our reviews.

2020-2023. Explore archived albums or albums of the new and now.

MARCH 2024

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alt/rock: Elbow: AUDIO VERTIGO. Cinematic British rock quintet takes a dizzying array of thoughts into reflective – but pensive – tenth.

punk rock: Kid Kapichi: There Goes The Neighbourhood. Rowdy third calls for systemic change in punk ethics via Kapichi.

indie-pop: Soran: Loneliness Confetti. Indie-pop indulgence at the highest order.

hip-hop/rap: Ransom: Lavish Misery. Rap king returns to the fray with lush lo-fi lyricals.

alt/rock: Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven. Give-and-take punk record at their most explosive.

alt/indie: Everything Everything: Mountainhead. Can you see the steel is glittering?

alt/post-punk: Yard Act: Where’s My Utopia? Welcome to your dream job. It’s ace. It’s class.

February 2024

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alt/indie rock: MGMT: Loss of Life. Sincere and beautiful, fifth marks duo’s six-year break.

electronic/instrumental: Rural Tapes: Contact. Third experimental mastery under moniker marvel.

alt/punk: IDLES: TANGK. Bristolian punks strike a sentiment chord with ambitious fifth.

alt/rock: PROJECTOR: Now When We Talk It’s Violence. Tightly-wound 3-piece deliver the grit of modern life via enigmatic modern rock.

JANUARY 2024

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art-rock/operatic pop: The Last Dinner Party: Prelude to Ecstasy: The most highly-anticipated debut record from the 2024’s hyped band is finally here. For all Regency-Era lovers and art-rock fans alike, this one is for you.

pop-punk: Neck Deep: Neck Deep: Pop-punk titans reunite with effortless reprise as they shake off the doubters.

alternative rock: Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes: Dark Rainbow: The duo take stock and return with alt-rock fifth filled with brood and ballads.

rock/shoegaze: Feral Family: Without Motion: New kids on the block bring a shoe-gaze drive worth talking about.

post-punk: Folly Group: Down There!: Magentic London punks come out swinging with record rife in complexity and colour.

December 2023

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contemporary jazz: Yussef Dayes: Black Classical Music: Drummer and producer Yussef Dayes widens the lens in contemporary jazz for open minds.

indie rock: The Goa Express: The Goa Express: Northern quintet the goa Express release self-titled debut strewn with attuned indie rock.

November 2023

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alternative/shoegaze: feeble little horse: Girl with Fish: A play-style best suited to morning wakes, it’s gleaming Pittsburgh shoegaze at its best.

folk: Glen Hansard: All That Was East is West of Me Now: A swampy deluge of both bluesy ambience to the musings of acoustic folk.

punk rock: Bob Dylan: Live at Rock City, Notts. A pensive punk outcry from a duo at the very top of their game.

choral rock/alternative: The Polyphonic Spree: Salvage Enterprise: Through their surges and shortfalls over two decades, The Spree continue to be one of the most beloved names in the soaring Dallas rock landscape.

post-hardcore/emo: Fiddlehead: Death is Nothing to Us: Supergroup rekindle fight-or-flight with rumpus third throughout five years’.

psychedelic rock/alternative rock: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets: Fronzoli: Perth-based psych-rock reach new foundations with favourite sixth.

classic rock: The Rolling Stones: Hackney Diamonds: The blues-rock pioneers delivers new material in 18 years like no other.

metalcore: Silent Planet: SUPERBLOOM: Quartet sprout new jarring landscape bleeding in new head banging sounds.

October 2023

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indie rock/alternative: Bombay Bicycle Club: My Big Day: Alternative tycoons go back to basics with a guest roster only Bombay tycoons can muster.

indie rock: Declan Welsh & the Decadent West: 2: Explosive Glaswegian-based band flaunt swampy synthetic follow-up.

electronic/dance: Barry Can’t Swim: When Will We Land?: Visionary muso producer hits ground running with hypnotic electronics.

post-punk/alternative: Ethan P. Flynn: Abandon All Hope: Magnetic debut sets the journey for an artist very much in his own lane.

hardcore/alt-rock: Beartooth: The Surface: American A-listers return with fifth expansion.

post-hardcore: Militarie Gun: Life Under the Gun: explosive and emotional, this is MG‘s sophomore belter.

shoegaze: Citizen: Calling the Dogs: Ohio shoe-gazers return with fifth work – with all the hallmarkings of guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll.

alternative/noise-punk: Enola Gay: Casement: If the likes of Iggy Pop are backing these guys on his 6Music show, then these are those kinda folks not to be missed.

