Crocodiles – Endless Flowers

Crocodiles - Endless Flowers

By Kenny McMurtrie

Cover your eyes missus, there’s a naked bloke on the cover of this. Titillation aside (if that’s what it’s meant to be), Endless Flowers is an album in the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it mold. Crocodiles see no need to tamper with their My Bloody Valentine-esque sonic palette and indeed why the heck should they? Maybe I’m coming over all nostalgic for one of the defining sounds of my teenage years but the sound they conjure up (along with the likes of The Von Bondies, Wavves etc.) is one of the few to consistently float my boat these days – highs and lows and no nonsense delivered at pace with fuzz and jangle, melancholy and yearning. … Continue Reading

The Hundred In The Hands – Red Night

The Hundred In The Hands - Red Night

By Paul Faller

The self-titled debut record from The Hundred In The Hands felt somewhat unfairly overlooked, which is a shame – its mix of instant, infectious post-punk anthems and atmospheric electro-pop proved to have definite staying power. Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman now return with their second album Red Night, a record that is, by their own admission, informed by both their surroundings and their own tumultuous relationship. The decision to self-produce the record may have put a nearly unbearable strain on the couple, but it seems like the end result has made all the heartache worthwhile. … Continue Reading

King Creosote – I Learned From The Gaels EP

King Creosote - I Learned From The Gaels EP

By Steve McGillivray

Fence Records head honcho King Creosote is back with his first release sans Jon Hopkins, his partner in crime on 2011 Mercury Nominated album Diamond Mine. This time around Fife’s finest is dropping four tracks on us that were born in spring 2010, with the exception of ‘Little Man’ which began life way back in 2001. There are some guests lurking around this EP such as Radio Scotland’s Vic Galloway, Domino artist HMS Ginafore, Rich Young (formerly of Dire Straits and Iron Maiden) and Fence artist Gummi Bako. … Continue Reading

AlunaGeorge – You Know You Like It EP

Aluna George - You Know You Like It EP

By Russell Warfield

Considering how strong of a connection it effortlessly – and instantly - makes with its listener, it’s a total mystery how AlunaGeorge’s absolute earwig of a debut single ‘You Know You Like It’ managed to lurk unnoticed on the internet for about six months before finally getting attention earlier this year. In an electronic climate where artists are relentlessly pushing their own boundaries to the extent that journalists are required to coin a new genre name with each review that they write, it’s more than refreshing to hear an duo delivering streamlined dance music aiming straight for the bullseye, channeling the direct production stylings of mainstream ’90s R&B into super-slinky pop numbers. … Continue Reading

Bleech – Nude

Bleech - Nude

By Alex Ward

It’s not very often that you fall in love with a band by listening to a debut album. After listening to Nude over and over it’s quite clear that Bleech, the trio from London, are breaking the doors down. Jennifer O’Neill alongside sister Katherine O’Neill and Matt Bick have even been reviewed as ‘a match made in nineties heaven’. … Continue Reading

The Invisible – Rispah

The Invisible - Rispah

By Greg Salter

Rispah, the second album by The Invisible, has been billed by the band’s lead singer Dave Okumu as “a love letter to grief” – it was written and recorded following the death of his mother, and she gives the album its title. Okumu has recalled how he struggled to engage with music in the time after his bereavement until his grandmother and a group of women sang traditional spirituals over his mother’s body: “They were celebrating life and death, grief and hope, all things… It served as the most potent reminder of everything I believe about music. It’s there for everybody, it’s inclusive and transformative”. These voices are woven into the music on Rispah, like hopeful spectres hovering within Okumu’s own meditations on grief. … Continue Reading

Future Of The Left – The Plot Against Common Sense

Future Of The Left - The Plot Against Common Sense

By Ben Dufton

It’s amazing. It truly is. How every time you think it can’t be any better than the last one, it is.

I’m going to try and be good, as I get the feeling certain members of Future Of The Left are a bit bored with continuing references to their former bands. So this is the only reference to the fact that Andy “Falco” Falkous, Jack Egglestone, Jimmy Watkins and Julia Ruzicka have all previously been in other bands (some of them you may have heard of).   … Continue Reading

Hot Chip – In Our Heads

Hot Chip - In Our Heads

By Richard Wink

“I’m not a geek, I’m a unique weasel.” – Stoney, California Man

Flippin’ heck time sure as hell flies, doesn’t it? Hot Chip has chalked up five albums. Nobody paid much attention to their first album when it was released in 2003; there was the odd positive review, but then a who-are-these-guys? viral video buzz erupted around ‘Over and Over’. Tech followers, wallflowers and star fuckin’ hipsters all fawned over a bunch of fruity looking charity shop dwelling musicians. … Continue Reading

Jubilee Club Tour w/ The Howling, The Vex and Electric River, London, Camden Barfly

The Howling

By Alex Ward

June 3, 2012

Whether you’re Republican or pro-monarchy, you can’t help but thank the queen for the four-day weekend. I found myself at the Camden Barfly for the newly launched Jubilee club tour. Starting off in Ashford, Kent, three bands (Electric River, The Vex and The Howling) are touring the country in true rock ‘n’ roll style. It might not be pleasing to her majesty but it certainly brought in the crowds. … Continue Reading

Now Playing: Patrick Watson – ‘Words In The Fire’

Patrick Watson - Words In The Fire

Now Playing – twice every week, a roundtable of our writers will give their views on some of the recently-released new tracks. It’s as simple as that! If you want to tell us what you think of the song, feel free to leave a comment below.

Track: ‘Words in the Fire’ by Patrick Watson … Continue Reading