Nice Guys Finish First: Inside Boy Azooga's Whirlwind Year

td#right {display:none !important;} Photos: Liam Taylor/Solidlight   On Quay Street, a dogleg corner away from Womanby Street, Cardiff’s live music hub, sits the Blue Honey Night Café. During the day it’s a hard hat-friendly, bacon and eggs greasy spoon called Sully’s, but come five pm it’s a fried chicken and beer hangout spot. Directly opposite there’s an alcove that smokers use to hide from the rain when the building’s awning is packed with a motley crew of punters, and it’s here in the spring of 2017 that a local musician called Davey Newington set up his guitar and a kick drum to play some songs.  

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018

Beyond The Hits, Beneath The Surface: How 'An American Treasure' Re-Shaped Our View Of Tom Petty

td#right {display:none !important;} Illustration: Sam Davies Whether it’s through their work, the magazine articles we devour or—these days—social media accounts that bombard us with the daily minutiae of their lives, it’s very easy to form the belief that we know everything about our favourite artists. But, while the mediums might be ever-changing, that’s nothing new. Released earlier this year to commemorate the first anniversary of Tom Petty’s death, ‘An American Treasure’ was a bountiful box set that delved deep into the rock ‘n’ roll icon’s work, revealing a journey where the musical and personal were forever intertwined.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018

What Comes Next? Psych-pop Heroes HMS Morris Plot A Future In Immersive Theatre

Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018

You Want To Be Able To Belong: Kevin Devine On The Thrills and Challenges Of Devinyl Splits

td#right {display:none !important;} ​ Illustration: Tom Norton “If you’re a basketball player you don’t get better by playing people you can beat easily. You get better by playing people you might lose to.”​

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 07 December 2018

What Comes Next? Lice Talk Plans To Make Their First Masterpiece In 2019

Photo: Lindsay Melbourne Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 07 December 2018

'It Seemed To Come From Somewhere Outside of Us': Jonathan Meiburg Talks Loma's Sublime Debut

td#right {display:none !important;} Photo: Bryan C. Parker   We’re rarely short of a collaboration to get excited about, but 2018 nevertheless stands out as a banner year. Whether they were born out of a desire for blockbuster streaming figures, an attempt to reinvent an artist’s image, or simply the itch to work with one of your closest musical mates, this year’s best and worst tie ups spanned genres, countries and cultures. At the time of writing, nine of the top 20 songs on the Billboard chart are collabs. Working together, it seems, has never been so fruitful.  

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 06 December 2018

What Comes Next? Goat Girl Talk Sold Out Shows, Staying Creative And Plans For 2019

Photo: Holly Whitaker Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 06 December 2018

What Comes Next? Estrons Discuss Their Next Move After A Breakthrough Year

Photo: Imogen Forte Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite new albums. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 05 December 2018

Star Wars For The Ears: Def Leppard's Phil Collen On 'Hysteria' and Beyond

For the last five years Def Leppard fans, those without money to burn, may have feared the old saying ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ would prove depressingly true for them. After all, it was 2013 when the Sheffield quintet performed their 1987 masterpiece ‘Hysteria’ in its entirety during a residency at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Nevada.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 30 November 2018

Born To Do It: Skindred Frontman Benji Webbe's Top Tips For A Rocking Live Show

“You’re either born to do it or you’re not, and I guess I was born to do it,” Benji Webbe says, a few hours before hitting the stage at Cardiff’s Tramshed with his band, Skindred. “The whole stage performance thing, I fell in love with it from a very early age—I loved putting on the clothes for the Christmas play in Junior School.” When he says early he means early, then. Start as you mean to go on.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Driven By Honesty: Barry Dolan Discusses Oxygen Thief's 'Confusion Species'

Photo: Chris Taylor When Bristol-based songwriter Barry Dolan released 'Destroy It Yourself', the first Oxygen Thief album, in 2011, he stood out for his entirely acoustic take on melodic hardcore if not the subjects he explored. Dolan conveyed ruminations on love, loss and hypocrisy through cryptic metaphors and sharp turns of phrase, complemented by fitful riffing without a backdrop.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 22 November 2018

