Having trouble waking up of a morning? Yeah, us too. Suggested remedy: gaffer tape your headphones to your ears, playlist this album by discordant New Jersey country-punks Titus Andronicus up on your iPod, set the alarm for just before you need to be up and nestle down in the brace position. By the time ‘Fear & Loathing In Mahwah, NJ’ has erupted with a splintering “FUUUUCK YOU!” holler and is raining down like, not so much cats and dogs, but Continue Reading

‘We’ve got a handful of songs to sing you, Can’t stop my voice when it longs to sing you. New songs and blue songs. And songs to bring you – happiness. No more, no less.’ Or so sang that couple of cheesy oddballs, Maria Morgan and Keith Field to millions of preschool children who had tuned in to ‘watch with mother’ for the best part of the 1970s. Keith always had the guitar and sported dreadfully oversized wing-collars outside of Continue Reading

Are you, gentle reader, 15 or 16? Or anything under 20 really? Yes? Our advice to you; revel in it. Loll around in that transitory convergence of your youthful dynamism and gaining life experience while you still can. Crud is not that young you see. We’re not exactly drawing our pension, yet, but we’ve blown out enough birthday cake candles to be green with envy at the wisdom and richness emanating from the mouths and acoustic guitar strings of sisters Continue Reading

Without wanting to sound like a bastard, charity is a right pain in the arse, isn’t it? Well, it is. As worthy as most charitable organisations undoubtedly are, for their ethics, selflessness and redoubtable good work in difficult situations, it’s difficult to tell one over-enthusiastic student with a clipboard and brightly coloured tabard gently bullying you into direct debit payments on your lunch break from the next. And because we’re all essentially selfish swines at heart, it’s nice to get Continue Reading

‘People Like People Like You’ is the debut release from progressive Manchester five-piece, Spokes. Originally released on the band’s own Everyone label, it is now being reissued by Counter Records. Why the rustic fiddles and the vast expanse of space? Surely you don’t inherit that from knocking around Old Trafford. Well you don’t. That’s most likely picked up from the lofty rainswept crags of their old North East stomping ground. An album that in some ways takes it cue from Continue Reading

By rights, all Animal Collective records should carry a public health warning in an attempt to minimise the harm the well-meaning hack inflicts upon himself during his efforts to transcribe the belligerent atonal anarchy he hears on the record in a way that’s fit for public consumption. The simple truth of the matter is this; the sounds make little or no sense at all nor do they obey the more formal conventions of screwing up the rulebook and freaking out. Continue Reading

‘It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped and whirrrrr when it stood still. I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.’ Or so says Val Doonican of his marvellous, but totally impenetrable toy. And it might be equally true to say of celebrated intersex personality, Anthony Hogarty. For me, when I was a lad, it wasn’t a toy as such but a piece of wood roughly 12” in length, 3” wide Continue Reading

There was a time when Austin, Texas’ sonic maelstrom and all round mouth-full …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead were as hot as iron ore at melting point (1530° celsius, science fans) and had hipsters queuing round the block to get branded. Ever since At the Drive In pile-drove in though and elasticised their way past them, searing a lasting impression into the earth and then promptly and impressively imploding, Trail Of Dead have struggled to Continue Reading