Mutual Friends, by pop-songstress duo Boy, is smooth and sweet; ‘This Is The Beginning’, ‘July’ and ‘Army’ are warm and pleasant, worthy of a true boyband ballad, but their sound gathers life and force with ‘Little Numbers’, which has much…
Category: Reviews
Album | Beachwood Sparks – The Tarnished Gold
It has been 11 dismal years since Sub Pop’s Beachwood Sparks released their last full-length album, and an awful lot has changed in the dreamy world of alt-country in that time. Long before Fleet Foxes, and when Vetiver was a…
EP | The Allah-Las – Tell Me
I’m pretty responsive to any band with the label ‘psychedelic garage surf’ so it didn’t take long to get into the debut EP from Californians the Allah-Las. And ten listens later I am still captivated by this record. While psychedelic…
Album | Ali Marcus – Americana Hotel
With her eighth album Americana Hotel, the first since 2009’s Great Migration, Ali Marcus is putting the emphasis on storytelling. From the opener, ‘The Ballad of Helen and Bernie’, which tells the tale of Marcus’ grandparents eloping amidst the struggles…
Singles Round-up | CocoRosie, Real Estate, Lucy Rose, Lizzyspit, Little Comet & more
CocoRosie – We Are On Fire Paris-based American sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady, aka CocoRosie, are back with their first new music in two years, and ‘We Are On Fire’ is a wonderfully twisted outing, like Portishead tackling an old…
Album | The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
After a couple of low-key releases, TTMOE (less ludicrously known as Kristian Matsson) broke cover with 2010’s glorious The Wild Hunt. We’re not talking Laura Marling style mass adoration here, but genuine word of mouth movement and a growing ‘hot…
Album | Beat The Radar – A Million Different People
If sophomore album A Million Different People is your first introduction to Beat The Radar, it shouldn’t take you long to hear why these Cumbrian lads uprooted themselves and moved to Manchester a few years ago. The city’s musical ghosts…
Album | Peggy Sue – Play The Songs Of Scorpio Rising
As surprises go, last week’s news that Peggy Sue were releasing an album of covers within days was a pretty good one. Songs Of Scorpio Rising is a result of a special project undertaken by the band last year, when…
Album | Mary Epworth – Dream Life
Mary Epworth has already found some success with a couple of well-received 7”s in the form of ‘The Saddle Song’ and ‘Black Doe’. Since those singles, released in 2009, she has spent the last couple of years experimenting in a…
EP | Songs For Walter – Meet Me At The Empire
It’s been a busy time for Laurie Hulme. The guitarist has a new album out with his band Beat The Radar, but not before he released his own EP under the name Songs For Walter. While BTR deal in post-punk…