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Album Reviews

Recorded music reviews from signed and unsigned bands and artists.

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  • REM - Automatic For The People

    As a two-fingered riposte to the globe-masticating success of its predecessor, the nauseatingly cheery and insincere Shiny Happy People, the dirge-like and funereal Drive was selected as the flagship single for their new opus. Peculiarly, it would immediately gatecrash the US top thirty although, less surprisingly, it was also omitted from the subsequent In Time compilation, a Stalinist exercise in revisionism if ever there was one.

  • Steeley Dan - Gaucho

    Now, as then, Gaucho sounds clinical and without a beating heart. As ever, faultless musicianship smothers every second and the anecdotes surrounding Fagen's infamously perfectionist approach to production are the stuff of rock biography legend.

  • Faith No More - King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime

    As the album progresses, fictional figures disparate as Icarus and Scorsese’s Rupert Pupkin (who all but supplies both title and therefore title track) are referenced amidst the customary barrage of pummelling riffs and lyrical sniping (“Sniff the glass and let it roll around on your tongue/Let me introduce you to someone before the party is done”-King for a Day)

  • Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning

    ...for all the planned implied nostalgia of the opening, this is a really good album – acoustic, loud and varied. This is a folk record for the modern day.

  • Uncle Tupleo - No Depression

    To say that I had been looking forward to hearing Uncle Tupelo’s No Depression would be putting it mildly. I had been better prepared for this album than perhaps any other – not least because I was coming to it 12 years after its release.

  • 8 Ball Groove

    "Mixed in with the nu-metal riffing and rapping we get to hear funk, ska, dub, and even some bongo drums and scat vocals - basically anything with a groove, so the name is definitely well chosen"

  • Pretend Girlfriend - Separate Bedrooms

    "I closed my eyes and could see Noel Gallagher playing lead guitar. The lyrics tell a good story though - divorce is the start of a slippery slope to prostitution, via glamour modelling, apparently. I'm not quite sure if I believe that, but then I didn't believe Liam could walk faster than a cannonball either, and I still enjoyed the tune".

  • The Trick - Three track demo (Kiss and Tell, Dirty Tricks, Trash)

    "So rock is cool again. Hurrah! (I could do without the trucker caps though) At least it means good music is getting decent exposure, and if there's any justice, someone will glance over towards these guys and gals, because from the sounds of them, I think it's safe to assume they've all got their Motorhead t-shirts from a tour rather than Topshop."

  • Charlemange

    "The sonic memories it conjures up on first listen, when you hear the broad sound and the most memorable hooks, are of those bands we get in every era - with a tight rhythm section, prominent acoustic playing, considered lead guitar, and a strong stoical vocal which takes as its main influence the Byrds."

  • Pretend Girlfriend EP

    Pretend Girlfriend's four track EP is a professional sounding affair with tight musical backing and good sound quality. However, the songs on display are unfortunately rather samey and repetitive, with nothing new to offer. The opener is a Green Day-lite power chord led pop-punk racket with snotty vocals and a meandering bassline. The backing is reminiscent of a million other nu-school punk upstarts (Blink 182, The Vandals, MXPX etc), but while hardly unique, it's clear Pretend Girlfriend are an experienced bunch.

  • The Killers - "Hot Fuss"

    Britain has had its fair share of iconic bands over the years:  The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, Radiohead, The Cure.  But in the past few years its all been fairly quiet on the icon front in Blighty.  Instead, groups from across the pond such as the White Stripes and the Strokes have found huge success, while the only bands making the charts from our shores were dirge merchants like Stereophonics, Travis and the quite frankly ridiculous Darkness.

  • Esoterica - "Esoterica EP "

    With Nine Inch Nails fading into oblivion and Marilyn Manson continuously distancing himself from his earlier work, the gothed-up industrial scene that was once pushing the boundaries of rock music has seemingly disappeared. Mesh caps and studded belts may have replaced the eyeliner and black nail varnish but not everyone has succumbed to the rise of post-hardcore. Warlingham five-piece Esoterica aren't about to cash in on the emo bandwagon, instead bringing back the dark, industrial vibe of their influences and twisting it around into something a hell of a lot more interesting.

