The View From The Merch Table: Teenage Wrist

Photo: Joe Calixto If you love music, your wardrobe is likely stuffed full of band shirts. You might have a bunch of hoodies or a cap or two as well, or maybe something even more eclectic than that. It’s a conversation starter with fellow fans, a way of announcing that you belong to a certain scene, and a way of shouting about bands you love. On top of that, it’s also a vital way of putting money in artists’ pockets at a time where making enough money is harder than ever. Put simply, it’s the lifeblood of music.

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Tuesday, 26 November 2024

The Cure: Twists and Rewards on the Long Road to 'Songs Of A Lost World'

Crawley has changed beyond all recognition since Robert Smith’s family moved to the New Town from Blackpool in the mid-1960s. The West Sussex town’s bandstand, an early spot for a bit of (Easy) Cure entertainment, has been relocated to its memorial gardens, for example, offering a small glimpse at the incremental shifts that add up to a complete transformation over time. That’s something The Cure understand intimately.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 08 November 2024

The 10 Songs We NEED to Hear on Kasabian's UK and Ireland Arena Tour

Photo: Neil Bedford For all the talk of rock music having died over the past couple of decades, Kasabian sure have done alright for themselves. The Leicester-based band has been on a tear since their self-titled debut album in 2004, firmly planting themselves in that conversation of biggest British bands.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Wednesday, 06 November 2024

The View From The Merch Table: Softcult

“I love to use merch as a statement,” Mercedes Arn-Horn says. “Not only as a piece of our identity, but also sometimes as a social and a political statement, too.”

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Entry Level: Gatecreeper on Making Extreme Music for the Masses

Photo: Joey Maddon In death metal circles calling a band ‘entry level’ is an insult, implying the artist in question isn’t heavy or authentic enough to truly belong. For Gatecreeper, though, being ‘entry-level’ is the ultimate career goal. “I think that it’s a good thing, I think that it’s necessary,” says singer Chase Mason. “Everyone has to start somewhere. I’m OK with being an entry level band if it means we’re getting people into death metal.”

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 29 October 2024

The 10 Songs We NEED to Hear on Sugababes' Massive Arena Tour

It’s been more than a decade since Sugababes’ OG trio officially reformed, but in the past few years the group has gone from strength to strength. Alongside a wild comeback slot at Glastonbury, we got an album of rescued and reworked recordings plus headline shows that were celebrations of outsized pop brilliance.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Thursday, 24 October 2024

A Different Bird Sang: Indie-Rock Greats Mercury Rev Talk 'Born Horses'

The idea of flight permeates ‘Born Horses’, Mercury Rev’s latest album. “I dreamed we were born horses waiting for wings,” sings frontman and lyricist Jonathan Donahue during the title track, while on the closing song he declares “there’s always been a bird in me”.

Written by: Jeremy Blackmore | Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2024

RedHook: Meet The Australian Rockers Who Want You To Embrace Your Inner Mutant

RedHook wear their outsider badge with pride. It has already landed the Australian alt-rock band two appearances at Download, most recently last year where they played to a heaving tent, along with a tour with fellow Sydney outfit Stand Atlantic. Now, they’re about to land in the UK again to support Dream State, with shows planned in Cardiff, Derby, Leeds, London and Portsmouth prior to the release of their second album, ‘Mutation’.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Tuesday, 22 October 2024

The 10 Songs We NEED To Hear On Sum 41's Farewell Tour

They soared to the top of pop-punk’s mountain in the early 2000s. They came back from the brink in the 2010s. Now, with eight albums under their collectivebelt and their legacy sealed, Sum 41 are set to call it quits. It feels only right that their UK victory lap will feature their biggest headline shows on this side of the pond, including Manchester’s 23,500-capacity Co-op Live and a mighty London show at the OVO Arena Wembley. Ahead of these dates – which kick off in Leeds on October 26 – we have rounded up the 10 songs that need to hear, just one last time.

Written by: Rishi Shah | Date: Monday, 21 October 2024

Aussie Punk From Amyl and the Sniffers to The Saints

Photo: John Angus Stewart With Amyl and the Sniffers selling out venues like nobody’s business — leading them to confirm their biggest headline show to date at London’s Alexandra Palace next autumn — there’s a spotlight being shone on the world of Aussie punk at the moment. 

