Album Reviews
Album Review: We Are Scientists – Helter Seltzer
The ever–growing manufactured pop industry has many flaws, but perhaps it’s greatest crime is the fact that it has continued to redirected the limelight and record label resources away from a whole generation of non-manufactured acts who would otherwise be enjoying big hit singles and be celebrated by being carried shoulder-high through any town they …
Album Review: Galaxy Cloak – Galaxy Cloak
Remember the eighties? They were the golden age for hip-hop, making stars of the likes of Run DMC, NWA and The Beastie Boys. Whenever a new compilation of hip-hop classics comes out, that’s where it all seems to start. So it’s sometimes easy to forget what a great decade the nineties was for the genre. …
Album Review: Nick Worrall – Hero Buffet
If you’ve ever been bored by a “best” new album or track and said, “I bet there’s someone in a shed somewhere making better music than this,” it turns out that this hyperbolic assertion is actually true. I have found the shed. The occupant of the shed, located in rural Norfolk, is unsigned singer-songwriter Nick …
Album Review: Pet Shop Boys – Super
You can’t keep a good man down. That’s the saying, isn’t it? Well in this case it’s two good men. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have been together as The Pet Shop Boys since the eighties, and have always prided themselves on creating inventive electronic pop music. You either love them or hate them, but …
Album Review: Babymetal – Metal Resistance
After the undeniable success of their debut self-titled record it was interesting to see just how Babymetal could validate their impressive rise to fame. The elephant in the room when discussing a band like Babymetal is always whether they are simply a gimmick aiming for short time success or an actual long term prospect in …
Album Review: Palace of Worms – The Ladder
Combining the sounds from multiple black metal scenes comes Palace of Worms, a solo project which allows the bands mastermind, Balan, to express himself both musically and emotionally. His latest album, entitled The Ladder, is a record seeping with raw emotion as he details both the light and dark sides of humanity. Despite only being …
Album Review: Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness
Listening to Explosions in the Sky for me has always been like that lump in your throat moment in a great film. The tragic losses, the triumphant successes, and the moment when you realize everything is going to be all right despite all the downs you’ve gone through to get there. They soundtrack both figuratively …
Album Review: Vessels – Dilate
The main difference in the development of Leeds five piece from 2011’s Helioscope is their seeming embracing of electronica which has replaced their penchant for post-rock for new album Dilate, out now through PIAS. And while their debut was an album that showed interest and no little ambition, Dilate – with its various nods at …
AlBum Review: Eliza and the Bear “Eliza and the Bear”
Eliza and the Bear have their biggest disclaimer on their twitter profile: “No one in this band is called Eliza” and it needs reiterating just in case you confused them for one of that popular trend of female fronted acts like Florence + the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds or Betty and the Werewolves. Nope, …
Say Psych: Album Review, House In The Tall Grass by Kikagaku Moyo/ 幾何学模様
Kikagaku Moyo/ 幾何学模様 is one of our absolute favourite bands here on Psych Insight/ Backseat Mafia. The group’s last two albums made our ‘Essential’ list in 2014, and we have been wowed by their exciting live performances,. As a result the levels of expectations for a new album are sky high, and went up a notch when …