Generationals – Actor-Caster
Louisiana's Generationals Actor-Caster is a "treasure trove of indie pop rock songs". That's exactly the kind of booty we like around here.
Vivian Girls – Everything Goes Wrong
The title may be Everything Goes Wrong, but to our ears, everything goes right for the Vivian Girls on their sophomore release.
Cold Cave – London – April 4 & 5 2011
In a long black leather jacket and hoodie and stacked heels, Cold Cave's Wes Eisold looks like any other kid you see in Camden on a Friday night, except that he's not and it isn't and before he even opens his mouth, you're thinking "wow, that leather jacket really is the shit" and it is. It's also a special day for 80's synth-obsessives Cold Cave, as Eisold curtly informs the assembled at Rough Trade Records - "Welcome to our album birthing day". Their second album, the strangely positive sounding Cherish The Light Years showing a marked change from the same Cold Cave that played London back in May 2010.
The Charlatans – Who We Touch
Touched by the somewhat friendly eclectic hand of The Charlatans for their tenth album in twenty years.
Kele – The Boxer
The (Bloc) Party is over. Now, it's a dance party and there's nobody here, except Kele and a few diehard Bloc Party fans looking bored.
Who The Hell Are… Villa Cola?
Having lived through the 80's, witnessed the birth of Wham!, the ascension of Kylie from Neighbours mechanic to pop princess and the rise and fall of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman (s)hit factory, intelligent, well-crafted synth-pop has had a tough (but not impossible) road to climb to redeem itself. It's easier done now for those with little memory of the 80's, who can mine the decade of its untapped wealth and pull influences from The Human League or Gary Numan or even further back without being mocked, all the while creating something new and exciting. Having a rough guess at their ages, London's Villa Cola could surely fill these shoes.
King Creosote – Flick the Vs
The two fingered salute is vigorously given by Scottish anti-folk hero King Creosote on new album Flick the Vs.
The Loves – …Love You
The final bow from London’s The Loves balances its buoyant pop against a knowing end and comes up smelling of roses.
Release The Sunbird – Come Back To Us
First solo release from Rogue Wave's Zach Rogue under his new moniker, Release The Sunbird. For those who like their rock wimpy.
Warpaint – London – 26 August 2010
It’s shows like this which give birth to the very nature of rock and roll. The hip-swaying sounds of a band as they rock back and forth, eyes closed, mouths pressed against the microphone with their feet marking the beat. It’s an undeniably sexual thing. This isn't news. It’s why they tried to ban Elvis in the 50’s. He turned young girls on, and it wasn’t so much the man, but the music, the stage, the sweat, the motion -- the rock and roll of it all. Wedged together in this barely ventilated Old Street basement, Los Angeles' Warpaint are presiding over something that had this been the 50's, would've gotten them banned too.
Savages – London – 11 October 2012
Savages Electrowerkz, London 11th October 2012 Does anyone remember the post-punk explosion of 2005 when every second band seemed to be cribbing off each other's influences sheets, and labels with derivative names
Deerhunter – Sydney – 20 June 2009
Having caught them a few weeks earlier in London, it was like witnessing an entirely different band in the throes of conquering new territory and playing to new audiences.
Truck Festival – Steventon – 22-24 July 2011
Quietly, unassumingly, Truck Festival has become an annual celebration of all that is so very right about music. When the Bennett brothers witnessed the exploitative attitude of industrial sized events they didn’t just get mad they got even. Truck Festival was their baby and now in its fourteenth year it has blossomed into a rather lovely adolescent. Webcuts birthday boy Don Blandford was at Truck all weekend to report on the action, featuring appearances by: Graham Coxon, Lanterns On The Lake, Cashier No.9, Sarah Cracknell, Johnny Flynn, Edwyn Collins, Caitlin Rose, Mechanical Bride and Sea Of Bees.
El Perro del Mar – Love Is Not Pop
While we love pop, Sweden's El Perro Del Mar remind us that pop is not love.
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Bah, it's the third Artic Monkeys album Humbug - which actually doesn't turn out to be half bad.
The Faint – Australian Interview with Jacob Thiele about Faciinatiion (Static, 2008)
It may come as some surprise that for a band who always seem to be on the cutting edge The Faint have actually been in existence for over a decade, combining punk attitude and guitars