September 2023

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experimental psych-rock/folk: Animal Collective: Isn’t It Now?: Every bit creative and perfect for any individual looking to chart a new direction in their film narrative, let Animal Collective be your muse in these contentious times.

indie rock/hip-hop: Bakar: Halo: Bakar abandons the Hip-Hop night lights of nobody’s Home and opts for something a bit brighter as he ventures out on the road. Perhaps a little lost.

country/rock: Geese: 3D Country: As we reel in wonderment from their stoic performance on our East Midlands shores last week, we take a look at their heroic efforts from their most recent – 3D Country – which was released earlier this year.

alternative rock: Dumb Buoys Fishing Club: WRECKED: They’ve navigated the stormy seas of finding their sound, now it’s the proactive slew of never stopping the grind; continuing on into the unknown.

electronic/rock: K Flay: MONO: A remarkable feat is tinged throughout this record, laced with raw songwriting and powerful expressions.

electronic: The Chemical Brothers: For That Beautiful Feeling: The tenth studio album sees the duo start probing with the eccentric; as the raized beats here become less obvious and more exemplary in design.

shoegaze indie: Slowdive: everything is alive: shoegaze giants show us how it’s done with an ethereal fifth – both aglow with new and old.

hard rock: Royal Blood: Back To The Water Below: There’s no denying that it’s a heavy venture. A weighty return superseded with the pairing pushed to their “limit” as a band, it’s still nice to see them back blasting again.

August 2023

industrial hip-hop/indie: Danger Mouse + Jemini the One: Born Again: An all-too-perfect transition from one to another, Born Again offers the same addicting acid jazz-rap grooves and injections of crate-digging samples as 2022’s Cheat Codes and amongst hip-hop revellers, it’s truly welcomed.

alternative / indie rock: Hak Baker: Worlds End FM: A nostalgic nought-throwback to the lauded lyricists of Mike Skinner and Jamie T. It lands well in some places but misses the mark for many.

folk-pop: Hozier: Unreal Unearth: Andrew doubles down on his Irish roots with a folk-infused pop record denoting visionary landscapes of his Wicklow hometown through hauntingly beautiful vocals.

hard rock: The Hives: The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons: It’s been a long time coming: Our favourite Swedish garage-rock stalwarts return again with the abrasive thrill of The Death Of…

disco pop/indie-pop: Girl Ray: Prestige: Pilfered from the funky disco-pops of the yesteryears, Girl Ray take us to Prestige: a fantasy clubland playing out a recanted scene of love. Falling in it, being afraid of getting hurt by it and the in-between push-pull tensions of it all.

alternative indie-rock/post-rock: Sir Chloe: I Am The Dog: I Am The Dog is a mighty debut reflecting Sir Chloe‘s abridged version of “mood rock”.

July 2023

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folk-pop/indie-folk: Darlingside: Everything Is Alive: a lush storytelling of meditating on death and life choices brings Darlingside’s fourth to life – with the best results.

alternative rock: YONAKA: Welcome To My House: sultry synth/hip-hop rock hybrid of YONAKA return after Seize the Power with a bolshy EP of tenderness and greatness.

art-rock: Blur: The Ballad of Darren: A magnificent display of mature songwriting from Damon and co as they begin their grisly and misguided midlife crises of sullen chords and aching strings.

post-punk/folk: Grian Chatten: Chaos For The Fly: a debut marked with tender rhetoric. and internal thoughts of sadness, it’s a glittering reprise for the Fontaines frontman.

art-rock/post-punk: Being Dead: When Horses Would Run: A jagged smattering of expressive sounds, unusual methods and archaically refreshing quips: post-punk will never die.

punk: Public Body: Big Mess: Fast, brash and hard-hitting. This is Brighton punk at its finest. An exploration into the depriving world of office life, rip off the shirt and tie in a declamation of anger.

electronic-pop: Little Dragon: Slugs of Love: The Swedish-based musicians embark on a class act of lush electronic-pop overtones.

indie rock: Nothing But Thieves: Dead Club City: A synth-heavy reiteration of dystopian city, the Essex rockers go conceptual.

