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