rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Anything that comes at you with a jaunty bounce and outsider-indie vibe reminiscent of the mighty Wonder Stuff is more than alright in my book and there is the same sense of fun found driving opening salvo Show Me Everything That You Are. When the band last passed under the pen, with Deep Inside Your... Continue Reading →
When most creative people were bemoaning their lack of freedom, lack of access to their art-spaces and stages, creating a wave of, often, let’s face it uninspired, live-stream shows from their downstairs toilet due to pandemic imposed strictures, at least two people were swimming against the tide of lockdown's lack-lustre reactions. After all if an... Continue Reading →
Up until now, most journalistic pens put to paper regarding Paul Lappin have dwelt on the back-story, the chance meetings, the lucky alignment of factors, the path from rural France to a Swindon recording studio. But the release of this first full length album means that all of that can now take a back seat,... Continue Reading →
Although very much sitting in the pop world, Afterlife, the debut single from Edenhill, is a much smarter musical cookie than such a generic label might at first suggest. It is undeniably infectious, which is the bare minimum requirement for such a record anyway, but it is shot through with musical smarts that lift it... Continue Reading →
If you have ever wondered where power-pop ends and indie rock begins, I reckon it is somewhere between the urgent, staccato verses and the contagious choruses of Lost Cause, not that you can see the join…nor would anyone with any sense care to search for it. Why look a sonic gift-horse in the mouth, especially... Continue Reading →
It’s safe to say that Stay Lunar have found their groove, and it is a good groove. Make that a great groove. Whilst so many of their peers are looking back to that much maligned decade…the 80’s…and finding inspiration in the twee-indie and synth-driven landfill pop which seems only to define it in hindsight or... Continue Reading →
The first spin of a new black watch album always feels like coming home. Those first few guitar strums of Saint Fair Isle Sweater are the crunch of your feet on that familiar drive way and then the door opens and you are warmly greeted by shimmering guitars, the lushness of which beckons you inside and... Continue Reading →
Davey Woodward has done it all, musically speaking. From the brilliant Brilliant Corners' diverse palette of indie, pop, country, rock ’n' roll, post-punk and trade-mark humour through the equally delicious Experimental Pop Band, solo albums and as part of alt-guitar band Karen, there are few genres which he hasn’t wandered through, always putting his own... Continue Reading →
Being that I am sat here scribbling away whilst looking out at the midday traffic flowing along one of the main routes through downtown Swindon, the mystery and logistical majesty of the infamous Magic Roundabout just out of view but not earshot, it is easy to see why my ears prick up when I hear... Continue Reading →
Echoglass has always been a band able to offer up a shifting array of styles and genres finding their consistency more in the less musical elements, the lyrical depth, the lingering melancholy which seems to haunt their music, their often quintessential Englishness…actually, make that quintessential northernness, the intimacy of their deliveries and any number of... Continue Reading →
Songs are covered for any number of reasons. Sometimes it is a genuine love of the song in question, other times a more calculated move to ride the coat tails of a past classic. Beth Snapp has a very different, more interesting, more meta take on things releasing her own take on the Kygo remix of the Whitney Houston cover of Steve... Continue Reading →
I've said it before and I’ll say it again, The Last Charge of The Light Horse is one of the best names for a band I have come across in a long while. Add to that the album title sounds like a character in a Jeff VanderMeer novel and its cover is a lovely and... Continue Reading →
Bang! Straight in. That’s how you make an impression. But then with the overall song weighing at just over two minutes there isn’t any time to mess around with enticing intros and tantalising sonics teasers. The Persian Leaps get straight to work, you have to admire that. Depending on which era you were born into you’d... Continue Reading →
Anyone with a long memory will find some lovely 80’s pop touches going on in this latest single from Canadian artist Zachary Toigo, particularly if you were a fan of the more alternative end of the scene and maybe had a few albums by The Smiths in your collection.But as is always the way there... Continue Reading →
Trey Connor makes music which sits in a sweet spot. It isn’t big enough to be rock but it channels some of its energy whilst neatly swerving the cliched baggage that the genre carries about with it. It isn’t really pop, not in the current sense of the word anyway, but its easy attractions and... Continue Reading →