JUNE 2023

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post-punk: Do Nothing: Snake Sideways: Their topsy-turvy journey of unpredictability is finally here for our pleasure in an all-spoils, all-surprises stunner of a debut album.

soul/funk: RAYE: live at Glastonbury

pop: Maisie Peters: live at Glastonbury

folk/synth-pop: Ben Howard: Is It?: Highly off-the-cuff electronics see Howard stare death in the face.

post-punk/art-rock: Youth Sector: Quarrels: Quirky stiflings of art-rock, tetchy synth and prog-guitars, this is your modern day Talking Heads.

dance/garage: Overmono: Good Lies: A beautifully woven debut of garage, techno and chopped vocals brings an electronic seretonin to the dance floor.

experimental rock: Squid: O Monolith: Armed with a wealth of artistic confidence, the 5-piece oddballs bring another trendsetter to the world of pensive post-punk.

hard rock: Queens of the Stone Age: In Times New Roman… QOTSA are back with a stalwart listening post of hard and heavy, as Homme faces his demons.

experimental jazz-punk: King Krule: Space Heavy. A flash flood of realism from artist-turned father as he dazzles us with his high-octave jazz-punk crossovers.

operatic pop: Christine and the Queen: PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. Potent dramatics, immeasurable project.Managing grief with angels, Chris(tine) continues on the conceptual narration from from 2022’s Redcar les adorables étoiles.

US rock: Foo Fighters: But Here We Are. Powerful, emotionally raw. Too much to listen to at times. Inundated with grief, Grohl turns to his saving grace: making music.

alternative/indie-pop: Arlo Parks: My Soft Machine. An artist refined to her own sounds and success from her Mercury-winning debut, Arlo Parks now sees herself a competent songwriter residing in LA with fellow music comrades.

May 2023

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indie-pop/indie-rock/alternative rock: Live at Leeds in the Park 2023.

metal/black-metal/progressive rock/alternative rock/electronic: Sleep Token: Take Me Back To Eden. The UK’s anonymous worship collective are back and brazen in the face of Sleep. Not confining to the remit of metal, they are in every other genre going. Get this in your weeks’ playlist.

folk/post-alternative: BC Camplight: The Last Rotation Of Earth. An artist who is very much is in his own lane, comes to his final masterstroke. A harrowing epilogue of garish after-thoughts and heavy moments. This is Mr Camplight at his ultimate best.

alternative rock: HIMALAYAS: From Hell To Here. A dark haunting of hard rock has reached its pique. This is new everything. New band, new album, new sounds. Let’s get it.

neo-soul/funk: Q: Soul, PRESENT. A cracking piece of neo-soul and funky fragments encompassing everything we love about it. Sheer ’80s nostalgia shivers.

electronic-indie: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cool It Down. A blaring album of sparking return sees a thunderous showering of glitzy violin triumphants, archaic synth swells and mesmerising melodies.

spunky-punk: Comfort: What’s Bad Enough?: The world of punk has some newcomers. They’re to kick up a fuss for the best room and stay the night.

electronic / dream-pop: Avalon Emerson: & Charm: Emerson drops the DJ booth altogether for a shot at cornerstone dream-pop – and it’s a transition she’s seemingly taken like water off a duck’s back.

APRIL 2023

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alt-indie: The National: First Two Pages of Frankenstein. A concise ninth studio album from a band seemingly on the ropes – with beautiful melodies and A-list guests to boot.

electronic: Mac DeMarco: One Wayne G. A 199-collection of forgettable demo tracks purely to aid (and abet) time. Snoozefest.

alternative jungle: Nia Archives: Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall. Jungle is massive – and so is Nia Archives. Blistering fresh jungle interspersed with legendary hip-hop engravings and RnB grooves.

hard rock/post-hardcore + trance: Enter Shikari: A Kiss for the Whole World. This is more than an album full of simmering hope and high-octane energy. It’s an album that well and truly saved the band too…

conccious rap / drum ‘n’ bass: Songer: SKALA. A rap trailblazing his own path for UK artistry, SKALA is socially-aware and unassuming.

rock: Foo Fighters: The Return with Rescued. The band embark on a sombre chapter with But Here We Are album June release and new single, Rescued since the passing of beloved friend and drummer, Taylor Hawkins.

