Reviews

I said I should have known better when I heard the single “Dem Girlz’ and discovered with more than a modicum of surprise and embarrassment that I actually really liked it. With it’s cooky Jay-Z sample and it’s ‘comic’ take on hip-hop it was an effortless piece of bubblegum: reckless and commanding, all at the same time. One might remark on the ‘cartoon realism’ of the delivery – imbuing it with all the undeserved irony and self-awareness of a post-modernist Continue Reading

The press release reads “ Athens, GA 1996: A loose collective of companions, sharing a common love of classic songwriters such as Dylan, Costello and Richard Thompson, are seeking to distil these influences into a sound…somewhere between The American Music Club and The Replacements“ And to be perfectly frank: it would be very difficult to disagree. It’s a simple design, a simple objective and its been carried out with such an inspired, miraculous innocence that it’s damn near impossible to Continue Reading

Now, this particular correspondent first came in contact with Liars a few months ago at the top of a bill featuring, in support, two of the best live bands on the go right now or anytime at all in the near past, Mclusky and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was like following electric shock treatment with a limp Chinese burn. Naturally they fell flat on their collective face. But not only that, it was like they’d done it on purpose, Continue Reading

It will come as no surprise that this record, the second from Major Matt Mason, comes from the stable of Glasgow’s Shoeshine Records, project of Francis Macdonald, long serving quaint-pop merchant and drummer in Teenage Fanclub and the BMX Bandits. Because it’s not that the solo New York folk poet shares a direct similarity with either of Francis’ bands, more that they all come from the simple life-affirming side of an otherwise normal existence. The kind of musical and lyrical Continue Reading

You have to wonder sometimes. Wonder where things came from. And why. And where they’re going. And why also. Because some things get locked on, or at least thrown into by some foreign force, a trajectory that doesn’t entirely tally with common sense or proven patterns (not that pop music always follows rules). Lets call it Starsailor Syndrome – in the Top 10, selling records, winning plaudits and all with very little beneath a very calculated surface save for raw Continue Reading

Punk Rock. It conjures up images of spiky Mohawks, dog chains, ripped clothes, slam dancing and safety pins. While this was how it was perceived by most of the public, it went much deeper than a simple fashion statement. It was as much a movement as the hippies in the late 60’s and early 70’s, only Punk was not promoting peace and love. Rather it was a “fuck you” to governments, suburban life and corporate rock. Although the Ramones are Continue Reading

He likes to head east. But he heads west. Why? Because he likes it better. What other reason could you possibly need; “I could make albums all day,“ says Frank, and if they’re likely to be as good as these two simultaneously released affairs, then give him the vinyl to do it. Initially Black is down as saying he would have liked the records to have been cut with an orchestra and if not an orchestra, then at the very Continue Reading

As my mind becomes tired of the same old poses on the small screen, the same four chords on an album, and that verse-chorus-verse tedium, I reach for something as far-removed from the dimension as possible. I had a friendly row with a friend the other day when he and I were weighing the sustained but dubious validity of genres of music after they’ve been done, in the exact same way, for decades. I cited the blues as an example, Continue Reading

‘The Color Red’ are NuMetal, Clean grunge, second generation Nirvana, with a rawk bellow that rolls over songs that wouldn’t be out of place on the new  Nickelback album. Any one of the tracks on their second album ‘Clear’ could be a hit (particularly in the U.S.) and any could probably get heavy rotation on MTV2. ‘The Color Red’ have played with the likes of No Doubt, Lit, Papa Roach, The Offspring and the Deftones, and this helps place them Continue Reading

According to the film of the same name, David’s Moore’s, Hitting the Ground, the fundamental law of the universe is that entropy increases. And whilst it’s a fiendishly conceived paradox, it really doesn’t explain the plot. Howard (Neal Huff) is a photographer for the local college newspaper. One day, while shooting random pictures on campus, he photographs a girl taking a fatal leap out her dormitory window. Howard’s film becomes a hot property, but whilst everyone is concerned about getting Continue Reading