Brighton
Black Rooster Black Shag – Amsterdam
They come on like a sexed-up, city-dwelling Campbell & Lanegan; the modern, urban cousins of that gothic, reeking-of-myths-and-folk-tales duo. They describe themselves as rock’n’roll noir, broadcasting from Hove, and international in origin (Mirika – NZ/Canada, JJ Symon – Britain/Australia). There’s something Blues in “Amsterdam”‘s sensibility – the power of expression and feeling gained by lyrics …
Track: Rizzle Kicks reveal new single, Lost Generation
Those cheeky scamps the Rizzle Kicks have released details of their new single, fresh from their appearance at the Glastonbury festival, where they played the BBC introducing stage. ‘Lost Generation’ will come out on August 26th, ahead of the release of their new album ‘Roaring 20’s’ which is out on Island records on September 2nd. …
The Watermelons – Dance Strange Together
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there’s a certain amount of indie guitar rock on our blog. Toby, David, Sam and Matthew make up The Watermelons and hail from Brighton, which is a long way from my favourite indie city of the last two months, Portland, Oregon. Still, it’s a well-established-indie-pedigree town and I …
Paper Crows – White Noise: New Music
There was a time when my enjoyment of electronic pop was maimed by La Roux. It was a combination of finding her hectoring voice irritating, and the music being a little bit too much throwback 80s (either chart music from that period or something like the soundtrack to a spectrum 128K game). Then Paper Crows …

New Music: Half Hour Hotel – Run from Sirens
Our family hails from a part of the UK that’s almost the furthest away from any coastline you can possibly get. There is a canal but I’m not sure you’d ever go for a paddle in it unless you were trying to contract a water-borne disease. So while the countryside is all well and good, I …

Track: Dark Horses – Traps/Boxing Day
Benjamin Disraeli was an author, letter-writer, thinker and probably most importantly, Prime Minister. Twice. Back in a time when these sort of jobs only went to the very richest and most privileged members of society (err, hang on a minute…..) during the 19th century,Disraeli was indeed one of that ruling class, but he was also considered …