Their Breakthrough Year
td#right {display:none !important;} Photo: Gareth Jarvis From her perch atop a flight case strategically placed in the middle of the stage, Amyl and the Sniffers vocalist Amy Taylor is surveying the rowdiness of the crowd at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach in all its sweaty glory. “Fuck Boris, he’s a racist hooligan, you deserve better than that,” she spits into the mic. “Fuck Boris, fuck Trump and fuck Scott Morrison.”
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 13 December 2019
Loud Times: The Metal Bands Who Made 2019 A Year To Savour
This year was an enormous one for heavy metal. From fresh-faced upstarts making names for themselves to classic heroes making long-awaited comebacks, it has been a jam-packed 12 months for fans of all things face-melting. So, who better to review the state of the metal nation than the artists themselves?
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 12 December 2019
Kings of Chemistry: Flying Colors On Taking Flight With 'Third Degree'
Our most fruitful and enduring relationships are impervious to time, space and distance. Boasting an almost mystic and magical quality, they possess an inherent, indestructible and long-lasting camaraderie that allow such powerful bonds to be rekindled without missing a beat. Five years since melodic prog rock supergroup Flying Colors released their sophomore outing ‘Second Nature’, this year’s ‘Third Degree’ found the quintet effortlessly slipping back into their chemistry-laden groove as if they’d never been away.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 10 December 2019
'I Wanted This Album To Be The Thing That Wipes The Tears Away': Bishop Briggs Talks 'Champion'
Bishop Briggs wrote her second album ‘Champion’ when she was feeling defeated. Repeating the empowering words of the album’s eponymous lead track like a mantra, to regain self-worth after a painful breakup, she created her emotional fight music.
Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 06 December 2019
Keep It Honest: How Gerry Cinnamon Became A Cult Hero
Photo: Luke Joyce Gerry Cinnamon. Know the name?
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 05 December 2019
Hope Is 'The Thing With Feathers': Introducing The Revitalising Prog-Pop of Exploring Birdsong
Prog rock is not a cool genre. It hasn’t been for a very, very long time. Ask the Average Joe on the street what they think of when they think ‘prog rock’, and they’ll almost certainly bring up something silly from the 1970s: Geddy Lee dancing while wearing a cape, a 20-minute Rick Wakeman keyboard solo, or Peter Gabriel singing in his most fabulous fluorescent makeup.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Now What? Everybody's Dead!: Cattle Decapitation Talk Revisiting Armageddon on 'Death Atlas'
On August 7, 2015, San Diego’s gory death metal favourites Cattle Decapitation released their sixth album, ‘The Anthropocene Extinction’. With a title that alluded to the Earth’s sixth mass extinction—the ongoing destruction wreaked by humanity’s manipulation of the environment—it was very much a disc fascinated with the end of the world.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
'We Just Love It': San Cisco Get Under The Skin Of Their New Music
Photo: Pooneh Ghana The October return of San Cisco was a suitably smooth affair. The Australian indie-pop band’s comeback single, Skin, strolled into our lives with a hook that wouldn’t quit and the sort of sunny disposition that has long characterised their output. But lurking at the margins were open wounds, broken promises and the remnants of a busted relationship. That unrefined darkness was new.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 26 November 2019
Sonic Alchemists: How Judah & The Lion Turned Suffering Towards Salvation
You haven’t truly lived until you’ve heard someone rapping over the bluegrass strains of a banjo. Or until you’ve experienced the sound of a band who smash together folk, hip hop, EDM, and punk beneath stirring lyrics that make you feel 10 feet tall. Luckily, Judah & the Lion are the wildly talented and eclectic US trio who do all the above and much more.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 25 November 2019
All This or Bust: Band of Skulls Reflect on 'Baby Darling Doll Face Honey'
To outsiders, it often seems that any fresh faced group who ‘suddenly’ arrive on the scene with a bang, and subsequently reap the rewards their newfound status commands, have had it easy and somehow fluked their way out of obscurity. But before hit singles and worldwide tours, there often lies a story of hard graft, setbacks and intense frustration, making that eventual breakthrough taste even sweeter.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 22 November 2019
What Comes Naturally: Pigs x7 Talk Following Up 'King Of Cowards'
Newcastle, a city perched on the Tyne river in the north east of England, is a relatively small place. A 10 minute taxi journey is all it takes to get from one end of the centre to the other, and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs vocalist Matt Baty and guitarist Adam Ian Sykes credit those intimate surroundings with helping to usher along the assembly of the uncompromising band, who take an alternative, almost noise-rock, approach to metal.
