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From Wednesday 13 August 2014

Haze – ‘Clouds Surround and Breathe’

How you feel about Haze’s ‘Clouds Surround and Breathe’ is greatly dependent on how you feel about instrumentals and extended guitar solos – are they amazing or self-indulgent? Don’t be fooled by the nine tracks listed on this album, as many of them push the ten minute mark, challenging

Friday 08 August 2014

Twin Atlantic – ‘Great Divide’

“Music is my therapy, I can listen to it all night long” sings Sam McTrusty just moments into the long awaited second album from Twin Atlantic. It’s with this line that the front man, whose distinctive Glaswegian vocals are still at the forefront, sums up everything that has made

Thursday 07 August 2014

Living Room – ‘Moonchaser’

‘Moonchaser’ is the debut album from Brooklyn’s Living Room and it’s pretty damn good. You’ve got melodic emo-rock with big vocal melodies, a huge turn of pace, and some really exciting breakdowns. After a brief and underwhelming introduction the band quickly kick into life. ‘Casual Science’ is a three minute

Call Me Malcolm – ‘We Did This To Ourselves’

London ska-punk bands are pretty commonplace. Open the front door and you’ll probably see groups of trilby-donned, camouflage-suited skankers lining the pavements. As a result, any band that releases a ska-punk album needs something to set them apart from the abundance of said genre. Call Me Malcolm don’t have

Wednesday 06 August 2014

Walter Mitty And His Makeshift Orchestra – ‘Well Soon’

‘Well Soon’ is the latest full length from California’s Walter Mitty And His Makeshift Orchestra, released this July on Make New Enemies. Whilst this is the band’s most polished album to date it’s still stacked full of character, unexpected melodies, and a plethora of instruments along the way. ‘Post Graduation

Matahari – ‘Shameless’

Matahari’s debut album ‘Shameless’ feels decidedly retro. The album brings to mind numerous melodic hardcore bands from the mid 00s. The occasional slow-burning experiment in lumbering tempos aside, ‘Shameless’ builds upon a foundation of the corpses of bands such as Ruiner, Go It Alone and Life Long Tragedy. Meanwhile,

Tuesday 05 August 2014

Bracket – ‘Hold Your Applause’

‘Hold Your Applause’ marks the return of Bracket and is the first album in eight years from the ex-Fat Wreck Chords signings. Self recorded, mixed, and released, it was preceded and financed by a series of digital releases. Unfortunately it gets off to a weak start; opening song ‘Not

Cold World – ‘How The Gods Chill’

Whenever any album is years in the making, there is bound to be a certain amount of hype around it, particularly if the band in question has an underground legacy to live up to. Cold World have exactly that legacy, and in the time passed since their last full

Monday 04 August 2014

The Fur Coats – ‘A League of Extraordinary Octopuses’

With fourteen tracks of silly power pop, ‘A League of Extraordinary Octopuses’ isn’t overly sugary sweet, but it’s certainly a good time. The Fur Coats, from Chicago, feature Marc Ruvolo and Davey Houle (both of Das Kapital) and Devon Kay (Devon Kay and the Solutions/Direct Hit!). The three work

Martha – ‘Courting Strong’

If you’re familiar with any of Martha’s previous offerings you would be expecting infectious power pop – ‘Courting Strong’ certainly delivers its fair share and then some. Right from the off Martha hit us with punchy tunes and memorable lyrics. Firstly documenting teenage angst- whether it be the woes