Category: Reviews

PHANTOM LIMB – The Pines

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Phantom Limb is an English country and soul band from Bristol, England. They finely mix blues, gospel and R&B, achieving a distinctive style reminiscent of Union Station, America and Bread.

 

The band comprises: Yolanda Quartey, Stew Jackson, Andy Lowe, Dan Moore, Matt Jones and Luke Cawthra.

 

Their album The Pines was exquisitely produced by Mark Ford, former Black Crowes lead guitarist and is released on 13th February, 2012 on the Naim label. It was conceived in France and recorded in California.

The brilliant [...]

The Megaphonic Thrift – Decay Decoy

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

To be honest, I hadn’t heard much from The Megaphonic Thrift before – their debut ‘Decay Decoy’ seemingly passed me by. So this, their self-titled follow up, has acted as my introduction to the Norwegian indie quartet, who are often touted as a sort of supergroup, since the band features members of Casiokids, Young Dreams, and Low Frequency In Stereo. To get to the point: The fact that I missed their debut, and haven’t heard much from The Megaphonic Thrift, [...]

Kiros – Lay Your Weapons Down

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Listening to Kiros’ ‘Lay Your Weapons Down’, I’m teleported back to the surreal land of musical discovery I went though a few years back, dabbling in that nebulous region of “emo” and discovering that rather American brand of introspective rawk that blends pop-punk, heavy guitars, and heart-on-sleeve, mostly faith-based lyrics. And that’s an awkward situation for an atheist rocker. I’d have to say on the one and Kiros never preach, and they have glimmers of potential. However, despite the best [...]

Elsie – The Assassin

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Reviews, Singles

Step away from the slightly cringeworthy press release, and Elsie could potentially be touching upon something. There’s elements of Blondie in the guitar pop framework, and indeed shades of hedonistic lad rock attitude, and even a sense of a spiritual successor to the girl groups of the 50s and 60s. It’s essentially a woman with a good set of pipes singing about wanting to keep you (yes, you) away from her boyfriend in no uncertain times, but there’s a smoky, [...]

Kopek – Love is Dead

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Reviews, Singles

Melodic stoner type rock, about the destruction of the music scene, It’s really catchy this record is not dead it’s alive and it has some style to it one of the first records that has gripped me by the balls and rammed the song down my throat, I was going around all day singing this so it is going to be a hit, look forward to hearing more of Kopek.

 

Daniel Cairns

Honour Before Glory – The Maison EP

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Honour Before Glory is the name of the new solo output from former ¡Forward, Russia! guitarist, Whiskas, and co-founder of ultra-cool label Dance To The Radio. This Leeds-based indie hero digitally released his debut album ‘This Is Broken Lines’ last year (with the physical release still, I think, pending), and this new EP is made up of four versions one of those album’s songs – ‘The Maison’.

 

The opening, album version is a brooding, keys and synth-led tune, displaying some understated, [...]

Grannies Club – Wait & See

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Grannies Club are an Italian four-piece indie-rock band, who formed just outside Rome four years ago. The band is centred round founder, frontman, and guitarist David Comanducci, and completed by Fondi on drums, Falconi on guitar, and Lolli on Bass. Despite lacking any real online presence, and with just one indie-released album ‘One Night Stand’ to their name, they have already managed to land support slots with bands such as Black Lips and The Courteeners – albeit just in their [...]

Luke Ritchie – Water’s Edge

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

I didn’t realise this was a new album out I have seen this around for a while but maybe this is just the proper release of the album. It has some great soulful harmonies on this album and I do like this album alot but it’s not very cheerful but if you like you like some hurt in your music this album has alot of it you can really identify with the troubles the singer is going through and why [...]

Michael Maclennan – Wolves

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

I had heard some good things about Michael and they were right the standard of this album is very good, sounding like a young Damien Rice. I really like the cover it is simplistic and does look like something Rice would come up with, but he does have alot of his own ideas and really brings you into his world and what his life is like in ‘To the Fire’ where the vocals could be more compared to the script [...]

Van Halen – Tattoo

By on Feb 03, 2012 in Reviews, Singles

This is the first single of the new Valen Halen album which we have been waiting 15 years for, I admit I am a massive Halen fan and this song does grow on you but it’s not upto the bands high standards sounding like it has been rushed a bit, even thou it has an amazing guitar solo halfway through which makes it well worth a listen. I think the album will be worth a listen hopefully they have spent [...]

Mark Lanegan – Blues Funeral

By on Feb 01, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

We missed his gravelly, smothering, and growling pitch, not to mention his dark and obsessive lyrics. After the too much overlooked Hawk, third chapter of the as unlikely as well-made collaboration with Isobel Campbell, Blues Funeral is a new milestone in the damned glorious career of Mark Lanegan.

 

The ex-grunge maudit has a long and hyper-prolific story behind his shoulders: fifteen years of Screaming Trees, five with Queens Of The Stone Age, The Gutter Twins’ project with Greg Dulli, his solo [...]

Dance At My Wedding – Cornshed Sisters

By on Feb 01, 2012 in Reviews, Singles

On first listen to this song I didn’t know what to expect but I was very quickly wowed. Beautiful, emotional vocals against the bittersweet acoustic guitar and piano make for a lovely combination. But what I was even more impressed by was the lyrics, which are written in a nostalgic narrative style which really connect to the listener. A perfect choice for a first single and an exciting taste as we await the release of their debut album, ‘Tell Tales’, [...]

Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory

By on Feb 01, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Attack on Memory by the Cloud Nothings opens with the melancholia and angst of No Future/No past and unfortunately for many this doesn’t change as you progress through the album. It feels easy to dismiss straight off as the same old teenage angst we call ‘emo’ and with a lot of the lyrics it’s unavoidable, ‘I know life’s not gonna change… I thought I would be more than this’. Wasted Days, the second track, continues this theme of loathing and [...]

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Stage Whisper

By on Jan 29, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Charlotte Gainsbourg is back, with a little help from her friend Beck, with a double album named Stage Whisper. It is half new material, half live recordings: it is the first half that we’re going to look at.

The album opens with Terrible Angels, a future-tastic explosion of sampled spirituality – “I want release from absolution” croons the French artiste. It sounds like Midnite Vultures would if it were a black and white album, rather than a fluorescent one. Paradisco embraces [...]

Thomas Truax – Monthly Journal

By on Jan 29, 2012 in Albums, Reviews

Written with the help of his dedicated fans through PledgeMusic, Thomas Truax brings us Monthly Journal. Not just a follow up full length album, Monthly Journal does exactly what it says on the tin. Written from the experiences of Truax himself, every month came the next instalment of the New Yorker’s life telling tales of romance, dreams, and desires. Everything Truax experienced over the twelve months of last year is added together on one disc to make a compilation album [...]

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