Reviews from Thursday 12 June 2025

The Young Hearts – ‘THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE REST OF US’

Age, like many things, creeps up on you. According to Spotify, The Young Hearts’ first release is a decade old. Slowly, they’ve grown into their band name, quietly doing their thing until they realised one thing, they were “never going to make it.” As the sadness of

Monday 09 June 2025

LIVE: Slam Dunk South 2025

Slam Dunk South; traditional kick off to the UK festival season, it delivers the elusive festival highs and global lineup that sets the bar for the rest of the summer. A political undercurrent cuts through the day, like the rain clouds which threatened and never burst into controversy, but

Tuesday 03 June 2025

LIVE: City and Colour @ The Royal Albert Hall, London

As London venues go, the Royal Albert Hall must be one of the most iconic. The striking red brick, terracotta façade and domed roof have hosted a multitude of performances for over 150 years. The inside of the auditorium is no less impressive than the exterior of the building,

Friday 30 May 2025

Illuminati Hotties – ‘Nickel On The Fountain Floor’

‘Nickel On The Fountain Floor’ is the latest release from LA band Illuminati Hotties, whose last release, ‘Power’ was named by Rolling Stone as one of the top 100 albums of last year. Illuminati Hotties is the passion project of producer Sarah Tudzin, who describes her approach as

Anger Party – ‘OPEN UP MY BRAIN’

Anger is important. It’s powerful. Like any emotion you have to be careful how and when you deploy it. In ‘The Avengers’, the Incredible Hulk has a secret; he’s always angry. That’s what he’s hiding. He’s only powerful when he allows himself to open up. Anger Party

Friday 23 May 2025

Year Of No Light – ‘Les Maîtres Fous’

‘Les Maîtres Fous’ does not fit into the mould of an album. It is a sonic experience, written by French post-metal outfit Year Of No Light in 2012 to accompany an exhibition of the 1955 ethnographic documentary ‘Les Maîtres Fous’ by French anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch. It

Monday 19 May 2025

There’s A Whole World Out There – Arm’s Length

Arm’s Length have quietly become one of the most exciting names in the emo revival, building a loyal following with their blend of heartfelt lyricism, soaring guitar work, and raw vulnerability. Since the release of their debut LP ‘Never Before Seen, Never Again Found’, in 2021, the Ontario-based trio

Wednesday 14 May 2025

LIVE: Chuck Ragan @ The Garage, London

A lot’s happened for Chuck Ragan since he was last in the UK at the start of 2024. ‘Love and Lore’, his fifth solo album and first in a decade dropped late last year, proving that he still wrestles with the dilemmas caused by the siren song of tour

Tuesday 13 May 2025

LIVE: Hundred Reasons @ The Royal Albert Hall, London

If you’re going to retire as a band after two and a half decades, you may as well do it in style. When Hundred Reasons announced a Royal Albert Hall spectacular last summer, we had no idea that it would be their last- that news would come eight weeks

Monday 12 May 2025

Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia

While Vessel’s identity remains a closely guarded secret, we can say for certain he’s someone who’s fallen in and out of love since 2023’s ‘Take Me Back To Eden’. Loss and longing run through ‘Even In Arcadia’ like scarlet threads, providing the structure that marks an otherwise very lo-fi

Friday 09 May 2025

LIVE: Incubus @ The O2 Arena

While Incubus’ ‘Morning View’ might have been overshadowed by some of 2001’s more iconic releases, it stands as a snapshot of a moment in time for both the band and us. It’s also an album that fundamentally deserves a renaissance, and it seems that time has finally come. After

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

Saturday 03 May 2025

Knives – ‘GLITTER’

Post-punk can be a difficult genre to get into as a listener. But for Bristol sextet Knives, it’s the perfect place to categorise them. Still a band in their infancy, it’s been 26 months since their first single release but with the release of their debut album,

Thursday 01 May 2025

LIVE: Ghost @ the O2, London

Like so much about Ghost, tonight is shrouded in mystery. With the band’s experimental phone ban meaning that no details about the shows could be shared online, and a dark silken shroud covering the stage, a rare element of total surprise about what Papa V Perpetua and his Nameless

Wednesday 30 April 2025

Regal Cheer – ‘Quite Good’

Brighton duo Regal Cheer have made quite a name for themselves in the local post-pandemic punk scene. Two EPs, an LP, shows played the length and breadth of the country, all powered by a frantic, short attention span punk that ditches the genre’s various hangups to deliver something

Tuesday 29 April 2025

Propagandhi – ‘At Peace’

The award for ‘Most Misleading Album Title of 2025’ has to go to Propagandhi’s ‘At Peace’. The activist Canadian hardcore heroes are still fighting the good fight against the forces of oppression after an eight year recording break, and the good news? They’ve lost none of their spark and

Friday 25 April 2025

LANDMVRKS – ‘The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been’

Marseille’s LANDMVRKS have worked hard to cement their place within the metalcore scene, since their explosion in 2014. Since day one, they’ve been pushing boundaries, marrying raw energy, delightful melodies, and heart-wrenching lyrics. From their first release in 2016 with ‘Hollow’ to 2021’s ‘Lost In the Waves’, alongside numerous

Ghost – ‘Skeletá’

Ghost are moving past their heretical schtick, and this is going to divide the fans. Sure, the deep lore about whether Cardinal Copia counts as a fully-fledged Papa is a big part of the fun – which other band would set up a heretical reliquary at the shows, after

Thursday 24 April 2025

Wednesday 13 – ‘Mid Death Crisis’

What year is it again? With Green Day set to headline Download and the huge Black Sabbath show on the horizon for July, it surely can’t be 2025. Wednesday 13’s timeline seems to be even more in flux than the global one, however. The former Murderdoll channels his early

Heart Attack Man – ‘Joyride the Pale Horse’

As the news cycle speeds between chaos and calamity, the only band that seems to be able to keep up with the creeping existential dread and keep a smile on their faces is Heart Attack Man. Always politically biting and brimming with humour that slices to the heart of

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