
Live Review: The Bug Club – Village Underground, London 01.03.2024
It’s St David’s Day and Sam Willmett, Tilly Harris and Dan Matthew have escaped over the border and made it to the Village Underground. Following the release of their latest album Rare Birds: Hour Of Song, the Caldicot band bring their distinctive brand of garage rock and ornithological oddness to Shoreditch. There are more daft …

Live Review: The Go! Team – Roundhouse, London 10.02.2024
“One, two, three, four, five!” The Go! Team do like to count. The maths that matters most tonight though is the twenty years that have passed since the release of their debut album – Thunder, Lightning, Strike. So it’s pom poms at the ready because The Go! Team are back! Celebrating the anniversary of their …

Live Review: Lambrini Girls – The Moth Club, London 03.02.2024
The rage remains real. It’s shameful that a band like Lambrini Girls could have featured in the cultural zeitgeist any time from 1965 to now. How is it that a couple of women still need to kick back against prejudice and the patriarchy? Why has so little changed in society? Over at Tate Britain, there’s …

Meet: Soulful Pop Queen Bianca James
After her stunning showcase gig in London last month, Backseat Mafia caught up with the rising star and soulful pop queen Bianca James as she shared her cosy secrets, a Bond ambition and revealed some French naughtiness… Who are you and what do you do? I’m a soulful pop singer and songwriter hailing from Canada. …

Live Review: Bianca James – Strongroom Bar, London 17.10.2023
Pop music is a fickle force. For every Amy Winehouse or Adele that has soaked up acclaim and amassed millions of record sales, there’s also a Candie Payne or Gemma Ray – respected and talented artists who probably still worry about the mortgage rate. Welcome, then Bianca James. The Canadian songstress – with English and …

Live Review: The Joy Formidable – The Clapham Grand, London 28.09.2023
Without The Clapham Grand, I probably wouldn’t even be here. Some seventy years ago my teenage father evaded his home chores and escaped through a Wandsworth window to meet my mum at The Clapham Grand. A secret rendezvous. A night at the pictures. My own hot date tonight is with The Joy Formidable. On arrival I’m first …