Review: February 2024 saw two levee-breaking live moments by The 1975: here the indie band would return to Manchester for two massive AO Arena dates on 17 and 18 February, riding the rips of their biggest world tour yet. While technically from Wilmslow, the band cut their teeth in Greater Manchester's storied live scene and have always claimed the city as their unofficial hometown. Despite turning the leaf on a string of controversies centred on frontman Matty Healy, that didn't stop them from operating Still At Their Very Best, promising the kind of raucous, genre-blending performance fans expect a decade into their career. Support comes from labelmates The Japanese House, and Healy would later duet with Amber Bain on cult single 'Sunshine Baby.' This LP recording of the live spate distils a thirty-track stack of pristine live redeliveries, and with a monomaniacal arena's roar throughout, we hear a larger-than-life return home for the band.
Review: PAX-AM is the brainchild ofJacksonville singer-songwriter and author Ryan Adams, originally dreamed up during his high school years as a DIY cassette label for home-recorded genre experiments. Though those early tapes never left his inner circle, the name stuck. It's been a sandbox for Adams' prolific output ever since, blurring lines between alt-country, punk, classic rock and tape-hiss pop, all under his naive yet total creative control. Now, in homage to his favourite ever recording artists - many of whom you will likely recognise from the track titles alone here - Adams sings atop the altar, dirging covetously over the best of the Rolling Stones, Daniel Johnston, Bon Jovi, Oasis and Bob Dylan.
Review: Having celebrated his 50th birthday late last year, Ryan Adams has naturally been in an introspective mood. It makes sense, then, that the long-serving rock/country fusionist should offer up an album made up entirely of covers of songs by other artists that have in some way inspired him over the years. Generally gentle, with string-laden, largely acoustic arrangements, Changes features some genuinely brilliant interpretations - as well as some surprise ones. For proof, check his piano-and-strings wander through 'Panic' by the Smiths, a wonderfully heartfelt rendition of 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds, a country-folk take on the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy For The Devil' and a lilting, poignant Prince cover ('When Doves Cry', which comes complete with extended harmonica solos and some genuinely lilting strings).
Review: Hotly-tipped South London newcomers Ain't release a limited edition 7" featuring two singles produced by Theo Verney, who is one of Brighton's most celebrated guitar music producers, having worked on records by the likes of Traams, Blood Wizard and Lime Garden. As a group, Ain't cleverly weave shoegaze guitars with emo vocal cadences to create a sound that's likely to do just as well within the burgeoning new wave of American shoegaze scene as it is on the London indie scene, where they are currently among the most talked about new bands.
Review: Dorothy Tennov's tenuous concept of "limerence" has fuelled many an artistic outing and project, most notably in recent times an Yves Tumor star cut from the ineluctable PAN compilation, Mono No Aware. But it's UK rising indie star Jacob Alon's new and debut album, In Limerence - wuthering on the bloodied tips of his last 10" 'To Selene' and forerunning 7" 'Liquid Gold 25'- that perhaps really does the most thoroughgoing justice to the erotomanic, smitten concept of impossible, obsessive love. Bold electric modern folk reimaginings and wambling blears are brought out lovingly by speedy hothouser producer Dan Carey, ensuring Alon's ethereal vocals effuse over evocative storytelling on 'Fairy In A Bottle' and 'Confession'.
Review: Writers will appreciate the double play on words no doubt, and trying to figure out who wouldn't get off on the Au Pairs is part of the brain teaser here. That said, the British post punk outfit only managed to peak at 79 in the album charts with this one, so clearly back in 1982 plenty of people either felt differently to us or weren't actually listening. Rediscovering the record now confirms their ignorance. Musically, Sense & Sensuality is a far broader collection than the group's preceding work, smashing through the limitations of a genre that was in its Informed by free form jazz, theatrical cabaret, new wave and art pop, it's a wild and unarguably fun ride instrumentally speaking, while lyrics speak to personal challenges and timely political issues.
Review: Mansfield new wave band B Movie unearth their long-lost 1982 album Hidden Treasures, more than forty years after they first recorded it for Phonogram, an imprint of Universal. The band were on the same management and signed to the same label as Soft Cell, but their career turned out to be a damp squib by comparison and they split up in the mid-eighties, without ever releasing this great album of synth pop for goths. Taking influences from the likes of Ultravox and The Human League, they cloak it in a more brooding atmosphere, reminiscent of The Chameleons and Joy Divsion - hitting all the right notes along the way, we think.
Review: Mansfield's B-Movie were among a clutch of bands in the early 80s whose members had abandoned their formative thrashy guitar punk influences, and embraced broader, arty, keyboard-laden electronic post-punk. They had a light and catchy, yet brooding Cure-esque hit titled 'Remembrance Day', which shot them up the ranks on the UK gig scene and landed them a record deal. Most of the material they recorded once they got signed was, however, confined to Universal's vaults until very recently because B-Movie had line-up issues that hindered their ability to release an album. Now out of the clutches of contractual obligations, the band have unearthed the album that never was and titled it - quite aptly - Hidden Treasures. Ultimately, they are one of the great 'lost' bands of the early 80s and upon tuning in you can hear that they had in abundance the individuality, style and excellence to have shot them up the charts and made them a household name, had this material been their debut album. Thankfully, they have righted the wrongs of history and they can hold their heads up high forever for having made such brilliant music in their first era.
