We’re back from our trip to Australia, it’s an amazing place by the way in case no one’s ever told you that, and now raring to get back in the writing saddle. I thought I’d start with a quick roundup of some of the albums that we’ve missed during our little summer break, so here goes…. Read More

Links:
Young Playthings
Knifeworld
On Histories Of Rosenberg
Nitkowski
You're Smiling Now But We'll All Turn Into Demons

The first thing that struck me about Dinosaur Pile-Up’s debut EP, modestly titled ‘The Most Powerful EP In The Universe’, is the quality of the sound they’ve generated. It’s a truly beautiful thing, full, warm, fuzzy but with hard edges. Obviously, the second thing that struck me was the quality of the songs. Read More….

After emerging blinking into the limelight from their rustic folk hole last year, with the acclaimed 'Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down' and the single '5 years time', it would have been easy for the band to churn out another chirpy, twee and whimsical affair complete with saccharin girl/boy harmonies and all gushing grinning to each other over the microphone, but instead we get an altogether different beast. Twee this is not - thank God! Be warned if you've just gone through a break up or are having a relationship crisis, it may be advisable to remove any rope, razor…

Nebula have been knocking around for the best part of twelve years now but have somehow never quite risen out of the second division of stoner / psyche bands. Rather too in hock to the sound of the band that guitarist Eddie Glass and drummer Ruben Romano left to form Nebula, Fu Manchu, they’ve always had the riffs and the fuzz but never quite the imagination to know what to do with them. In a genre that is not exactly renowned for deviating from the template, Nebula take slavish devotion to what has gone before just a bit…

Thu 23 Jul – The Warlocks, Hatcham Social, Wild Palms

There’s a bit of a crackle about the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen when we arrive, and not just because of the incipient thunderstorm. ‘The Mirror Explodes’ has widely been acknowledged as The Warlocks’ finest, most coherent work to date and now’s our chance for us to see them render those songs in the environment in which they are most natural, live. Read More…

Hatcham Social
Wild Palms

Tue 7 Jul – ATP Presents: Sleepy Sun + Wolf People

First time I saw Sleepy Sun, a month or so ago at Luminaire, I intended to write a review but they blew me away so firmly I just had to sit back and enjoy it. So, tonight, more prepared for what was to come, I tried to be more focused, more objective and more able to write afterwards. Even with all that it was a close run thing! Read More…

So, another thirty days have come and gone already and here we are with our roundup of the records that have piled up in the office this month without getting the benefit of a full review: Read More…

Links:
Tortoise
The Dharma
Loqui
Sad Day For Puppets
David Daniell and Douglas McCombs

Within the opening few bars of the first track, and first single from the album, ‘Clean Coloured Wine’ my ears prick up. I’ve developed a well-honed instinct over the years and can generally spot something I’m going to really like within a few seconds and ‘Three Fact Finder’, the comeback album from Engineers, has just landed slap bang in the middle of my radar. Read More…

The ’85 Bears were probably the best team in the recent history of the NFL and to boys of a certain age, like myself, names like William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry are indelibly inked in to our folklore, whether this has any bearing (pun unintentional) on where this band derived their name I’ve no idea but I just thought I’d mention it. Read More…

Exuberant, that’s the only word I can think of after slipping the new album from That Fucking Tank in to the CD player. So much of post rock these days is so po-faced but not these boys. The album has a massive streak of mischief running all the way through it and they go at it with a massive amount of energy and huge grins. This is music with such vibrant life it’s impossible not to smile whilst listening to it. Read More…