Modern Love: Craig Finn Finds Hope In Adversity On 'We All Want The Same Things'

When Craig Finn was young he spent a fair bit of time with a copy of Lou Reed’s Greatest Hits. In particular, he was drawn to Wild Child and its cast of characters: Chuck, Phil, Betty, Ed and Lorraine. Back in 2012, while discussing the pros and cons of striking out from the comfort of your band prior to the release of his solo bow, ‘Clear Heart, Full Eyes’, he told Jessica Hopper that his biggest takeaway from the song was a simple one: he wanted to know more about Chuck.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 15 March 2017

Embodying An Aesthetic With Sound: Idles' Joe Talbot Talks 'Brutalism'

“In the rank of unflattering monikers for an artistic style, Brutalism has got to score near the top. Like the much kinder-sounding Fauvism or Impressionism, it was a term of abuse for the work of architects whose buildings confronted their users - brutalized them - with hulking, piled-up slabs of raw, unfinished concrete.” - Nikil Saval, the New York Times

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Off The Rails In Bangkok: Jam Baxter Talks 'Mansion 38'

Critics generally tend to split British MCs into three camps: street-oriented grime artists, boom bap-obsessed backpackers and, for want of a better word, the mavericks.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Friday, 10 March 2017

Ride: Many Happy Returns To 'Going Blank Again'

Here’s a claim to get us started: Creation Records boasted perhaps the coolest roster of acts ever assembled in one place. The label, founded in the early ‘80s by Alan McGee, put out some of the most revered works in British rock history and, along the way, assembled a catalogue that remains astonishing. Forget ‘astonishing for an indie label’. Just astonishing.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 09 March 2017

Gonna Build An Army, Gonna Smash That Patriarchy: Introducing Peach Club

Photo: Poppy Marriott There may be almost 5,000 miles and three decades separating the riot grrrl scene that blossomed in Olympia, Washington and Peach Club’s inception in Norwich, but a single spin of Mission Impossible, one half of their recent double a-side single, will have you feeling as though you’ve been transported back to the early ‘90s through the medium of unapologetic feminist lyrics and raw mixes reminiscent of Bratmobile and Bikini Kill.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 07 March 2017

Wonder, Beauty, Isolation: Jagwar Ma Talk 'Every Now & Then'

Jagwar Ma have been composing accessibly irreverent psychedelia for half a decade now. Layering kaleidoscopic sounds, they effortlessly married imagination with melody on their second album, ‘Every Now & Then’, which was released last autumn.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Ripping Up The Rulebook: Luke Morley On The Evolution Of Thunder

Having spent the best part of three decades making top notch bluesy rock 'n’ roll records dripping with soul and swagger, Thunder surely deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Free, Bad Company and Whitesnake when it comes to great British bands of our time. ‘Rip It Up’, their new album, is an artistic tour de force that exemplifies that claim, with the group delivering everything we’ve come to expect while also pulling a number of delightful rabbits out of their hat.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 22 February 2017

A Brighter Side To Things: Introducing Tkay Maidza

Photo: Andrew O'Toole Scaling fluorescent sonic plains, Tkay Maidza is the fresh Zimbabwean-Australian vocal talent who bagged herself a celebrity cheerleading squad before dropping her debut LP.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 20 February 2017

Cult Concern: Chris Olley On The Legacy Of Six. By Seven

Everyone has a song, an album or even an entire artist’s catalogue tucked away in their collection that, for some obscure reason, none of their friends own, don’t they?

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 16 February 2017

It's A Live Thing, A Living Thing: Francois and the Atlas Mountains Discuss 'Solide Mirage'

Photo: Tom Joye Cynicism bounces happily alongside optimism and irony on Fránçois and the Atlas Mountains’ fourth album, ‘Solide Mirage’. Recorded throughout the summer of 2016 at Jet Studios in Brussels and influenced by the terrible international derailments of peace that threatened his home country of France and then rippled across Europe, it's the result of Fránçois Marry taking to his music to compute the chaos.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 09 February 2017

'The Essence Of The Political Struggle Is Inherent In The Music': Sinkane Talks 'Life & Livin' It'

“When I heard it, I was completely blown away. It was a distinctive African music that wore these American influences in this really earnest, honest, excited and beautiful way. You could hear James Brown, Funkadelic and Sly Stone. Synthesisers, drum machines and weird cyclical grooves that were kind of like Afrobeat. They had this Caribbean feel - very tropical.”

