Back catalogue:

Review: Five years after their debut album made big moves back in 2018, and two after its successor Drunk Tank Pink re-invented them as proper highbrow new wavers, Shame are back with their third Food For Worms. It's tinged with a certain sense of morbidity but also looks outwards and tries to celebrate life. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," said frontman Charlie Sheen of the writing process. He also declares this to be "the Lamborghini of Shame records" and we are inclined to agree. Fuelled by a love of playing live, this record is one of the fast the band has ever written and so brims with vitality and energy as they cast out their post-punk roots in favour of a more eclectic sound. And what a great result.

Review: Catharsis runs through the debut solo album from Oliver Sim, best known to most of us as the bassist-singer from The XX. A record that's about pulling back the curtain to reveal who he really is - surprising, considering The XX's output always felt heart-on-sleeve - even the vocal delivery feels more honest, less whispered, no longer hidden beneath effects and subtle textures.

Hideous Bastard is in many ways also less produced, more human. And by that we mean theatric, dramatic, packed with artistic ideas, and the feeling of someone coming of age to finally feel comfortable in their own skin letting us in. Inventive to the last, it's forward thinking alternative electronic-pop-rock-indie fare but, more significantly, it's an act of sharing - from his own HIV diagnosis at 17 (the first time he has publicly discussed the illness) to thoughts about the industry and society itself.

Review: The Slow Show are probably the least-Manchester Manchester band we know. Rolling back the years to our first encounter, the mesmerising White Water, we recall stopping dead in tracks as the powerful, somber, and utterly inimitable voice of Rob Goodwin sung out in mournful verse. Love at first sight, anyone who has ever experienced anything even close to loss would have found it impossible to ignore. That was then and this is now. With four albums already under their belt, Subtle Love lands as perhaps the groups poppiest and lightest effort to date, although it is still very much their sound. Minimalist yet epic, summoning elements of northern brass bands, opera, and journeyman blues-rock, tracks here manage to be soft yet commanding, spellbinding and deep enough to dive into and never come back out.

Review: Offering up a fly-on-the-wall earful of the legendary punk spoken word songstress at the peak of her prowess, First We Take Manhattan is a live LP captured at New York City's iconic CBGB's on August 11th 1979, whilst touring in promotion of the Todd Rundgren-produced Wave, which would mark the third and final album billed under the Patti Smith Group. Whilst receiving somewhat of a mixed reception upon release due its more radio-friendly oriented sound, longtime staples such as 'Frederick', 'Seven Ways Of Going' and 'Dancing Barefoot' all make appearances, exuding Smith's unbothered stance towards critical reception, while also making room for Easter deep cut 'Space Monkey', as well as a reliably hefty dose of material from her classic 1975 debut solo LP Horses, including 'Redondo Beach' and 'Kimberly'.

Review: Liverpool's indie rock band Space released their much vaunted debut album Spiders in September 1996. It went straight to number 5 in the UK albums charts and was widely acclaimed for its unique sound. The lyrics also came with plenty of humour, which stand the record apart, and musically its take sin plenty of weird and wonderful references from classic indie to pop. Big singles like 'Female Of The Species', 'Neighbourhood', 'Me and You Versus the World' and 'Dark Clouds' all sound as good now as ever and this 25th anniversary edition comes pressed on heavyweight 180g translucent yellow vinyl.

Review: It's hard not to feel that the first time you heard Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space it was a lightbulb moment - one of those life, or at least music-affirming experiences that's hard to come back from. Not the first Spiritualized album, but certainly the most critically acclaimed at the time, and arguably still to this day, it confirmed the Warwickshire band had arrived at the highest level of chart-friendly artistry. That point when a band realise they can do what they want, and it resonates with both niche and mainstream ears. Everything Was Beautiful arrived 25 years later, and emphasised that point. Yes, we're talking about a group that reached full maturity some time ago, rather than a troupe of rising enigmas pushing rock 'n' roll in new directions. Nevertheless, the way in which we are invited back into their world is captivating. Tracks that rouse, inspire, and feel utterly timeless. As a record, this is an exhilarating ride from start to finish, almost seeming to distill all that has come before into one intoxicating brew. Here in a limited Spanish pressing, grab it while you can.

Review: Keep Me Safe Keep Me Sane offers up a scholastic batch of rarities from Iggy Pop fronted proto-punk timebomb The Stooges, all captured in and around 1972 when the band had reformed from their first break up and were in the process of crafting their cult classic Raw Power. Boasting an array of studio outtakes, tour rehearsal cuts and unhinged live performances, this collection gets you as close to the madness as a fly on the wall of a dingy tour van or sweaty rehearsal studio, yet prevents from being caught in the chaotic drug-fuelled egotistical malaise that would eventually torpedo the group.

Review: Berlin-based Dina Summer - a synth-loving trio fronted by the suitably sassy and no-holds barred singer Dina P - impressed with their Italo-disco and turn-of-the-millennium electroclash inspired debut album, Rimini. Three years in, they return with an arguably even stronger set - the notably darker, more stylish and more new wave-influenced Girl's Gang. Many of their trademark elements remain to the fore - Dina P's dead-eyed spoken word vocals, the use of vintage drum machine rhythms and sequenced basslines - but this time round come accompanied by black mascara-clad nods to post-punk, New Romantic, goth-rock and Depeche Mode style synth-pop sounds. As previously stated, it is genuinely stylish and impeccably observed stylistically, but what makes it stand out is the substance behind the sheen.

Review: Five years is a long time to go without an album in anyone's books, but it's also one of those reassuringly long hiatuses that betrays the ethics of the artists. Not compelled to buy their way into the 21st Century's rather abhorrent demand for constant stimulation simply to keep the likes, clicks and followers up, instead the outfits that take half a decade to gather themselves usually have something to say that's worth listening, and the instrumentals to back that up. There's A Big Star Outside is no exception to that rule we just made up. It soars, it swoons, it romances and it commiserates through a tapestry of artsy space rock, baroque pop, pseudo-shoe gaze, 1980s synth, and rousing indie. It tells stories, paints pictures, captivates emotions and speaks to heart and mind in one fell swoop. Or, to put all that another way, Swim Deep's latest might be their greatest.