Reviews

John Vanderslice is back at it again, at his San Francisco-located Tiny Telephone studio. With contributions and collaborations from members of Mates of State, Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie and Beulah, it’s no wonder this album came out as well as it did. With twelve 3-minute story-telling pop songs, Vanderslice manages to revive the epic “concept album.” He begins the story by setting the poetry of William Blake to music, introducing the listener to his traumatic birth. However, through the Continue Reading

Most people take music very seriously. Some take music to be the ultimate and only interest. Primal Scream as individuals and as a group have always been advocates with each passing record a highly-strung taste barometer for rock and pop. Whether by the recent proclamation by Bobby Gillespie whose listening habits over the past year has included The Von Bondies as well as the cellophane wrapped and pre-packaged Sugababes, or hanging out at Shoom the Primal’s inspiration is always checked Continue Reading

Searching for inner-scouseness has not been fashionable for a long time. Thrown aside for the Saturday night jerks and exertions to House and ignored by the thrall of UK Garage, Liverpool has not looked inwards since tank tops and Panini stickers. Fair enough really, as all background noise for adolescents should be played out to match the times and not hark back to a previous incarnation of pop’s past, especially not to an era when we have to consider our Continue Reading

As soon as you play this album, you just know that The Warm Guns possess every Beatles record ever written. Their own album, ‘Blown Away’ contains the kind of upbeat pop psychedelica and ‘socially aware’ lyrics that are rarely produced on these shores anymore. It’s the memory of the original Britpop invasion filtered back through an American West Coast sensibility – shiny guitar stabs and soaring backing vocals singing about time travel and Mao Tse Tung, with a liberal sprinkling Continue Reading

We may be backtracking into the last century a bit here, but you remember mix tapes. Don’t you? Throwing down your favourite tracks with primitive technology that back then seemed like the future had come to your bedroom and honing a knack for squeezing your choice cuts snugly onto one side of a C90 to suit your mood, or just to force your superior tastes that week onto a mate. And right now it is summer – c’mon, the sun’s Continue Reading

Despite the moderate success of the 1996 single ‘Guilty’, Gravity Kills has yet to make a splash compared to other contemporary metal/industrial acts such as Godsmack, Filter, or Stabbing Westward.  Perhaps it was the band’s overt admiration for Trent Reznor and company’s music that caused the backlash of comparisons and accusations of unoriginality.  While Superstarved might possess similar tones as the groups’ previous two records, Gravity Kills seems to have finally broken away from the obvious and expected to create Continue Reading

The latest in a series of split singles from Sorted records, ‘So Easy’ and ‘Subway Sex’ are two neat slices of punky guitar anthems. Circa 1983 – Kyle Hill (vocals) Sam Walker (bass and vocals) and Ash Sommerton (drums) – have spent the last year establishing themselves on the Midlands’ live circuit, and their track ‘So Easy’ sounds like it could be a  favourite at gigs with its spiky guitars and a sneer of a vocal, joined in the chorus Continue Reading

Familiarity breeds… well, it breeds a mixed bag for two particular Gallaghers. It breeds reaction from the lowest common denominator, it breeds nostalgia, ticket sales and most importantly to them it breeds number ones. And then of course there’s also the contempt. So a no win situation then? Well, hell no! It’s all win, you must have read a paper recently; Oasis are back on top of the world, on top of the charts and selling tickets like you’ll get Continue Reading

“Next On The Misery List” almost succeeded in melting my stereo like a Tofutti Cutie on the July sidewalk with drums that make Squarepusher sound like downtempo trip-hop. How is he hitting the ride cymbal that fast? Uphill Battle won’t be doing battle with The Pleasure Seekers for The World’s Most Decelerated Band any time soon. Following in the volcano-pissed, highest-octane, crack smokin’, triple-bass, caffeinated footsteps of Napalm Death, Repulsion, Extreme Noise Terror, Final Conflict and Dropdead, these guys make Continue Reading

All bands grow older, either with each other or bickering amongst themselves in icy seclusion. Both of these behavioural patterns affect the music that the groups make. Either, like R.E.M., the boys are bashful enough with each other to just carry on regardless of anything but self-motivation and that they like spending time together. Whereas the Rolling Stones seem to prefer mutual exclusion and meeting every so often to complain about Ronnie Wood’s haircut and to discuss Mick’s latest conquests. Continue Reading