If you heard someone throwing around the term pop-rock you could be forgiven initially imagining some sort of middle of the road, fashion-driven dross that neither delivers the immediacy of the former nor the integrity of the later. But what if there was a way of taking the instant hook, the cool catch and inherent... Continue Reading →
It probably says more about me, my age and the fact that I might need some new, more up-to-date reference points, but the fact that Memories I Don’t Want reminds me, in part, of Dream Academy’s masterful Life in A Northern Town, fair warms my nostalgic heart. There is a similar intimate quality to the... Continue Reading →
Some videos are just pretty looking vehicles for selling a record, both metaphorically and all too often, literally. Other times the video is a piece of art in its own right, or at least an interpretation and insight into the track, one that develops the idea and deepens the meaning. And best of all, poses... Continue Reading →
If, like me, you first encountered Cori Elliott playing weaponised bass and kicking ass as the focal point of The Vim Dicta, then Too Far Gone might come as a bit of a surprise. Then again, perhaps not. They were always a band who knew how to work with drama and dynamics, build atmosphere and... Continue Reading →
What is most surprising about this track from Liam Moore's latest album, Visions of a Perfect Life, is not how well thought-out and charming the music is, and it is certainly that, but the reference points that he uses whilst building it. As the song grows and begins to flex its musical muscle it embraces... Continue Reading →
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. There is something wonderfully anthemic about the way The Catalina put their songs together. It proves that impact is often much more than just punch and power and that even when working in a pop idiom, you can still make a big sonic impression. And Hindsight... Continue Reading →
The Ramones might not have all actually been related but The Sidleys most definitely are. And unlike The Ramones, they play a soulful blend of indie and rock woven together in various combinations as the songs require. Such a family connection is often used as a gimmick to sell a band, especially when they don’t... Continue Reading →
If some artists sound like the place they are from, echoing its traditions, history and cultural heritage, perhaps the most interesting music is made by not by them but rather by those who move around. They have the benefit of soaking up small amounts of a wide variety of sounds and styles before moving on... Continue Reading →
Fans of the band ‘New Street Adventure’ will already be familiar with the work of Nick Corbin, he was the singer and songwriter for the band up until 2018, but those of us new to the name will probably find something quite surprising on his debut solo release. After reading the promo sheet that accompanies... Continue Reading →
If he as trying to create nothing other than a wonderfully chilled, dance-infused, mellow vibes, pop song, Olivier Herràn the man behind Dreams of Orion would have succeeded with room to spare. But the fact that he has claimed that the music has a higher purpose means that perhaps the music needs to tick certain... Continue Reading →
Not to take anything away from the music but when you have a song with such great vocal dynamics, ones that remind you of Leigh Nash from Sixpence None the Richer, that in itself is enough to sell the song. Well, it worked for me. All too often a singer seems to be just going... Continue Reading →
Any band who were featured on the now mythical NME C86 cassette, toured with the likes of The House of Love and The Wedding Present and who had called it a day by 1990 leaving behind them four critically acclaimed albums and a solid reputation could probably rest comfortably, assured that they had done enough... Continue Reading →
Even before you concentrate on the lyrics and the message being relayed here, there is something heartfelt, nostalgic and perhaps melancholic about the sonic landscape that the words sit in. All too often do the words and the music of songs seem to be separate entities, or at best the latter merely a delivery system... Continue Reading →
I don’t really listen to a lot of pop music these days, not the type of thing found huddled under the style over substance umbrella of today’s market. It probably isn’t really aimed at me anyway and I always feel that is exactly what is wrong with the situation. By assuming that pop should only... Continue Reading →
We know that Echoglass is pretty deft at fashioning music across a wide range of genres, their fluid and fairly eclectic back-catalogue is testament to that. But I feel that they really come into their own when they play the role of small town lamenters, troubadours of the kitchen-sink drama, purveyors of the northern chanson, revelling... Continue Reading →