Album Review: Suede — Night Thoughts
Suede* is the band that many forget actually kickstarted (or possibly hotwired) Britpop. Night Thoughts is Suede’s seventh album and only the second since their welcomed reunion in 2010, a bit close on the heels of 2013’s Bloodsports. For fans who started to lose interest after Coming Up, this may well be the album to …
Album Review: Low — Ones and Sixes
Twenty-one years is a long time to be in a band. It’s quite a long time to be married. It’s a really, unbelievably long time to be married to someone in your band. Such is the case with Low’s Alan Sparkhawk and Mimi Parker, whose eleventh album, Ones and Sixes, is out today. Alan’s and …
See: Broken Hands release video for “Meteor”
Brooding behind their luscious long hair, Canterbury’s psychedelic space rockers Broken Hands step up to fill an unfortunate gap within music at the moment. Broken Hands are blessed with both great riffs and great hair. If Black Sabbath had been into science fiction and space exploration, they might have sounded like Broken Hands’ new …
See: Public Service Broadcasting — UK and European Tour Dates
The art rock electronica instrumental duo Public Service Broadcasting is bringing their multimedia performance to the UK and Europe starting this week. One-half of the band, J. Wilgoose, Esq. (the other being Wrigglesworth), described their Nottingham gig earlier this year as “the musical equivalent of palliative care.” If you’ve ever spent time blissing out with their …
Meet: Interview With Auction For The Promise Club
The indie trio Auction for the Promise Club may come from a beautiful beach town in Cornwall (St. Agnes) with a vibrant music scene, but if you are expecting laid-back Beach Boys tributes or upbeat sunshiny summer party music, think again. With the punchy, brooding lilt of singer and guitarist Zoe White Chambers’ voice and Perran Tremewan’s Muse-like inky guitar, they …
Album Review: Everything Everything – Get To Heaven
Everything Everything’s third album Get to Heaven thankfully does not veer far from their first two witty, dark records. This time around they feel very confident about their work and rightly so. In fact, it contains probably their hookiest pop song yet, the first single “Distant Past” and other flashes of danceable despair. Bass player Jeremy …
Album Review: Paul Weller – ‘Saturns Pattern
Songwriter, national treasure, and eternal mod Paul Weller, now 56, could have carved out a nice little niche career playing various mod incarnations forevermore after his Jam and Style Council years, but luckily for us was too restless and easily bored to do so. Like his previous two albums of surprises, Saturns Pattern is full …
See: Graham Parker & The Rumour release video for Railroad Spikes
Graham Parker and the Rumour’s second post-reunion album, Mystery Glue, is due out May 18th. The Rumour was pre-punk singer-songwriter Graham Parker’s backing band from 1975 to 1980, consisting of Andrew Bodnar, Bob Andrews, Brinsley Schwarz, Martin Belmont, and Stephen Goulding. Brinsley Schwartz alone is noteworthy as one of Britain’s best power pop/pub rock guitarists. …
Album Review: Lonelady – Hinterland
Manchester’s Julie Ann Campbell, aka LoneLady, piqued listeners’ interest with her debut album five years ago and has now returned with the remarkable Hinterland, an incredible hat tip to early ‘80s dance music. In a city with such a strong male-dominated mod rock tradition, LoneLady stands out a mile with classic Roland riffs and Nile …
Remembering: An Interview with Kim Fowley
A chat with Kim Fowley: On poetry, rock and roll, Hollywood, and his least favorite L.A. punk band by Kimberly J. Bright The infamous Hollywood music, ubiquitous talent spotter, songwriter, scene staple, cranky old geezer, namedropper, and likely Tourette Syndrome victim Kim Fowley passed away in January at age 75. His manic career started when …