Ten reviews you might have missed

Reviews from Monday 14 October 2019

LIVE: Mallory Knox / Led By Lanterns @ Gorilla, Manchester

Going to a band’s final ever show or tour will never feel quite right, and it seems like we’ve already seen far more than we’d like to in 2019. Though not originally announced as a farewell tour, Mallory Knox’s current run was later confirmed to be their last; a

Dream State – ‘Primrose Path’

It’s easy to forget that Dream State have only released two EPs so far. As their live show has gone from strength to strength and their fanbase has boomed over the last two years, they already feel like an intrinsic part of the UK alternative music scene, drawing huge

Sunday 13 October 2019

LIVE: Tiny Moving Parts / Microwave @ O2 Academy Islington, London

Tiny Moving Parts have an incredible fan base, and for good reason. Not only does their music reek of honesty and passion, but it’s immediately memorable too, burying its tones directly into your brain and massaging it into a rich, colourful haven. Their firm grasp on the

Friday 11 October 2019

The Devil Wears Prada – ‘The Act’

The Devil Wears Prada are a band that are completely unafraid of change. Since their humble beginnings as a core part of the screamo movement, they’ve slowly and gracefully transformed their sound into that of a metalcore giant, seamlessly transitioning from one era to the next.

Thursday 10 October 2019

Simple Creatures – ‘Everything Opposite’

Simple Creatures are back with an EP that – following March’s ‘Strange Love’ – is exactly what you would expect; funky synths, endless vocal effects, and two of the most well-known voices in pop punk. If you’re expecting anything sonically revolutionary with ‘Everything Opposite’, you’re setting

Toronto Blessings – ‘Asleep’

You probably wouldn’t peg Barnsley as a hotbed of great alternative music, but over the years it has birthed crusty noise in the form of Errander, filthy hardcore riffs from Cavorts, and good old-fashioned rock and roll from G.U. Medicine. All very different bands, but all pretty much made

Wednesday 09 October 2019

LIVE: Deafheaven / Touche Amore / Portrayal Of Guilt @ Electric Ballroom, Camden

Deafheaven and Touche Amore are two bands whose critical and commercial profiles have been steadily growing over the past six years or so. Deafheaven attracted widespread acclaim with second album ‘Sunbather’, achieving reviews so glowing that their 2015 follow up, ‘New Bermuda’, hit the Top 70 in the US,

Tuesday 08 October 2019

Can’t Swim – ‘Foreign Language’

From the moment you hit play on Can’t Swim’s latest musical endeavour, it’s like opening a door to a hurricane that had until now been safely locked away, its damage limited. That’s not to say that ‘Foreign Language’ is destructive, per se – but it is

Babymetal – ‘Metal Galaxy’

The music industry – much like every industry – changes. At some point we all must come to terms with the fact that general tastes differ over the years, that genres come and go, that rock is no longer the same as it was ten, twenty, or

Monday 07 October 2019

HalfNoise – ‘Natural Disguise’

Inspired by classic rock of the 60s and 70s – fused with elements of synth pop and surf rock – ‘Natural Disguise’ is the latest creation of Paramore’s Zac Farro as part of his side project, HalfNoise. Whilst some cross-genre ventures can become quite niche, ‘Natural Disguise’ finds a

Saturday 05 October 2019

HELLYEAH – ‘Welcome Home’

There are some scenarios in life wherein decisions need to be made that you wouldn’t wish upon any band – yet this was what southern metal supergroup HELLYEAH were faced with. Last year, founding member and drummer Vinnie Paul tragically passed away and, following these unexpected circumstances, the rest

Friday 04 October 2019

City and Colour – ‘A Pill For Loneliness’

It’s not unexpected that any release involving Dallas Green in any capacity will conjure immediate goosebumps – but this is never more true than it is for his solo project, City and Colour. While many may know him as part of Alexisonfire, the City and Colour

Issues – ‘Beautiful Oblivion’

There are plenty of bands that fuse genres together, but not many manage to do it with as much finesse as Issues. The Atlanta based quartet take influence from jazz, djent, funk, metal, and R&B, to name but a few, throwing them all into a melting pot

The Menzingers – ‘Hello Exile’

“What kind of monsters did our parents vote for?”, Greg Barnett asks, moments into The Menzingers’ latest edition of punching you right in the feels. Settle in, because the Philadelphia four-piece are going to once again effortlessly capture the zeitgeist at which their audience is currently scratching

Thursday 03 October 2019

LIVE: Rivers of Nihil / Black Crown Initiate / MØL / Orbit Culture @ Mama Roux’s, Birmingham

It’s a cold, wet, dreary Sunday night in Birmingham, and yet Mama Roux’s is packed right to the back with eager metalheads ready to be pummelled by tonight’s four-band touring lineup. Orbit Culture make short work of getting the crowd warmed up, with their tight, technical metal going over

Wednesday 02 October 2019

LIVE: Acres / Parting Gift / Captives @ Key Club, Leeds

Festival season may now be becoming a distant memory, but there’s always an upside to the long, sunny days of summer disappearing – mostly that it means the return of gig season, spending our evenings in darkened rooms with some of our favourite bands (and, probably, a few pints).

We Lost The Sea – ‘Triumph & Disaster’

We Lost The Sea were not always an instrumental band, and to many their last release, ‘Departure Songs’, may not have been the album expected – or even, at the time, wanted. It was the album they needed to make, however, and as sharp and as raw

Tuesday 01 October 2019

Vinnie Caruana – ‘Aging Frontman’

When the front man of a much loved band releases solo work, it usually goes in one of two ways – identical to a full band release, or in a totally new direction. The Movielife and I Am The Avalanche’s Vinnie Caruana manages to tread the line between the

Steel Panther – ‘Heavy Metal Rules’

A decade after the release of their first studio album, ‘Feel The Steel’, you’d hope that Californian hair metal band Steel Panther would have grown up – or at least become a little more aware of social and political issues. Five albums later, ‘Heavy Metal Rules’ has been released,

Monday 30 September 2019

LIVE: Petrol Girls / Jake & The Jellyfish @ Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds

In a darkened basement, under the gaze of a stitched together flag bearing the words “no love for a nation”, Petrol Girls are calling for the start of a revolution. It is a call for a better world where people are allowed to live their lives free