Dave Franklin
Musician, scribbler, historian, gnostic, seeker of enlightenment, asker of the wrong questions, delver into the lost archives, fugitive from the law of averages, blogger, quantum spanner, left footed traveller, music journalist, zenarchist, freelance writer, reviewer and gemini. People have woken up to worse.
Inch of Doubt – Born Thief
In a world that it is generally filled with indent-i-kit indie rock at one extreme and disposable, studio hatched, created by committee, dance music...
Neptune Estate – King Krule
The Zoo Kid is back! Well I guess he has never been away, it’s just with ever shifting stage names to match the differing...
Mondo Porfondo/New Worlds – Karda Estra
Some music is easy to pigeon hole for purpose. Music to dance to, music to chill out to, music that excites or soothes, makes...
Test Your Love – Buffalo Clover (reviewed by Dave...
As someone who hasn’t travelled as much of the world as I would like, who explores a lot of the world through it’s music...
Sometime Soon – The Snakes
Watching a band evolve over time is an interesting experience, an experience made even the more enjoyable when the people involved are familiar to...
The Big Hunt – The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company
I guess I find it hard getting my head around the idea of a band such as The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company coming from...
Reclaimed – Louise Latham
It is far too easy to label singer-songwriters as folk artists just because of the often laid back nature of their music and the...
Pastor Skull – Blyth Power
Following that eternal quest to bring to the publics attention some of the worthy yet obscure bands and albums that have helped colour my...
Wythches – Incubus Succubus
Incubus Succubus are not a band that many people will have heard of, which is a shame, particularly if you are passionate about rock...
The Book of Secrets – Loreena McKennitt (reviewed by Dave...
Loreena McKennitt is not a household name for many, though she has been creating a very unique brand of music for many years, her...
Rubies and Ruffians – Strumpets (Jezus Factory)
Considering the musical endeavors the various members of Strumpets have on their musical CV (The Parallels, iH8 Camera and close connections to the heart...
The Trumpet – Mexico Indigo
Although Mexico Indigo list the usual gutter punk and indie influences by way of explaining the self styled Trashy Melodica sound that is their...
Gold or Dust – Cocos Lovers
The flippant journalist might say that Cocos Lovers are the band that Mumford and Sons wish they were. Being a flippant journalist I definitely...
The Lovers – The Victoria, Swindon 25th April 2013 – reviewed...
Pop music has always suffered from style over substance to a large degree, but when did the music take a back seat to stick...
Warm Robot – Jen Olive
It’s a testament to modern technology that an artist in America can collaborate with a record label in England to make an album without...
The Slow Show, The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge, 8th November...
Big test for The Simo, this one---. How on EARTH do you review a band that you’ve fallen instantly, head-over-heels, HOPELESSLY in love with?...
The Plum Tree and The Rose – Sarah McQuaid (Waterbug Records)...
After exploring the traditional styles of Ireland and The Appalachians on previous albums, her third, The Plum Tree and The Rose, has its feet firmly...
Buffalo Nickel – Dan Baird
After ten years as front man for the Georgia Satellites, Dan Baird decided to fire himself from his own band and head out on...
Navigating by the Stars – Justin Sullivan
Justin Sullivan is a man who may need an introduction, as he is not exactly what you would call a household name. He is...
One Night on Fire – Tiny fish
Generic music labels are tricky beasts at the best of times. They may be easy (or lazy) handles but they can be very limiting...
The Siege of Shoreham – Attila the Stockbroker’s Barnstormer
Although this album is listed as being by Southwick's punk poet extraordinaire, it is in fact a wider collaboration than the cover at first...
Waiting For Bonaparte – The Men They Couldn’t Hang
The Men They Couldn't Hang have always been a band that are difficult to define in the scheme of things. More a rock band...
Jesus Was a Socialist – David Marx (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Coming to this album as I did at the same time as the brilliant My Crucial Execution, opens up many opportunities to compare an...
My Crucial Execution – David Marx (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
In a time long assigned to the past, but which was in reality the mid eighties, I was the owner of a demo tape...
Morrissey – Manchester Evening News Arena – 28th July 2012
Our man about town Richie Rochdale was there for a hometown show by the mercurial mozzer and tests the oft repeated slogan that suggests "Manchester is...
Metal Box In Dub, Laugharne, 15th April 2012 (reviewed by Richie...
The band featuring ex-'Public Image Ltd' Jah Wobble & Keith Levene, with Johnny Rotter & drummer Marc Layton Benett, performing the best of their...
LoveJunk – The Refugees (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The genres of pop and rock have always seemed worlds apart to many, fans and writers alike. Both are awash with cliché’s and self...
The Devil writes about all the best tunes – Apathy For...
It’s easy to forget in these days where music journalism has been reduce to sound bites and amusing lists, banal questions about fashion or...
Navigation of The World by Sound – Atari Pilot...
When putting pen to paper on behalf of Atari Pilots debut album, Navigation of the World by Sound, because it's a genre I don't...
Day In, Day Out – Moody Tuesday (reviewed by Dave...
As the opening track kicks in, lazy journalists would have Moody Tuesday pegged as just another bunch of Oasis wannbees; laddish, anthemic rock that...