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 07 February 2017

Fleetwood Mac: Many Happy Returns To 'Rumours'

Many albums lay claim to being the best of all time. But ‘Rumours’ has a stronger case than most. Released in 1977, Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album was designed not to have an inch of filler and achieved its goal with room to spare. Of its rivals, perhaps only the Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ could muster that defence so convincingly.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 06 February 2017

All Roads Lead Home: Dave Hause Talks 'Bury Me In Philly'

A few months ago, Paint it Black offered to perform a public service. “At a movie premiere and Springsteen is here,” the Philadelphia hardcore band posted on Twitter. “If this gets enough RTs I'll punch him in the dick for ruining punk!”

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 02 February 2017

All The Right Moves: Introducing Aaron Keylock

Anyone with an IQ  larger than a mushy cucumber knows how stupid the whole ‘rock is dead’ argument sounds. Yet, after the last 12 months, we’re increasingly aware that the genre’s icons, those who built its foundations and shaped its sound, are not impervious to the grim reaper’s merciless scythe. We need new heroes to worship, new blood to carry the music into the future without losing the roots of the past. Step forward 19-year-old Aaron Keylock.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 01 February 2017

Beachheads: Singing Their Sorrow

You’re in a band called Kvelertak. You play an unholy concoction of black metal and classic rock. Your lead singer wears an owl on his head every night. Surely, at some point, you’re gonna have to fishbowl the whole operation and realise there might be more to this whole rock ‘n’ roll thing. Something simpler, perhaps.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Look Back To Move Forward: The Menzingers' 'After The Party'

When you look like Robert Redford, there’s an expectation that things will go your way. Hubbell Gardiner looks like Robert Redford and spends most of The Way We Were, Sydney Pollack’s glossy ‘70s romance, expecting things to go his way. Your man’s got blonde hair, blue eyes. At college, he rowed, threw a mean javelin and laughed his way through pickup football games. He’s charming, intelligent and gets paid to put words in actors’ mouths. By the end of the film, as he shares a few beers on the deck of his old friend JJ’s boat, he’s also a cheat who’s about to walk out on his family; a political inactivist who might lose his career to McCarthyism. But can he still crack a cold one and reminisce about his favourite Saturday as the California surf goes about its business? You bet he can.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 26 January 2017

Pop Goes DIY: Introducing Sacred Paws

Photo: David Pollock “Energetic pop music that comes from the heart, but also comes from a place of DIY punk, so it’s more stripped back music making, but also influenced by a lot of African pop music.”

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 26 January 2017

From Falun To Brixton: Sabaton And The Rise Of Power Metal

Falun is a small city in the middle of Sweden. Once an integral copper mining community, the capital of Dalarna County boasts a population of around 35,000 and is surrounded by idyllic greenery and ski slopes. Its shopping centre is a sprawling, suburban loungeabout and on the outskirts of town there’s a Max Burger restaurant. Its mine and the surrounding areas are a Unesco World Heritage site, too.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 25 January 2017

Keep It Snappy: Slowcoaches And The Art Of Pairing Pointed Words With Sharp Hooks

You don’t need a thousand words to make a point. Usually, a single phrase is enough. Often, a pop song can tell you all you need to know about a person or situation in three minutes.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 20 January 2017

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes: More Than Modern Ruin

“Before, I was just an obnoxious, arrogant little cunt. I didn’t have any respect for what I had. I didn’t appreciate what I had.”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Code Orange: Bleeding Through Blurred Lines on 'Forever'

In its purest form, hardcore can be the most liberating, primal art you’ll ever come across. Minor Threat made you want to scream at a wall. Black Flag made you want to damage inanimate objects. Sick Of It All would make most unsuspecting civilians vomit on the spot. It’s a dangerous, bare-knuckle sport that contends with the fastest bands thrash has to offer and the ugliest, coldest of black metallers.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 10 January 2017

Fresh Faces: Stereoboard's Ones To Watch In 2017

td#right {display:none !important;} A new year means exciting fresh faces. You know how it works. Head below to get acquainted with some of the artists we think will be shaping the musical conversation in 2017.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Monday, 09 January 2017

The Doors: Many Happy Returns To 'The Doors'

As 1967’s Summer of Love swirled around Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the free spirits of the hippie movement reached their zenith in a cocktail of sex, drugs, music and anti- Vietnam war sentiment.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 06 January 2017

Stereoboard's Staff Picks 2016

With Stereoboard’s top 50 albums of 2016 now out in the world, it’s time to get up close and personal. Head below to check out individual lists from our staff and contributors. Happy listening.

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Wednesday, 21 December 2016

50 From 2016: Stereoboard's Albums Of The Year

td#right {display:none !important;} It’s the most wonderful time of the year...list time. It might seem like a lot to take in, but here are some solid gold picks from 12 months of reviews at Stereoboard. They’re not in any order, so think of this as a digital vinyl bin.  Happy discovering/reminiscing/listening. We'll see you in 2017.

