Reviews
Live Review: Superchunk at Bush Hall, 9/11/23
Live Review: Aunty Donna at the Eventim Apollo, 22/09/23
Deeply silly and irrepressibly brilliant, the Australian trio bring the house down with their biggest live show to date
Album Review: Teenage Fanclub – Nothing Lasts Forever
The Glaswegian greats return with a gently autumnal album filled with their trademark melodic brilliance
Album Of The Week: Slaughter Beach, Dog – Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling
Our pick of this week's new releases is the latest from Jake Ewald's indie folk outfit, an album that instantly feels like a classic
Album Review: Sparklehorse – Bird Machine
Mark Linkous' final album is a minor miracle, a loving testimonial assembled with devotion by those who knew him best
Album Review: Swansea Sound – Twentieth Century
The indie pop supergroup return with a terrific album that stares unflinchingly in the face of the modern world
Live Review: 2nd Grade at The Lexington, 06/09/23
The Philly power pop quartet make quite the impression on their UK debut
Live Review: The Walkmen at KOKO, 30/08/23
The Walkmen find a new finest form on their return to London after far too long away
Album Review: The Natvral – Summer Of No Light
Ex-Pains Of Being Pure At Heart frontman Kip Berman delivers another set of instantly engaging folk rock
Album Of The Week: Slowdive – everything is alive
Our pick of the week's best releases is the awe-inspiring return of shoegaze giants Slowdive
Album Of The Week: Ratboys – The Window
Our pick of the week's new releases is the exceptional new record from the twangy Chicago indie rockers
Album Review: Diners – DOMINO
Blue Broderick's latest album is power pop perfection, stuffed to the gills with irresistible hooks and infectious humour
Album Review: Hurry – Don’t Look Back
The Philadelphia quartet knock it out of the park with an album full of melodic, lovesick power pop
Album Review: Cut Worms – Cut Worms
Music
Mark Grassick
/ 21 July 2023
Review
Max Clarke's third album as Cut Worms takes the best bits of 60s pop and turns it into something breath-taking and entirely unique
Country pop and rock ‘n’ roll mean very different things in 2023 than they did in 1958. By current standards, to call Cut Worms the best marri...
Mark Grassick
/ 21 July 2023
Review
Max Clarke's third album as Cut Worms takes the best bits of 60s pop and turns it into something breath-taking and entirely unique
Country pop and rock ‘n’ roll mean very different things in 2023 than they did in 1958. By current standards, to call Cut Worms the best marri...
Live review: Belle and Sebastian, The Roundhouse 18/07/23
To those only vaguely familiar, Belle and Sebastian make music for anaemic, vegan, cardigan-wearing, poetry-writing, bedsit-dwelling students.
Album Of The Week: Far Caspian – The Last Remaining Light
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 14 July 2023
Review
Our pick of the week's new releases is the beautiful second album from Joel Johnston (aka Far Caspian)
Most people become musicians to escape the grind. It’s the romantic myth that drives so much of the lifestyle’s allure. So, it’s something of an anomaly for an artist to...
Mark Grassick
/ 14 July 2023
Review
Our pick of the week's new releases is the beautiful second album from Joel Johnston (aka Far Caspian)
Most people become musicians to escape the grind. It’s the romantic myth that drives so much of the lifestyle’s allure. So, it’s something of an anomaly for an artist to...
Live Review: Bruce Springsteen, BST Hyde Park 6/7/23
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 7 July 2023
Review
At the first of his 2023 BST appearances, Springsteen finds time for reflection and poignancy in the midst of sheer euphoria
Springsteen live reviews often read like a weird kind of word bingo. “Communal experience.” Tick. “Marathon set.” Tick. “Age-defying enthusiasm.” T...
Mark Grassick
/ 7 July 2023
Review
At the first of his 2023 BST appearances, Springsteen finds time for reflection and poignancy in the midst of sheer euphoria
Springsteen live reviews often read like a weird kind of word bingo. “Communal experience.” Tick. “Marathon set.” Tick. “Age-defying enthusiasm.” T...
