Reviews from Friday 15 March 2024

Gouge Away – ‘Deep Sage’

If you’re connected to music in any way, either a performer, behind the scenes industry member or just a devoted fan, the pandemic sucked. The world completely stopped, recording processes were halted, touring plans dissolved, any hype or trajectory plateaued. For the fans, it was a frustratingly long waiting

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Kid Kapichi – ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’

There is so much to love about Kid Kapichi’s latest outing. The Hastings punks’ third album, ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’ is a riotous snapshot of where they stand in the world today, and by the end of it you feel like you know them. They’re your mates you meet

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Dragonforce – ‘Warp Speed Warriors’

If you’re reading this, the odds are that you already know exactly what the latest Dragonforce album sounds like. And you’re absolutely right: every song sounds like power metal played at 1.5x speed, with guitar solos that make you wonder how Herman Li hasn’t worn his fingers down to

Saturday 09 March 2024

LIVE: Bowling For Soup / Less Than Jake @ Eventim Apollo, London

Bowling For Soup have sold out their entire UK tour. This may be surprising to some; if you ask anyone with even a passing interest in pop punk their opinion on the band, you’ll likely be told that they were written off as genre front-runners a long time ago.

Wednesday 06 March 2024

LIVE: Simple Plan / Mayday Parade / State Champs @ Eventim Apollo, London

London’s Eventim Hammersmith Apollo has a sense of vastness to it, the sprawling sea of heads seem to continue endlessly to the very edges of the room. Amongst the dimly lit shadows of audience members, there’s a palpable air of anticipation; few bands hold a legacy in

Wednesday 28 February 2024

LIVE: Tesseract / Unprocessed / The Callous Daoboys @ Kentish Town Forum, London

Bounding onto the stage to the sound of Cascada’s ‘Every Time We Touch’, Atlanta sextet The Callous Daoboys aren’t necessarily who you would expect to see supporting prog metal giants Tesseract. As the electro dance beat gives way to the opening drums of ‘Star Baby’, discordant guitars, violin and

Tuesday 27 February 2024

LIVE: Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes @ The Roundhouse

It’s the last date of The Rattlesnakes’ tour, a hotly-demanded bonus night which sold out as quickly as the first did several months ago. However, since tickets were snapped up, the enigmatic Frank Carter and co have taken a new direction with latest release ‘Dark Rainbow’, prioritising piano laden

Noah and the Loners – ‘A Desolate Warning’ EP

It’s easy to forget sometimes that punk is, by its very nature, political. There’s no making that mistake with Noah and the Loners; they wear their hearts and their political values on their sleeves loudly and proudly like badges of honour. “I don’t see the point of writing a

Monday 26 February 2024

LIVE: Enter Shikari @ Wembley Arena

“It’s gonna be a good one,” nods the guy at the box office. Even before the supports, the crowd are beyond ready to see Enter Shikari, springing into moves at the drop of a neon baseball cap. Signs flit between warnings of drones overhead and blush pink retro merch

LIVE: Chuck Ragan @ The 100 Club, London

It could be a coincidence that there’s a storm raging outside London’s 100 Club, but it’s equally as likely that Chuck Ragan’s gravelly roar has commanded the heavens to open. The Hot Water Music frontman turned professional punk rock grizzly bear sold out the historic basement venue incredibly quickly,

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Amaranthe – ‘The Catalyst’

Amaranthe have levelled up on their new album ‘The Catalyst’ in more ways than one. Evidently buoyed by the success of their gaming anthem ‘PvP’, they’ve devoted themselves to making an album which absolutely sounds like the music to a combat scene in an MMORPG: fast-paced, energetic and makes

Saturday 17 February 2024

Cherym – ‘TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT’

Cherym felt like outsiders; like they didn’t belong. As a non-binary trio, they felt excluded from the music scene, yet they had a way in. Armed with infectious songs and a handful of EPs and singles, this little band from Londonderry proved they were not to be underestimated.

Friday 16 February 2024

LIVE: Periphery / Crooked Royals @ The Roundhouse, London

The crowd assembled for tonight’s sold-out show is already backed up to the Roundhouse’s iconic-yet-irritating pillars as opening act Crooked Royals walk onto the stage. They waste no time launching into technically impressive licks and riffs, bolstered by dual vocals and thundering drums. Hailing from New Zealand and signed to

Pet Needs – ‘Intermittent Fast Living’

“When everyone’s super, no one will be,” taunts villain Syndrome in the first Incredibles movie. Pet Needs have always been the band which absolutely prove this animated bad guy wrong. Their superpower comes from channelling their normality and repurposing the magic they experience in their everyday lives as insightful,

Tuesday 13 February 2024

LIVE: Dave Hause @ Union Chapel, London

Union Chapel in London probably isn’t haunted. Probably. That hasn’t stopped sincere punk rock survivor Dave Hause  from including the historic venue in his ‘Haunted Churches’ tour of Europe, but what’s conjured in his set isn’t ghosts or ghouls. It’s the spectres of Hause’s own past brought into

Laura Jane Grace – ‘Hole In My Head’

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Laura Jane Grace recounted a conversation she had with her daughter in 2018 ahead of undergoing life-altering surgery. The facial feminisation procedure, as part of the singer’s transition, would leave her with a scar on the back of her head. She told

Friday 09 February 2024

Normandie – ‘Dopamine’

Normandie love a concept to draw their audience in, and their albums together. 2021’s ‘Dark & Beautiful Secrets’ was a musical exorcism surrounding the legacy of a religious upbringing, and their latest offering, ‘Dopamine’ takes on a vision of the chemical future. “The whole album is about the chase

Thursday 08 February 2024

LIVE: Spanish Love Songs / Heart Attack Man @ Electric Ballroom, London

Spanish Love Songs are regular visitors to the UK, averaging at least a brief tour every year for the last six years (the grim years of the pandemic not included), but the potency of the Angelinos’ unflinchingly honest but also somehow uplifting sound is not diluted by their frequent

Thursday 01 February 2024

Snayx – ‘Better Days’

Snayx are starting their 2024 with a bang. Or, more accurately, with the raucous, cynical mashup of Kid Kapichi and the Prodigy that we need right now. They’re leaving the haters in their lives in the dust and propelling themselves forward with a nitro boost of confident, vital beats. Title

Wednesday 31 January 2024

LIVE: Samiam @ New Cross Inn, London

Steam billows from the door every time it opens as if South London’s historic, sticky-floored New Cross Inn is exhaling into the night. This show is cult underdogs Samiam’s only UK stop on their European tour, which by itself would already make this a particularly special sold out evening.

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