rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Jim Hall and Nick Duane have served their time and earned their sonic stripes in a who's who of East Coast, grassroots bands such as Undergroove and Monolith, Section Eight and Outpatients. Cold Shivers is the result of their collaboration and a five-track e.p. is the first musical offspring to come from this union. And... Continue Reading →
The great thing about this latest track from 4IV is the anticipation and atmosphere that it builds. The video is almost a mini film in its own right, moving from opening credits to a narrative laying out the theme of what is to follow and then a finger-picked acoustic interlude and it is a full... Continue Reading →
If ever there was an offering of music so difficult to classify it would be Hey! Tonal's new self-titled album. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalists Mitch Cheney and Alan Mills, the music is built up in layers and I rather like this approach to sound production, it's a little like sketching in audio form and the... Continue Reading →
Not content with being the frontwoman of Kirlian Camera, as well as the sonic captain of her own electronic pop project, SPECTRA*paris, alternative musician, singer, composer and producer Elena Alice Fossi has now found her way into the fold of Michael Ciravolo's excellent and expansive Beauty in Chaos. And why not? She is, after all,... Continue Reading →
With a name like Working Class Husseys, I was expecting some sort of full-on, rock and roll mayhem but what I am (initially) faced with was quite a sweet and soulful, almost pop delivery. And whilst I am musing on the idea of judging books by covers, or at least bands by their monikers, raw... Continue Reading →
Okay, this site is generally a receptacle for new, original music, after all, there are plenty of other places that help promote covers, tributes, and the more established band. But, if a band comes to me with a cover of, not only a Tom Petty song but a killer Tom Petty song…though weren't they all…I'm... Continue Reading →
Oliver Earnest seems to be able to capture myriad opposite ideas in his songs and his debut album, The Water Goes The Other Way, is the perfect example of this. It is an album that seems to be more than just a collection of songs, great as they are, but actually a creative conjuring trick... Continue Reading →
The single Half In, Half Out, was the perfect teaser for the album of the same name. Its psychedelic grooves and rock moves were great, obviously, but the louche swagger and wilfully lazy vibes made you wonder about the contents of any album that this track was part of. Is this the sonic pinnacle of... Continue Reading →
Sitting somewhere between the more discerning new metal and alternative scene, and a more cinematic gothic soundscape, 13th Moon takes its inspiration from horror movies and mythical tales of monsters and the macabre. It is full of tension, feeling like any moment the song will burst from its more considered grooves and understated almost story-telling... Continue Reading →
It doesn't matter if a song is in a language other than your own if it has got groove. Groove is the universal language of rock and roll and Monttu, the latest release from Avot Ahter, has it in no small amount. It drives along on real rock energy, punchy, full of swagger and blending... Continue Reading →
After the drifting, haunting ambience of opener Sea Howl, TRAITRS move on to their signature sound, and Mouth Poison is the perfect showcase of their heady blend of Cure-esque, dark alt-rock elegance, more modern digital dreamscapes and electronic adventure. Perhaps what flavours the album more than any conscious sonic decisions by Sean-Patrick Nolan and Shawn... Continue Reading →
Initially this recording sounds like it may have come from turn of the century Seattle but it develops into a much more interesting record throughout its journey. There are some recognizable Dinosaur Jr phrasings and periodic Nirvana like circular rhythmic mechanisms at play but they don't detract significantly from an enjoyable and original post rock... Continue Reading →
All music comes from somewhere. All music is created from a network of inspirations and ideas, references and record collections and live shows and life experiences. It's just that the best musicians weave these together so tightly and throw in a whole host of imagination and forward-thinking that it would take a sonic forensic scientist... Continue Reading →
This 4 song sonic slice comes, lyrically at least, from a wonderfully subversive place. Although lyrically might not be the right word as its vocal component comes in the form of spoken word pieces, sound bites and film quotes, a sort of word collage which is used to point at everything that is wrong with... Continue Reading →
The term pop-rock comes with a lot of baggage, suggesting lightweight rock or pop music with the desire but not the nerve to go out and play with the big boys. But The Orange Goodness could easily be labelled as such, but they are also so much more than that. It is just that their... Continue Reading →