The Minus 5 and The No Ones provide an unforgettable night in deepest Kent
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 6 July 2023
Review
Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck and co. bring their A-game to a surreal al fresco show in Knockholt
In the world of incongruous live performances, The Minus 5 in a Kentish beer garden is near the top. Not least because the band’s bass player is ex-R.E.M. guitar wizard Peter Bu...
Mark Grassick
/ 6 July 2023
Review
Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck and co. bring their A-game to a surreal al fresco show in Knockholt
In the world of incongruous live performances, The Minus 5 in a Kentish beer garden is near the top. Not least because the band’s bass player is ex-R.E.M. guitar wizard Peter Bu...
Militarie Gun – Life Under The Gun review
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 23 June 2023
Review
One of the best melodic hardcore bands out there delivers an album of ready-made anthems
If you know, you know. In ever-increasing circles, word has been travelling fast about Militarie Gun. There’s an in-built awe, something in the eyes, a look that transpires when you a...
Mark Grassick
/ 23 June 2023
Review
One of the best melodic hardcore bands out there delivers an album of ready-made anthems
If you know, you know. In ever-increasing circles, word has been travelling fast about Militarie Gun. There’s an in-built awe, something in the eyes, a look that transpires when you a...
Album Review: The High Water Marks – Your Next Wolf
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 23 June 2023
Review
The Scandi-American Elephant 6ers turn out another sparkling set of fuzzy, catchy indie pop
For a while, it seemed like The High Water Marks might become a footnote in the story of the Elephant 6 collective. While Neutral Milk Hotel became celebrated enough for 10.0 revie...
Mark Grassick
/ 23 June 2023
Review
The Scandi-American Elephant 6ers turn out another sparkling set of fuzzy, catchy indie pop
For a while, it seemed like The High Water Marks might become a footnote in the story of the Elephant 6 collective. While Neutral Milk Hotel became celebrated enough for 10.0 revie...
Album Review: Martin Frawley – The Wannabe
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 22 June 2023
Review
The former Twerps leader delivers an emotionally resonant second solo record
Back in 2016, Martin Frawley was the frontman of Twerps, one of the best Australian bands of this millennium. Off the back of their superb 2015 album Range Anxiety, the Melbourne-based quartet l...
Mark Grassick
/ 22 June 2023
Review
The former Twerps leader delivers an emotionally resonant second solo record
Back in 2016, Martin Frawley was the frontman of Twerps, one of the best Australian bands of this millennium. Off the back of their superb 2015 album Range Anxiety, the Melbourne-based quartet l...
Album Review: Tough Age – Waiting Here
Music
Mark Grassick
/ 18 June 2023
Review
Vancouver indie poppers Tough Age embrace their melodic side with excellent results
Jangle has many homes. San Francisco, Liverpool, Glasgow, Dunedin… the enclaves are flung far and wide, scattered at random around the globe. British Columbia doesn’t often get a mention, b...
Mark Grassick
/ 18 June 2023
Review
Vancouver indie poppers Tough Age embrace their melodic side with excellent results
Jangle has many homes. San Francisco, Liverpool, Glasgow, Dunedin… the enclaves are flung far and wide, scattered at random around the globe. British Columbia doesn’t often get a mention, b...
The Chills live review - EartH, London 16 June 2023
Review
Mark Grassick
/ 17 June 2023
Review
Martin Phillips and band are on unbeatable form at EartH Theatre in Hackney
When we interviewed The Chills’ Martin Phillips back in May, he claimed the band’s best-ever shows have been on this latest tour. That’s a fairly standard assertion and one most would take with a...
Mark Grassick
/ 17 June 2023
Review
Martin Phillips and band are on unbeatable form at EartH Theatre in Hackney
When we interviewed The Chills’ Martin Phillips back in May, he claimed the band’s best-ever shows have been on this latest tour. That’s a fairly standard assertion and one most would take with a...
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