Review: Matt Berninger, voice and wordsmith behind The National, returns with his sophomore solo effort Get Sunk: for his sharp enough to cut adamantium and melodies that linger like motion ghosts, Berninger digs deep into the questions of identity: who we once were, what happiness really means, and the search that never ends. The album doesn't spell out autobiography but channels a narrator exploring selfhood amid possibilities and pitfalls, balancing on the edge of joy and despair. Collaborating with Hand Habits on 'Breaking Into Acting', and from the reefing 'Inland Ocean' to the reflective 'Times of Difficulty,' Get Sunk is a true personal snorkel dive, tracing both bound ties and yet unwondered roads.
Review: This is The National's Matt Berninger's second solo album and treads a sonically similar path to the Cincinnati band, with some forlorn lyrics and gloomy delivery. Berninger is clearly a fan of plumbing the depths of his heart and fortunately has the talent to be considered one of the top merchants of emotion around these days. Of the tracks here, 'Breaking Into Acting' is a beautiful slice of stately Americana and his vocals interlock beautifully with Meg Duffy, aka Hand Habits. For something more energetic try 'Bonnet Of Pins' as it's a pulsating chamber pop cut with thumping rhythms and a tear-jerking yet rabble rousing atmosphere. Live, this one will ultimately go down a treat.
New Way (Quick Wash & Brush Up With Liberation Theology) (1:38)
Chanel Samba (1:59)
These Boots Are Made For Walking (2:53)
Earsore (1:50)
Let's Rewrite The American Constitution (2:01)
Cat With Cholic (1:59)
Every Conversation (2:12)
Sink (Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues Part 1) (2:29)
Xpqwrtz (1:44)
Three On Baffled Island (1:34)
Testament To The Slow Death Of Youth Culture (2:16)
Review: In his reaction to Manchester recently becoming the new home for the Brit awards, fledgling prime minister Keir Starmer proceeded to give a rundown of the groups that defined Manchester. He mentioned Joy Division, Take That, but there was outrage 'round these parts for his glaring omission of short-lived post-punk three-piece bIG*fLAME. Fortunately, Precious Recordings of London know the score and have stepped up to release all four Peel sessions recorded between 1984 and 1986. There's everything they recorded plus a few they didn't. The band made a point of keeping songs close to the two-minute mark and in that short space of time created more excitement than most manage across an entire oeuvre. It's no wonder John Peel described the band as "one of the two or three very best bands of Planet Earth" and also called them "the best dance band since Glenn Miller & His Orchestra". Copies of this won't hang around for long.
Review: Black Market Karma return with the second chapter in their two-part Fuzz Club album series. Written, recorded, and produced by Stanley Belton, it's the imperfections and unplanned happenings that are the real joy of this ode to 1960s and 1970s psychedelic rock & roll will modern beats. A striking follow up to Wobble, it's fuzzy, crackly, angular and strikingly human considering it's fundamentally electronic. "Mellowmaker was made immediately after Wobble, I kinda see them as two sides of each other", Belton has been quoted as saying. "With these two albums I've attempted to crystallise how it feels to be stuck between a feeling of amnesia of the soul and the earthly experience of piloting a meat suit... I'm still chasing that longing intangible 'Hiraeth' feeling. The sense of wanting to find our way home to a place that maybe doesn't exist."
Review: Back in 1994, Reading-based band Blueboy released their first album for Sarah Records: Unisex. The LP, which is one of the great indie/jangle pop records of the 90s, stands the test of time thanks to mesmerizing songcraft. To celebrate its 30th anniversary the band got together in May 2024 to perform live at The Water Rats in London's Kings Cross. It was their first show in 25 years and thankfully someone had the foresight to record the set. Whilst not limited to songs from Unisex, the key numbers from it are on here: 'Self Portrait' is up there with anything by Pulp or The Smiths. And on 'The Joy Of Living' co-singer Keith Girdler has an air of The Only Ones' Peter Perrett about him. Plus the synth parts and cello make for stunning instrumentals and the lyrical directness is refreshing in an age of smoke and mirrors and metaphor.
Review: Welsh indie Sub Pop-signees The Bug Club return with their fourth album. Similar to their 2024 LP, On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System, they had the fortune of fellow Welsh indie star Tom Rees of Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard produce the album in Rat Trap Studios in Cardiff, Wales and birthed an incredible new record in the process. The Bug Club's appeal comes in their natural affinity with melody and born sense of humour and the single 'How To Be A Confidante' has an air of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Meanwhile, certain vocal parts in 'Jealous Boy' soar like Brett Anderson of Suede if he had grown up listening to Daniel Johnston. Sounding on the form of their lives, there's no chance of swatting The Bug Club's success.
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