There is something of the street-noise-as-music that Marvin Gaye used so well on What's Going On to the opening track Entropy, and that reference isn't too wide of the mark given that he was trying to move the soul sound into new, more progressive realms. Guy Zensei works loosely in what we now call neo-soul... Continue Reading →
Now, this is a song that I can massively relate to. Whenever I get some young whippersnapper reminding me that I am…well, let's just say that I'm not as young as I was…I remember that they never got to see all those iconic bands that formed part of my youth, they never experienced the peace... Continue Reading →
Pop? Rock? Alt? Indie? Call it what you will (genres are so 90's anyway) but there are elements of all of those woven into this track, which is a neat trick if you can do it, and The Undecideds can! It is infectiously pop, grooves with a slightly harder rock edge, jangles with indie-pop sweetness... Continue Reading →
Bone Architecture might sound like an album forged of underground musicians slaving over their art in close proximity, huddled together in shaded rooms that smell of booze and sweat, of intimate collaborations, of sonic synapses sparking as flashes of improvised creativity zap acroos the room between our two protagonists. Nothing could be further from the... Continue Reading →
Five albums in? Where has The Kundalini Genie been all my life? I mean, any band that manages to wrap such an acid-tripping, psychedelic haze around those raw and raucous guitars, that can blend a heavy shoegaze vibe with dreamy alt-rock sound, that can provide the perfect sonic collision point between orient and occident, then... Continue Reading →
The term "new wave" was much-maligned in some quarters, looked down on by both the punk whirlwind that preceded it and the post-punk elitists who followed. But it was the perfect label for music which was the vehicle for a certain type of edgy and effervescent, buoyant and bright alt-pop, a pop which didn't take... Continue Reading →
Bolton-upon-Dearne’s The Sherlocks were certainly a slow-burn overnight sensation. Ascending swiftly from stints in working men’s clubs to rammed, buzzing and riotous gigs on the nearby Sheffield scene, they were embraced as the city’s next big guitar stars, set to launch the next wave of Sheffield alt-rock. Which they did: and as they stepped onto... Continue Reading →
Even when Beauty in Chaos opts to plough a more considered, understated and reserved furrow, there is still a certain amount of weight and intensity to be found driving the song. Orion is a case in point. It never plays the obvious rock and roll cards, no raucous riffs, no sonic sucker punches, no grungy... Continue Reading →
Most music is made with only entertainment in mind. Some might occasionally give you something to think about. Less often it might inform you or at least have immersed you, however briefly, in a place new and unexpected. Very rarely does it present whole new and beguiling topics to muse upon, does it make you... Continue Reading →
I used to go and watch a band called The Dacoits whenever they were playing nearby. They were great, almost a musical obsession. They came and went far too quickly, with just a string of incendiary gigs and an ep or two to show that they had passed through the music scene at all. In... Continue Reading →
There is a place where blues is swallowed up by an apocalyptic howl, where country music beats out a rhythm that seems to echo the primal heartbeat pulse of ancient America and where rock music is subsumed to burn in the fires of hell. It is a place that the likes of Johhny Cash passed... Continue Reading →
As a music reviewer, you never really know what sort of music is going to fall under the pen from one hour to the next. Occasionally you are faced with something that you might happily pay good money for, something that you immediately transfer from the work pile to the personal selection. More often than... Continue Reading →
Braindead offered us a wonderful view into the eclectic and adventurous world of Pierre Lecarpentier with tracks that wandered all over the darker end of the sonic spectrum. Mr Fantasy, his latest release, seems almost to do as much work within the context of just one song. More focussed but no less experimental, Mr Fantasy,... Continue Reading →
Sitting somewhere between alt-rock adventurousness and classic rock traditions, Widow Lamb is a silky, slinky, sonic beast. It is proof that rock music can be more than just a bombastic blast of energy and volume, although when it decides to make its moves it certainly has no shortage of that. But around these musical highs... Continue Reading →
Although Bryan Banks has a long pedigree of drumming for highly regarded bands, particularly Pennsylvania rockers Owen's Grunge, sitting in on vacant local drum stools and even playing the percussion for more acoustic-based acts, there comes a time when you feel like striking out by yourself and working on your own, original music. And that... Continue Reading →