Prog-jazz: GoGo Penguin: Everything Is Going to Be Okay: the prog-jazz giants return with a extremely spirited album of getting through it.

electronic-pop: The Cope: Oiche / Back to My Bullshit (video premiere): A step-away from the usual, this audio-visual short is nothing short of intelligent and enlightening.

post-alternative: Romi O: M2M (single): A forray of new and bold, a decisive style brought on by alternative sounds posed with an influx of punky spit.

alternative hip-hop: House of EL: Pull Up (single): Fighting talk from Brit’s answer to a Steve Lacy. A mighty compendium of alternative hip-hop for the ages.

rock-indie: Chappaqua Wrestling: Plus Ultra. An adventurous debut from a group navigating the whims of societal lows and normalities. A highly addictive listen.

post-modern punk: Wednesday: Rat Saw God: An unfurling of murky shoegaze, swept up with keen post-punk spirit. Wash it down with some D-grade merlot.

sad-indie: Daughter: Stereo Mind Game: A slaughter of ethereal sad indie – perfect for those indie cinema screenings. Coming to a soundtrack near you.

synth-indie: M83: Fantasy. A tasteful return for a man shunning commercialism and simply making what he wants.

heavy metal/emo rock: nothing, nowhere: VOID ETERNAL. A colostomy bag of powerful emo-rock interspersed with stalwart guests from the scene of heavy rock.

MARCH 2023

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’80s synth-pop: EMAROSA: Sting. A psychedelia of nostalgia – 80’s synth style.

French indie/synth-pop: Christine and the Queens: LIVE. An ethereal powerhouse of epic proportion.

ethereal indie-pop: Caroline Rose: The Art of Forgetting. It was known that she recorded the majority of this album in the nude. Fitting that it’s an album at her own most honest as she bares it all in a shallow-dark pop album.

hyper-pop: 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs. Glitchy hyper-pop persists in an overload of senses.

indie-rock: Black Honey: A Fistful of Peaches. Gritty, gleaming indie-rock shows the Brighton quartet at their best so far.

alternative synth-wave: Fever Ray: Radical Romantics. A plunge into the rabbit hole of zesty alternative off the beaten track.

indie/lo-fi pop: The Angles: The Angles. If you’re looking for a more relaxed listen, you needn’t go further than this glowing power-pop alternative.

alternative grime hip-hop/rap: slowthai: UGLY. A frenetically broiled album from a traditionally vexed Briton. With power to boot.

psychdelic rock / alternative hip-hop: Lil Yachty: Let’s Start Here. An album rich in Tame Impala-enthused sounds and off-kilter vibratos; we’re in the skies.

FEBRUARY 2023

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world-folk: KAYAM: Omens. A unique delicacy for the ages, sibling-duo KAYAM are back with a mesmerising journey into the wonders of exploration and wanderlust.

funk-pop: Gorillaz: Cracker Island. Your favourite virtual inhabitants from a digital world are back and with it, comes the bolstered eerie cultist ethos of Cracker Island.

fierce post-punk: shame: Food For Worms. Highly experimental, inclusively bold and universally shame, this is post-punk at its best.

ethereal synth-pop: Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want To Turn Into You. Work of such feat, this ethereal tapestry delves into the inner workings of dark love, lust and that insatiable feeling of being wanted – irrespective of the cost.

experimental hip-hop: Jean Dawson: CHAOS NOW.* Levitating anti-pop shows his intentions with experimental magic for the dart arts of seminal hip-hop, gloomy trap rap and fixated indie-rock fit for a teenage king.

lo-fi/soul-pop: Joesef: Permanent Damage. A self-aware debut from a self-made artist, the poetic soul-pop workings out is every bit personal as it is beautiful.

indie-rock: The Academic: Sitting Pretty. Enthused storytelling with depth to their work.

alternative rock: Paramore: This Is Why. After a six-year hiatus, everyone’s favourite pop-punk band are back. Not quite where we left them, but albeit older and wiser with songwriting dexterity to boot.