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Monday, 19 December 2016

Reigning Champion: Why Freddie Mercury Is Still The Greatest

You could spend a billion dollars, use all the futuristic technology at your disposal and have a crack team of scientists working around the clock, but attempts to custom build the perfect rock ‘n’ roll frontman will always be futile. Why? Well, because the results will always pale in comparison to Queen’s Freddie Mercury.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 19 December 2016

David Bowie: Many Happy Returns To 'Hunky Dory'

This year will be remembered in future as one of great loss. Legend is a term loosely applied these days but the late Merle Haggard, Prince and Leonard Cohen all comfortably fell into the category. It was David Bowie, though, whose passing was perhaps widest felt.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 15 December 2016

Creative Outlet: Black Foxxes Talk 'I'm Not Well' And Future Plans

Last summer, Modern Baseball had plans. The Philadelphia pop-punk band were set to play Reading and Leeds festivals and tour Australia, both big events for a group still in its relative infancy, but scratched them from the calendar at short notice. Brendan Lukens, one of their two guitarist-vocalists, needed to take some time out to deal with long-standing anxiety and depression. “After the last few months it's evident that it's time to put everything else aside to focus on making steps towards positive mental health,” he wrote at the time.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Smash The Status Quo: Gojira's Unstoppable Rise Through The Metal Ranks

“We are Gojira and this song is called Back. Fucking. Bone.”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 06 December 2016

Keeping It Honest: The Shires Talk 'My Universe' And The Rise Of Country Music In The UK

When it comes to British country duo The Shires, the word remarkable seems apt. After only three years as a band the achievements and accolades they’ve accrued are impressive enough, but considering they’ve done it playing a style of music that, not so long ago, was about as welcome on this side of the Atlantic as a fox in a hen house, their story is all the more interesting.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 05 December 2016

Still Standing: Billy Talent Talk Longevity And 'Afraid Of Heights'

I can’t remember what I was doing 25 years ago, but that’s probably because I was a six-year-old maniac who spent most days running around/into the dining room table. Billy Talent frontman Ben Kowalewicz remembers the early ‘90s well. Back then, his life revolved around garage bands in Mississauga, Ontario. And from where he was sitting, Ian D’Sa was the best guitarist in town.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 28 November 2016

Pick Up The Pen: Fliptrix On The Thriving UK Hip Hop Scene And 'Patterns Of Escapism'

Photo: AboveGround Fliptrix isn’t "just a rapper". In many ways, he’s carried the UK hip hop scene on his shoulders for over half a decade. Since setting up High Focus Records in 2010 he’s helped launch the careers of artists who are now considered innovators: Jam Baxter, Ocean Wisdom, Dirty Dike. The list goes on.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Alter Bridge: Mark Tremonti Talks Creative Partnerships, 'The Last Hero' And Future Goals

With song titles like Show Me A leader, Writing On The Wall and Island of Fools, Alter Bridge’s ‘The Last Hero’ seemed incredibly timely when it was released in October. A month later, following the outcome of the US election, the anger and bewilderment contained within its bombastic, angst-ridden tracks now appear terrifyingly prophetic.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 21 November 2016

For Better Or Worse: The Legacy of Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet'

Beyond the sales numbers that run well into eight figures. Beyond the way it catapulted its creators to superstardom. And beyond the pin-up good looks of the band’s frontman, Bon Jovi’s 1986 breakthrough ‘Slippery When Wet’ was a game-changing release with far-reaching consequences. It reinvigorated the ‘80s rock scene, only to play an unwitting part in its demise.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 17 November 2016

Knowledge Transfer: My Chemical Romance's Ray Toro Returns With Solo Bow 'Remember The Laughter'

Changing nappies might not get the blood pumping like headlining Reading Festival with Brian May at your side, but having a baby puts all that stuff into perspective. The awards, the sold-out crowds, the adoration and disdain...it’s all disposable. It’s all gone if you want it to be.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Life Moves Pretty Fast: Brian Fallon On Going Solo With 'Painkillers' And His Next Step

Brian Fallon fronted the Gaslight Anthem for 10 years; long enough for his name to become synonymous with a brand of from-the-heart punk songs cut from classic American rock cloth. Last summer, though, he went it alone.