Nice Electricity: Inside Jawbone's Sizzling Old School Debut

Photo: Rob Blackham Sometimes an album arrives from out of nowhere and knocks you off your feet. There’s something new, yet familiar, about its melodies, its heart-warming immediacy and the effortless chemistry that oozes from the bewitching songs within. We’re basically talking the musical equivalent of love at first sight, which is exactly what fans of bluesy rock ‘n’ roll and American roots music will doubtless feel after hearing Jawbone’s quietly magnificent self-titled bow.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 14 November 2018

'We Wanted To Reach People on a Personal Level': Pijn Discuss The Genre-Defying Power Of 'Loss'

A striking development in the past decade or so has been the extent to which people discover music through mood as opposed to genre. Streaming services have adapted to perceived consumer demand by releasing reams of playlists tailored to every emotion or context imaginable, from deeply depressed to “songs to sing to in the car”. This has its upsides and downsides for a band like Pijn.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Monday, 12 November 2018

Still Evil After All These Years: Bidding Farewell With 10 Of The Best From Thrash Idols Slayer

Photo: Gene Ambo When it was announced back in January that Slayer would pack it in after one final world tour, metalheads across the globe lost the plot for a little while as anticipation swelled ahead of a historic send off. The most evil band of all time are currently packing out arenas in the UK and Ireland, providing a thrash metal experience like no other group can thanks to their ferocious reputation, a stack of crushing guitar riffs, breakneck tempo changes and Tom Araya’s grizzled vocals.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Wednesday, 07 November 2018

Unheavenly Creatures: Coheed and Cambria Turn A New Page

Concept is sometimes a dirty word in rock ‘n’ roll but it’s one that’s impossible to avoid when you’re talking about New York prog heroes Coheed and Cambria, who have crafted a rich catalogue set against the science-fiction backdrop of The Amory Wars, a comic book written by frontman Claudio Sanchez.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 05 November 2018

If You Have Ghost: The Evolution of Metal's Satanic Disco Showstoppers

Illustration: Sam Davies There is a world of difference between Ghost today and the dark, shadowy group that emerged from an occult realm with the release of ‘Opus Eponymous’ at the turn of the decade. Once a band that disgorged Sabbathian doom metal splattered with gothic horror imagery, they have evolved into a rock spectacle that’s part pantomime, part musical and part Satanic disco.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Friday, 26 October 2018

Antarctigo Vespucci Rides Again: Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock Get The Band Back Together

Photo: Andy De Santis I know Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock are friends. You know Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock are friends. But do Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock know that Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock are friends? “Hey,” Farren says from the stage at Bristol’s Exchange. “If you’re excited for Jeff Rosenstock, let me hear you say...‘CHRIS FARREN!’” When Rosenstock’s guitar packs up mid-set, his attempts to borrow Farren’s are met with silence until a member of his band suggests Tweeting him. Yeah, that’d probably do it, Jeff nods.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2018

The Importance of Growth: Soccer Mommy Talks Life Leading Up To 'Clean'

Photo: Natalia Mantini At Thekla, Bristol’s famous floating venue, Soccer Mommy’s Your Dog gets the best reaction from the crowd. Its sentiments reach further than its three minutes of poppy guitar licks as Sophie Allison tells us: “I don't wanna be your fucking dog.”

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Monday, 22 October 2018

Standing Out From The Crowd: Introducing Adwaith And Their Debut Album 'Melyn'

Photo: The Shoot Adwaith have one of the most streamed Welsh language songs of all time, and Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield recently remixed one of their tracks. But there are still way too many people out there who’ve never heard of the Carmarthen trio. Why is that?

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2018

One Step Back, Two Steps Forward: Mike Lindsay On Rekindling the Magic of Tunng

“Progressive folk… acid wonk pop?"

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2018