JANUARY 2023

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punk: Holy Popes: Holy Popes: gritty post-garage punk debut hits the mark… with ferocious power.

lo-fi alternative: JW Francis: Dream House. A lo-fi pop of colour!

post-punk: The Murder Capital: Gigi’s Recovery. Poetically dark and twisted in refinements, Capitals’ follow-up is a euphoric roar.

hard rock/post-punk: Billy Nomates: CACTI. A caustic visionary, Tori brings it all to the table in a personal cavity embraced with dark synths and languid lyrics.

DECEMBER 2022

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world jazz/jazz afrobeat: Kokoroko: Could We Be More. A fusion of London’s best sounds bring it together in a a compilation of desire and passion. Celebrating an enthused moment of creativity, history and compositional brilliance.

soft indie: Japanese Breakfast: Jubilee. Nothing is more sweet than citrus. Maybe this album? A compelling story of melancholic indie-sweeteners to tide you through those evenings.

NOVEMBER 2022

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post-pop/indie rock: The 1975: Funny in a Foreign Language. One of the biggest bands on the planet return…at their most earnest.

hard rock: Crawlers: Loud Without Noise. Simply put, it’s fast hard rock for misfits.

world jazz / experimental funk: Ezra Collective: Where I’m Meant To Be. A thumping celebration of life with funk-adelics to shoot you through the roof.

OCTOBER 2022

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alternative hip-hop / jazz rap: Loyle Carner: hugo. Abrasive lyricism at his most brutally honest, a capture of Carner’s most retrospective.

alternative jazz-rock / lounge rock: Arctic Monkeys: The Car. A timeless collective of debonair lounge-rock worthy for any French black noir film.

alternative hip-hop / jazz rap: Little Simz: The Mercury Magic of Sometimes I Might Be An Introvert. powerful and emotive. A masterpiece of an album worthing of winning this years’ Mercury Prize.

grunge / post-punk: October Drift: I Don’t Belong Anywhere. Visceral post-grunge brood with a worthy sophomore album.

grunge / post-punk: Gilla Band: Most Normal. Experimental workings out at their best, Gilla Band return in sparkling form with true gritty, Irish noise.

lo-fi / indie pop: Easy Life: MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… pockets of lo-fi “pop-bop” delight in an album littered with no compromise.

alternative rock: Pizza Crunch: That Serene Age. One of the most exciting prospects to leave Scotland in the alternative rock sphere. Get involved on a need-to-know basis.

hip-hop / rap: Kid Cudi: Entergalactic. A wonderous soundtrack met with a dazzling animation to match.

nu-metal / hardcore: Slipknot: The End, So Far. The end of an era for some, the start of something great for many. It’s safe to say Slipknot are eroding the doubters.

indie-pop / dance: Superorganism: World Wide Pop. High energy fun rinsed with plenty of feel-good moments. Blast it to space.

SEPTEMBER 2022

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alternative / rock: Pulled Apart By Houses: Reality Cheques. A fresh start with a fresh album.

alternative / post-punk: Sports Team: Gulp! A drizzle of light entertainment, the likes of Sports Team cannot be categorised per genre.

post-punk: Kid Kapichi: Here’s What You Could Have Won. True national spirit uniting one voice for change with straight-edged punk rock.

alternative / rock: Dead Pony: War Boys. A collective of battle-ready chorus to recharge the batteries.

indie-pop: Sunflower Bean: Handful of Sugar. A perfect backdrop for a coastal drive or a hippie commercial, it’s a worthy listen either way.

rock/hardcore: The Devil Wears Prada: Colour Decay. A deserving victory parade of post-hardcore rock laced with an experimental lick.

alternative post-punk: Porridge Radio: Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky. A fresh and poignant perspective to a world as confusing as ever.

indie rock: The Amazons: How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? The third studio album sees the band hit their first NO.5 album in the charts, as we see the same winning formula.

electronic dance: Two Door Cinema Club: Keep On Smiling

punk rock: WACO: Rock Spirit Absolute Joy