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.
Above the Roof & In the Tree – Zegovia (reviewed by...
You have to love a song that wastes no time in getting on with the job at hand, especially when the job at hand...
Hidden Power – Euplasia (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The phrase power pop both says exactly what it is in those two words and yet, as a genre, remains a broad and varied affair. And...
Stranger Than Fiction: A short chat with The Flavor That Kills...
With a new album, Thunderbird Lodge, on the way, I sat down and caught up with The Flavor That Kills guitarist, singer, and lyricist Ryan Corcoran, to find...
Peasants Of The Show – The Casbahs (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The thing I love about this Durhamite 5-piece, one of the many things, is their ability to write songs that already feel like classics....
Firefly – BLOCK (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Songs are written for so many different reasons, perhaps for as many reasons as there are individual thoughts and life experiences to be had....
Needle – Hot Hail! (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Walking deftly between the rich soundscape of those post-punk synth pioneers and the cutting edge of alternative pop, this third single, taken from Hot...
149 Northbound – Elephant Moon (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
First take performances have a special place in studio recording. While the assumption is that the modern studio and the technology of the day...
Beyond Words: A brief conversation with Myles Cochran
With a new album, What You Said, now out, I caught up with Myles Cochran to talk about his journey, physical and musical, the new album, and...
In Every Quiet Moment – Lawrence Tomini (reviewed by Dave...
“In Every Quiet Moment” is a song that seems to exist in a very specific space, a place between not only genres, sounds, and...
Turn Down The Noise – The Yum Yum Tree (reviewed by...
Just as you would hardly expect to find a rock and roll band asking someone to “Turn Down The Noise,” you might think that...
Don’t Let The Songbirds Cry – CS Hellmann (reviewed by Dave...
In a world where (I know that sounds a bit AI written, I assure you it is not. But that is the sort of...
Album Premiere: Favourite Girl – Favourite Girl (reviewed by Dave...
We are used to artists emerging from under a known band moniker to make music under their own name; it happens all the time....
I’m Reigning Ungodly – Flippin’ Gothic Fabp (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Worlds colliding is exactly how new music gets made. No one ever shaped the future from the safety of a comfort zone, and as...
F.I.V.E. – Fear Increases Violent Emotions – Christine Plays Viola (reviewed...
Kicking off with a song that runs for almost seven minutes shows you that this is a band that isn’t bothered about building things...
Holiday From My Head – WØLFFE (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If most songs that are described as taking the listener on a sonic journey tend to go from soft to loud, from spacious to...
The Touch – Raymond Castronovo (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I am just about old enough to remember that time in the late seventies when the long-haired, guitar-wielding community felt so threatened by the...
Birthday Cake – Ava Valianti (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If I were one of those more pedantic writers, I would probably be giving you a potted history of the early eighties post-punk scene...
Flight – Near Death Experience (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I’ve been writing about Near Death Experience for a while now, and even with a handful of their releases under my pen, I would be hard...
Single Premiere: Move the Needle – Frank Gappa (reviewed by Dave...
I’ve always loved music made in that certain sweetspot, the one where the growl and groove of rock and roll washes up on more...
Limerence – The Ingrid (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Most bands, faced with the choice of how to make an impact on the scene with their debut release, would take a more obvious...
The Laws Of Life – Lois Powell + Night Wolf (reviewed by...
It is fair to say that this ongoing collaboration between Night Wolf and Lois Powell is producing some fantastic results. Not that you would...
Melt – Poison Oak (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Poison Oak has always been one of those bands brilliant at balancing the fresh with the familiar. Listen to any one of their songs, and...
Trick of the Light (The Ellipsist remix) – Aarktica (reviewed by...
Remixes fascinate me. They also speak as voluminously about the person, allowing their music to have another day in the sun, a whole new...
Glitter Up The Dark – Jessye DeSilva (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
You hardly have to be told that Jessye DeSilva and her collaborator and producer, Aaron Lee Tasjan, set out to explore the idea of unabashed joy on...
Single Premiere: God Stuff (2026) – Rebecca Aadland (reviewed by Dave...
Faith is a powerful force. It can unite people, raise the most iconic monuments, and bring love, sympathy, hope, and charity into the world....
Feverlock – Frezya (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Once you understand that the title refers to that moment that the deed is done and you find yourself in that state of closeness,...
Inside – Byorn Gold (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I have always praised Byorn Gold's approach to releasing music. Dividing his long-players into three EPs and releasing them as a staggered series before...
No FEAR – Paul Archer (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“No FEAR” might be taken from Paul Archer’s debut album, but that doesn’t mean that he is new to the sonic fray. Anything but. With bands...
Rising From The Ashes – Brunhilde (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Backed up by a run of European gigs starting later this month, Brunhilde’s latest release, “Rising From The Ashes,” reminds us of all the things...
Broken Vein – Outpost Drive (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Outpost Drive is perhaps one of few bands that actually deserve the title, “Transatlantic Americana”, which is as much a description of their music as it...