  • Alejandro Escovedo - "With These Hands"

    Alejandro Escovedo's classic album With These Hands has just been re-released by Rykodisc

    Alejandro Escovedo is a master at writing what might best be called the epic ballad. Conventionally we are used to 'epic' songs being long affairs, with majestic lyrics talking of grand ideas complemented by overstated guitar solos and a dense sound. What is this all in the name of? Power. But as Escovedo shows in his recently re-released album With These Hands, there are more interesting ways to make powerful music.

  • Bob Dylan - Bring It All Back Home

    Bringing It All Back Home, the 1965 album in which Bob Dylan broke free from the shackles of acoustic music and began his gradual drift away from the out-and-out protest song, represents a perfect marriage between two genres which, up to the record's release, had never been brought together in such a way. To fans of Dylan, this is no revelation - Bringing It All Back Home is, after all, commonly held up as the album that gave rise to the 'folk-rock' movement...

  • Keane - Hopes and Fears

    Keane might just be the only band in Britain to have the dubious privilege of being able to say they're named after a dinner lady.  Then again, they might also be the only band in Britain to want that privilege.

  • Djevara - God Is White

    Has anyone been watching that 'Breaking Point' series on MTV? You know- the Pop Idol for rockers? Well, I have (I have no life), and on there, I heard them say something along the lines of ".the only way to get ahead as a band is to get label backing." Bulls**t!

  • Stonegrass - Re-write The Words

    The CD opens with 'Smash The Scene' an Pearl Jam, Eddie Veddered singer and a voice that reminds me a lot of and the local fave of mine D'Raven.

    Much flowing guitar with catchy choruses puts this in the right place to start with. Nirvana-esque guitar (kinda) and a hint of the Red Hot Chili Peppers brings in the second number 'Learn to Breathe'.

  • Bohica - Unsigned

    Opening with 'Here it comes again', 'Unsigned' is a high quality CD for a band that is clearly making a point of being 'Unsigned'! If you picked this up and listened to it, I think you would be pleasantly suprised too! With their use of timing and harmonies all four tracks come alive to make you feel like you're listening to a band that is releasing not their second EP, but an album as an established band further down the line!

  • Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power

    Considering SFA once used a tank as a tour bus and spent enough major label money on their last album's multimedia launch to bankrupt any piffling indie label, Phantom Power arrives comparatively without any fanfare. It's a shame though because their sixth album is their most consistently pleasing since 1997's Radiator

  • The Raveonettes - Whip It On

    Is there a more thrilling noise in the world than feedback? The Raveonettes know the answer to this and that's why their first mini album is drenched in visceral, pure white guitar noise. Tracing a simple line from the Velvet Underground to their most obvious influence, 'Psycho Candy' era Jesus and Mary Chain, this Berlin two piece have sculptured a devastatingly simple formula.

  • StaleFish1 - Later Rather Than Sooner

    Stalefish 1. I don't know alot about Stalefish 1, but when I placed this CD into the tray and pressed play, my head bopped and my eyes were opened. They are due to support Skindred around christmas time, so I guess I will be following this up at some point with a gig review!

  • PDHM - CD One

    PDHM produce the kind of metal that makes you wanna break things. Seeing them live is hectic enough, and this EP gives you the taste that many a PDHM fanatic have been waiting for. You will not be disappointed!

  • Karn8 - Limited Edition CD

    This five track debut from Karn8 had me impatiently waiting for months. Not only was it so hard to get hold of on the promo front that I had to BUY MY OWN COPY, but the tracks had only been heard in live format until now. With the release of 'Limited Edition CD' (for lack of an official title), Karn8 have unleashed a great little number. something that they should feel mighty proud of!