indie albums
Album Review: The Lemon Twigs – Songs For The General Public
Whether through the saccharine, nigh operatic heights of early track “Beautiful”, or the gruff bark of recent single “Moon”, The Lemon Twigs have frequently flung their vocal abilities to gratuitous lengths. With the first track of Songs For The General Public, this metamorphosis goes yet further still, with Brian D’addario letting out an Iggy Pop-type …
EP: !!! (chk chk chk)- Certified Heavy Kats
The new EP by the leviathans of the dance-punk genre, arriving nearly two decades after their self-titled debut, vents as much creativity and unrelenting magnetism to dance (or nod the head), as their greatest releases. The majority refines and perfects the band’s energetic musical trademarks embraced upon the hugely popular 2013 LP Thriller. Lead single …
Album Review: The Wee Cherubs – The Merry Makers
The ever-reliable Optic Nerve label are shedding some light on this obscure gem of a band who featured Martin Cotter, later to resurface in The Bachelor Pad, (chiefly remembered for the riotous ‘Country Pancake’ amongst other Buzzcocks meets Syd Barrett classics). The Wee Cherubs only released one 7” single during their brief existence, (‘Dreaming’ in …
Album Review: Silverbacks – Fad
Dublin’s Silverbacks are emerging as one of the most exciting bands coming out of Ireland at the moment: and there are quite a few. Their new album ‘Fad’ is a brilliant collection of raw, visceral and emotive tracks that fuses the punk sensibilities of compatriots like Fontaines D.C. with a more melodic and complex palette. …
Album Review: Even As We Speak – Adelphi
There is a fragile and elegant beauty in Even As We Speak‘s new album ‘Adelphi’ that leaves the listener swooning with bliss. The entire architecture of the album is built on graceful, sweet melodies expressed with a purity and naivety that is endearing and enthralling, and is yet imbued with such a sense of world …
EP REVIEW: Devendra Banhart – ‘Vast Ovoid’: bursting with ideas
DEVENDRA BANHART was one of the main beneficiaries of the American acid-folk explosion just after the turn of the century. He came in as part of that movement with bands like Vetiver and Espers and became almost the George Best of the movement: piratically handsome with that dusky hair and huge hoop earrings, a brace …
EP: We Were Promised Jetpacks – Out of Interest
Out now is the ‘out of interest’ ep from Indie band We Were Promised Jetpacks. The band hail from Edinburgh, Scotland and their ep is available on various listening platforms, including ITunes, Spotify and Bandcamp.Opener ‘When Getting Lost’ is a spacious and atmospheric start to the ep. The vocals have a desolate beauty to them, …
Album Review: Mr Ben & The Bens – Life Drawing
In a recent interview we did with Ben Hall, aka Mr. Ben and the Bens, he told us about new album Life Drawing, saying “I came up with the idea of calling a record ‘Life Drawing’ and having the lyrical content of the songs be semi-lucid sketches of events happening in an imagined town. Vignettes …
Album Review: Attraktors – Attraktors
Made up of former members of Julian Cope’s band, Six By Seven, Bivouac, The Selecter and The Nectarine No. 9, we’ve already given some love to Nottingham space/krautrock trio Attraktors on more than one occasion on these pages. They take little elements of all of those bands in their new self-titled album, with elements of …
Album Review: Kidsmoke – A Vision in the Dark
There is an ethereal majestic sheen that permeates the new album from Kidsmoke. It may well stem from the wild and beautiful landscapes of northern Wales, where the band comes from, but nonetheless sparkles and glitters like a golden thread throughout ‘A Vision in the Dark’. Every track on this vital album is imbued with …