Music
A Buyers Guide to The Wonder Stuff 1988 – 1994
Few acts split opinion like The Wonder Stuff over the years, on one hand their detractors are plentiful and vocal, yet their fans have been loyal and passionate. Rising to prominence in the late 80s when being a guitar band usually meant you were heavy metal, arena rock, The Pixies or The Smiths, they offered …
See: Black Submarine release “Here So Rain” video
This was a very, very nice surprise. Black Submarine, previously known as The Black Ships until mid-2012, were formed in November 2008 by former Verve members Nick McCabe and Simon Jones, Coldplay/Goldfrapp collaborator Davide Rossi, singer Amelia Tucker and drummer Mig Schillace. Quite an illustrious lineage. And does the sum total of the parts amount …
Track: The Preatures “Better Than It Could Ever Be”
The Preatures are the latest indie darlings from Sydney, graced with the imprimatur of the very hard to please Pitchfork, which lauded their single “Is This How You Feel”, naming it single of the week. We reviewed their EP “Manic Baby” and noted a very 70s and 80’s old school rock vibe (think Fleetwood …
Track: Screaming Maldini release new single, ‘Soweto’
Screaming Maldini are starting their year off in the best possible way by releasing their new single ‘Soweto’. It’s fair to say that we’re fans of Maldini at Backseat Mafia, but hearing this new single is just like falling in love with their music all over again. And yes all the members are absolutely fantastic …
Live Review: Lloyd Cole & the Leopards, Holmfirth Picturedrome30.01.2014
Thursday night saw us carefully picking our way through dense fog along the old Manchester Road to Holmfirth. Destination, one of my all-time favourite venues, The Picturedrome, to see an act we last saw well over 20 years ago. Lloyd Cole was the first ‘proper’ gig I took our lass to see. The gig was …
A buyers guide to The Hold Steady
It’s October 2007 and it’s a time of change for me. I’d recently come out of a medium-term relationship, my career was stagnating and I spent a Saturday evening with a drunken and bullish jazz musician friend once again declaring at great length that because I prefer rock and roll to the stuff he makes …
Album Review: Quilt – Held In Splendor
As soon as Quilt’s new long player Held In Splendor begins playing you get the feeling you’ve been transported to 1968. The room is a little wobbly, the air is thick, and the beanbag you’re sitting in is strangely comfortable. A goofy grin forms across your face and opening track “Arctic Shark” has done its job. …
New: Reverend And The Makers anounce new album Thirty Two, plus tour dates
Reverend And The Makers, one of the more commercially successful bands to come out of Sheffield, release their fourth album ‘Thirty Two’ via Cooking Vinyl Records on 24th of February. The follow up to 2012’s ‘@ReverendMakers’, for ‘Thirty Two’ the band have had a bit of a guiding hand from with Youth (Primal Scream, Depeche …
Album Review: A Great Big World – ‘Is Anybody Out There’
Of all the albums coming out this first quarter, this has been the one I’ve been looking forward to most. When you listen to a lot of albums that try to be deep & meaningful this and concept that it’s always nice to return to an album that has just simple and honest good music. …
Psych Insight: Album Review – Hello Griefbirds! by The Shine Brothers (Cardinal Fuzz)
To say that Cardinal Fuzz are on a roll would be an understatement. The label has a series of vinyl releases under its belt which have, to my ears, all been winners; and my previous recommendations of albums by The Dead Sea Apes and Vision Fortune might lead you to believe that I have some …