Category: Reviews: Albums
REVIEW: BIFF BANG POW! – LOVE IS FOREVER
Criminally underrated British psychedelic pop classic gets a limited edition re-issue, in a plush gatefold sleeve with bonus tracks, on Berlin’s independent label, Vollwert. Originally released on Creation Records more than two decades ago, Love is Forever still has the ability to send shivers down spines. There is generally very little known about Biff Bang [...]
REVIEW: NATIONAL PASTIME – MY STAR HAS FALLEN
National Pastime My Star Has Fallen (Pastime Records) Exeter’s kings of lo-fi indie-pop drop ‘the unofficial album’ with some new material plus a few reworked live favourites from their debut, Short Stories. Recorded by the band themselves, My Star Has Fallen has a rough, DIY feel, reminiscent of the first wave of British indie sound [...]
REVIEW: SUB FOCUS – SUB FOCUS
SUB FOCUS Sub Focus (Ram Records) 4/5 Following on nicely from the massive Chase & Status album released earlier this year, Ram Records bring you the long anticipated debut album from Sub Focus. Without a doubt this man is one of the biggest names in the Drum & Bass scene & having had some huge [...]
REVIEW: MADNESS – ONE STEP BEYOND
Madness ‘One Step Beyond’ (Salvo) 4.5/5 30th anniversary reissued classic debut album, digitally remastered with a bonus disc of related tracks, booklet and a forward by Irvin Welsh. Try if you can to not get sidetracked by the success of Madness, their endless influence on bands that continues to present day and their revolutionising of [...]
REVIEW: MEW – NO MORE STORIES
Mew No More Stories (Sony) 4/5 Scandinavian arty trio return for a third album, produced by Rich Costey (Muse/Glasvegas). The singer’s voice is similar to Green Gartside’s (Scritti Politti), and the opening song, New Terrain has a ghostlike reverse vocal effect, which appears more subtly on other tracks. This is a complex record and a [...]
REVIEW: ATHLETE – BLACK SWAN
GIG REVIEW ATHLETE 8 July The Fleece, Bristol ATHLETE have been out of the limelight since the release, and pretty downbeat reception, of their third studio album Beyond the Neighbourhood. But they’re back with a new album called Black Swan under a new label, Fiction Records, after parting ways with Parlophone Records. This separation has [...]
REVIEW: NOISE ANNOYS SIMON – YOU SAY IT, I’LL KNOW IT
Noise Annoys Simon You Say It, I’ll Know It (Pop Noise Records) 4/5 Exeter band, Noise Annoys Simon’s singer, Simon Bish was previously in early 90s John Peel darlings, Thrilled Skinny. There’s an honesty and a purity about Noise Annoys Simon, which is captured across these 12 slices of perfect guitar pop. This is a [...]
REVIEW: THRILLED SKINNY – JUST ANOTHER TEENAGE DREAM
Thrilled Skinny Just Another Teenage Dream (Pop Noise Records) 4/5 Being the adventures of Noise Annoys Simon singer, Simon Bish in the late 80s/early 90s (then known as Simon Goalpost). Punk pop fits the bill: fast and furious at times, with plenty of energy and amusing titles. During their time, Luton’s finest released several singles [...]
REVIEW: ROB SPARX – TROOPER
Rob Sparx Trooper (Z Audio) 4/5 Though formerly known as a drum & bass producer (with releases on labels such as Grid, Zombie & Up Yours), Rob Sparx has more recently been dropping dubstep. This album is very different to his crazy bass banger, ‘Sludge’ on the Audio Phreaks label. With ‘Trooper’, he’s gone for [...]