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Music Beyond Analysis: Understanding Oranssi Pazuzu, Metal's Strangest Band

Photo: Rainer Paananen The second you tap play on Oranssi Pazuzu’s new album, ‘Muuntautuja’, you’re sucked ear-first into an immersive yet nightmarish void. Bioalkemisti begins the record with a series of pulsing synths, their ever-quickening speed pulling you closer. It’s a hypnotic induction into a 42-minute maelstrom of black-metal screams, krautrock, psychedelia and noise, which swirls and disorients while the rhythms stay simple, keeping you stuck in place and bobbing your head as all manner of hell unfurls. In 2024, no other metal album has felt so challenging while remaining accessible at the same time.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 10 October 2024

Their Velocity: Maxïmo Park on 'Stream of Life' and Staying True to Themselves

Photo: Moja “Every year that we release a new record, we’re further and further away from being the hot new thing,” Maxïmo Park vocalist Paul Smith says with a laugh. Almost 20 years on from their debut, the Newcastle indie-rockers can reflect on becoming one of UK’s most consistent and recognisable bands, even if they have to work for it each and every day. “There are more and more new bands,” Smith continues. “Unless we do something controversial to go viral in some way, we’ll always be battling as an independent band to be heard. It keeps you on your toes.”

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 08 October 2024

Nothing Feels Good: Crows Unpack The Exhilarating Gloom Of 'Another Reason'

Photo: Sandra Ebert For all the hype surrounding the UK post-punk revival that has partly defined the past decade, how much of it has tapped into the doom and gloom of so many of the genre’s greats? Witty lyrics and danceable grooves are all well and good, but the prevailing vibe in the country is pretty despondent right now, saddled with endless austerity, far-right violence and terrible weather that’s only getting worse. So, where’s the glum musical catharsis?

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Monday, 07 October 2024

Frank Carter and Sex Pistols: A Night of Grubby Punk To Treasure

Photos: Jason Miller Why can’t bands ever call it a day and keep it that way? It’s a question that’s been asked regularly of late, not least because of Oasis and Linkin Park reuniting almost simultaneously, stealing headlines and selling a bazillion tickets in the process. More quietly, too, there was the small matter of perhaps the most pioneering and mythologised punk band ever regrouping after 15 years away back in the summer.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 01 October 2024

Coldplay: What Makes a Blockbuster Tour?

With the news that Coldplay’s massive Music of the Spheres World Tour will continue into 2025 with more UK stadium shows next summer — at Hull’s Craven Park Stadium on August 18 and 19, before a record-breaking run of 10 shows at Wembley Stadium in London between August 22 and September 8 — it’s a good time to reflect on the marathon run’s place in the all-time list of blockbuster tours.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2024

'We Were Confident In Ourselves': How Heriot Became The UK's Most Exciting New Metal Band

“We shouldn’t have been allowed to do as much as we have done,” Heriot guitarist Erhan Alman says with a laugh, and it’s true that their rise has been blood-fizzingly rapid since the release of the crushingly intense ‘Profound Morality’ in 2022. It’s also warranted. The EP’s arrival through Church Road Records, the label run by Employed to Serve’s Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin, set in motion an arena tour with Architects and packed out festival sets, including a memorable opening of the Dogtooth stage at Download. “It was all the things we’d ever dreamed of doing,” Alman continues. “We were playing shows with bands we adore, and still not off a real album.”

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2024

The View From The Merch Table: Health

Photo: Mynxii White “I mean, it just amuses me to no end,” says Health’s John Famiglietti, musing on his favourite piece of merch the industrial-rock band have ever produced. He’s talking about the butt plugs that he’ll soon load up for their European tour in support of their brilliant new record ‘Rat Wars’, which will take in UK and Ireland shows in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin, Liverpool and London. 

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Monday, 23 September 2024

Five Artists Who Could Headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show in the Next Decade

Having been announced for Super Bowl LIX’s halftime show — set to take place on February 9, 2025 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans — Kendrick Lamar is poised to join one of the most elite clubs in music, following in the footsteps of Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, The Rolling Stones and last year’s headliner, Usher. The Compton rap titan has already had a taste of that rarefied air after guesting with Dr. Dre at Super Bowl LVI two years ago, but he’s now tasked with creating some iconic moments of his own.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 17 September 2024

'You've Got A Family': Delilah Bon On Loud Fans, The LGBTQ+ Community and 'Evil, Hate Filled Female'

In the four years since Delilah Bon was born, she has evolved at a rapid pace. The alter-ego of Hands Off Gretel’s Lauren Tate, her blend of nu-metal and hip-hop is thoroughly addictive, with a sharp focus on hard-hitting topics that many musicians wouldn’t risk engaging in. Find her standing up for trans rights one moment and calling out the dangers posed to young men by incels the next.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 11 September 2024

'You Can Feel It Shake Your Ribcage': Fat Dog on debut album 'WOOF.'

Photo: Pooneh Ghana Few bands would dare to announce a headline show at the 2,300-capacity O2 Forum in London’s Kentish Town with just three songs to their name. Unless you’ve become the next Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter overnight, any sensible promoter would laugh at such a proposition. Unless you’re Fat Dog, that is. In the case of the mind-bending dance-punks, it simply felt like the natural next step of their journey. It’s happening on November 23, following up a wider UK and Ireland tour in support of their recently released, hotly anticipated debut album ‘WOOF.’.

Written by: Rishi Shah | Date: Tuesday, 10 September 2024