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 14 November 2019
The Magic and the Mundane: Earth Moves Discuss the Enigmatic 'Human Intricacy'
Photo: Leo Solti “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a phrase so old and frequently utilised that it’s basically become a cliché. However, for Earth Moves, its repeated usage doesn’t make it any less true. On their second album, ‘Human Intricacy’, the noisy wrecking crew create music that’s intentionally ambiguous, designed to draw wildly different reactions from different people.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Exorcise Your Demons: False Advertising On The Communal Spirit Behind The Abrasive 'Brainfreeze'
Something that binds together those clustered on stage and those massed in front is the fact that music is an outlet: a mechanism to help us face or forget our problems. “It’s the equivalent of a punchbag,” is how False Advertising’s Jen Hingley puts it.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 08 November 2019
Tomboy To Tear Jerker: Growing Up With Avril Lavigne
Growing up is a process that everyone must endure, whether we like it or not. Some of us change radically, while others change in more subtle ways. Over 17 years since her debut release Avril Lavigne is back, and the one-time pop-punk icon has completed the latest in a long series of stylistic shifts with her new album, 'Head Above Water'.
Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 07 November 2019
Not Quite Hella Mega: How 'Warning:' Quietly Set The Table For Green Day's Blockbuster Era
When the Hella Mega tour rolls into stadiums next summer, Green Day will be right at home. From its name on down the trek—which will find the pop-punk veterans joined by emo survivors Fall Out Boy and alt-rock provocateurs Weezer—is poised to embrace spectacle at each turn, wringing every available drop of goofy grandeur from the headliners’ latter day sense of pomp and circumstance.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Past Meets Present: Inside The Glorious Return of Alphabeat
Just over a decade ago, Alphabeat’s trend-defying brand of classic pop lit up the indie world like an explosion of neon rainbows across a dreary winter sky. And now, history looks set to repeat itself. After a five year hiatus that followed a painful decline in their fortunes, ‘Don’t Know What’s Cool Anymore’ is a luminous comeback record overflowing with the purest gloss you’ll hear this side of the ‘80s. As well as hooks. Lots and lots of sparkling hooks.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 31 October 2019
That's The Deal: The Emotional Pact Nick Cave Makes With His Audience
Photo: Matthew Thorne Glastonbury, 2013. Nick Cave feels compelled to meet his public.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
The Long Road: Daughters Unravel The History Of Their Intense Live Shows
Photo: A.F. Cortes “I don’t normally do anything on Halloween. I don’t get dressed up or anything like that. I have kids, so I try to take them out, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot to me. It’s just a day.”
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Going Overboard: Palm Reader On Following Up 'Braille' and Their Split Covers EP With Conjurer
At the end of this year Palm Reader will wind up the touring cycle for their 2018 album ‘Braille’. The hardcore band plan to celebrate by playing the record in its entirety during a hometown show at Nottingham’s Rough Trade in December, also known as “the place that welcomed us with open arms when we started to write it” according to drummer Dan Olds.
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 25 October 2019
'It Feels Very Fierce To Me And Very Open': Common Holly Talks 'When I Say To You Black Lightning'
Photo: Alex Apostolidis The soothing tones of Common Holly’s instrumentals dance innocently alongside the singer’s unfailingly pretty vocals. The accomplished, creative Montreal native Brigitte Naggar trades in thought-provoking music for anxious lovers.
Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 22 October 2019
They Never Rest: Cultdreams Talk 10 Years Together
“Neither of us are the same people, are we?” Cultdreams vocalist and guitarist Lucinda Livingstone says to drummer Conor Dawson. “Both of our lives have changed so drastically from what they were. When we met I was 17, and then when we started a band together we were 18 or 19. Think how much you change from being a teenager to then being...I don’t know if I would call either of us an adult, but when you think about it, it’s mad.”
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 16 October 2019
Between Two Worlds: Alcest Discuss The Psychic Crisis of 'Spiritual Instinct'
“I had some flashes and visions of a place that didn’t look anywhere close to something real. I have no idea why I had this, or where it came from. It was somewhere very magical—the most beautiful thing you could ever think about. I don’t know what to call it, I don’t know what it is. I just know it has transformed me.”
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Monday, 14 October 2019