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

Crazy, Shreddy, Raw: Less Than Jake's 'Losing Streak' Turns 20

Photos: Less Than Jake at Fest 15 by Gaëlle​ Pitrel History will show that ska-punk’s time under the mainstream spotlight was as short as it was goofy and weird. Most people filed it away in a box alongside a battered pair of check Vans a long time ago. But not Less Than Jake. Nor, it’s fair to say, the thousands who packed out Brixton Academy a few weeks ago to sweat away a Thursday night with them.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 10 November 2016

All About The South: Jaren Johnston On The Cadillac Three And Writing For Country's Big Names

It must be great being Jaren Johnston right about now. Not only have his band, the Cadillac Three, released a strong contender for album of the year with ‘Bury Me In My Boots’, he’s also one of Nashville’s most sought after songwriters and is set to become a father for the first time in the spring.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 04 November 2016

Yourself or Someone Like You: The Polarising Power of Matchbox Twenty

The old superhero maxim states that with great power comes great responsibility. But it’s an adage that can often be retooled and applied to successful bands: “With great acclaim and sales comes great hatred and derision.” In the case of Matchbox Twenty that was certainly true after the group’s mega-selling debut album, ‘Yourself or Someone Like You’, helped forge their reputation as one of the most adored and loathed American rock outfits of the post-grunge era. With the record currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, a reappraisal is long overdue.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 02 November 2016

The Personal Is Political: Kevin Devine Navigates Good Times And Bad On 'Instigator'

Leafing through photographs at his mother’s house, Kevin Devine found a picture that would help his new record, ‘Instigator’, make sense. In it, a Christmas tree shimmers in the background of his childhood apartment on Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn. On one side, Kevin shouts his heart out. On the other his younger brother, Dan, raises a wrestling championship over his head like a post-flying elbow Randy Savage. “I was back there when I saw it,” Devine said.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 27 October 2016

Still Unique After All These Years: DJ Shadow's 'Endtroducing.....' Turns 20

‘Endtroducing.....’ is the record that broke DJ Shadow, the Californian turntablist, in the US and UK, while simultaneously helping to define trip-hop; a uniquely ambient hip-hop subgenre. It’s an album that influenced a generation of producers and one that has been described as “trip-hop’s crowning achievement”. At 20, it remains in rude health.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 26 October 2016

The Human League: Many Happy Returns To 'Dare'

In 1981, the Human League saw their career hit the stratosphere. But to get there, the previously arty Sheffield electro band had to endure a severing of ties. Their first two albums, ‘Reproduction’ and ‘Travelogue’, were  made by the original line-up - singer Philip Oakey and keyboard wizards Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware alongside visual artist Philip Adrian Wright - and amounted to a creatively intriguing but commercially indifferent start.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 24 October 2016

Chuck Mosley: A Reintroduction

Photo: Chuck Mosley (seated, front) during his time with Faith No More “So here I am, for my family, on my knees, asking for help. I'm ashamed for being in this condition, that I have to burden others who look to me only to be my friend, and for me to be theirs, and I am abusing that relationship. And I apologise. But for my family, I'll do anything.”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 13 October 2016

Unravelling Ideas: Parquet Courts' Sean Yeaton On Humour, Anxiety And 'Human Performance'

Thrashing out intelligent and chaotically cathartic chords, New York’s four-man noise choir Parquet Courts create music for the more refined punk.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 04 October 2016

This Is The End: The Dillinger Escape Plan Prepare To Sign Off With 'Dissociation'

Dissociation noun  The action of disconnecting or separating or the state of being disconnected.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Friday, 30 September 2016

What Do You Think About Joyce Manor? Barry Johnson Talks 'Cody'

Photo: Dan Monick Obvious questions are the devil. They’re a bankable way for a writer to come across as poorly informed or lacking imagination and a creeping rot capable of quickly undoing an interview from the inside out. But this one isn’t going to go away: How many times has Barry Johnson been asked what he thinks about Kanye West in the last two months?

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 28 September 2016

Primal Scream: Many Happy Returns To 'Screamadelica'

Until 1989, Primal Scream had hardly set the world alight. Formed in 1982, their debut album ‘Sonic Flower Groove’ (1987) was a collection of Byrdsian jangle pop that sold disappointingly and led to a divide that saw singer Bobby Gillespie, guitarist Andrew Innes and bassist Rob Young as the three remaining members from an initial five. The band’s eponymous follow up, released two years later, suffered the same fate. But something else happened that year that would change their fortunes forever.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 23 September 2016

Find A Doorway: William DuVall On The Weird World Of Giraffe Tongue Orchestra

Photo: Johnny Buzzerio “Can’t we at least put ‘Orchestra’ at the end? Y’know, class it up a bit? If it’s got ‘Orchestra’ in it, it must have some sort of substance. Not just all this silliness.”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Monday, 19 September 2016

Weaves: Car Swaps And Team Bonding On The Road To The Future

"Sometimes it feels like bands aren't necessary, like they're not the ones pushing music forward. I think we're trying to hopefully prove that bands aren't boring. If we are going to be a band and if we are going to do this guitar, bass and drums thing then we might as well see how much we can fuck it up."

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 16 September 2016

Honesty At All Times: Jeremy Bolm Reflects On Touche Amore's 'Stage Four'

It seems like only our parents leave voicemails.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 08 September 2016