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From Friday 09 May 2025

Mclusky – ‘THE WORLD IS STILL HERE AND SO ARE WE’

Andrew Falkous deserves your support. He’s an artist. Check out his blog, it’s a treatise on self-sabotage. For better or, more frequently worse, he will make the choice that allows him to make music. His music. He’s never chasing trends or anything really, other than the joy

Wednesday 16 April 2025

Newshapes – ‘A CONVERSATION WITH MYSELF’

Self-awareness is important. The ability to talk to yourself, to assess your actions and improve is vital. Scottish upstarts Newshapes know this. In fact, their new EP is called ‘A Conversation With Myself’ making it explicit; they know what they have made, they know what works, they

Tuesday 15 April 2025

King Kraken – ‘MARCH OF THE GODS’

In Norse mythology, the Kraken was a sea monster. A mega-sized octopus that would terrorise sailors and imperil ships. Kings are of course powerful and majestic, they have an air of regal grace. This makes King Kraken the ideal name for a band stepping into the Viking

Monday 24 March 2025

Sicksense – ‘CROSS ME TWICE’

First time around, the Nu-metal era was all a bit embarrassing. Old music was dead, the weird kids were cool and there was a frenzied embrace of something new. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie, the scene was flooded and, once respectable bands started debasing themselves,

Tuesday 04 March 2025

Oversize – ‘VITAL SIGNS’

‘You remind me of my ex’ – are there any more hurtful words? The reference to you in relation to something else, something that came before, something, maybe, that you might not be. Was that initial interest driven by familiarity to something else? Something, better? Listening

Wednesday 12 February 2025

Lacuna Coil – ‘SLEEPLESS EMPIRE’

Late one night, you can’t sleep, you’re flicking through the channels and you see a nature documentary. It triggers something; thinking about time. Thinking about life cycles. Mayflies famously live for less than 12 hours. Some cicadas appear every 17 years. Both types of creatures start out

Tuesday 04 February 2025

Dead Air – ‘ELEMENTS’

Time moves on. Bands form and fold. Songs that once meant something fade into the past. As you grow older and tastes change, sounds go in and out of style but there’s a time that’s your era. A time where everything is new and exciting, that defines

Monday 20 January 2025

State of You – ‘On A Knife’s Edge’

Introductions are important. If you’re introduced to a band and told they’re ‘Hardcore’s most exciting newcomers’, you’re going to have a very different opinion to if you’re told ‘They Suck’. State Of You do not suck. Hyperbole aside, this is a band with pedigree. It’s made

Thursday 05 December 2024

Hanabie – ‘BUCCHIGIRI TOKYO’ EP

If you’re reading this you’re unlikely to be Japanese. Hanabie are. This makes their new EP tricky to discuss. Most alternative, hardcore, metal, Punktastic music has its roots in American or European culture but they’re a band hailing from a different continent. They’re unusual in this context

Monday 25 November 2024

RedHook – ‘MUTATION’

Nothing defines the modern world like the rush of information. It’s difficult to sit and think without your brain being stimulated from hundreds of different directions. It can be exhausting. Just deciding what is important becomes a task in itself. Nothing exemplifies this more than TikTok. If