Back in the glory days of alt-metal, Marilyn Manson was a massive deal. Nobody else has managed to combine over-the-top religious-Right-baiting showmanship with fierce intelligence and raging, in-your-face rock in the same manner Manson did around the turn of the millennium. But after 2003’s The Golden Age Of Grotesque, things took an awkward turn with a series of albums that Read more…
I have no excuse for missing most of Gold Phoenix’s intense garage-rocking set. I’m just a bad person.
The Greasy Slicks, on the other hand, are good. As a matter of fact, they’re more than just good – they’re fucking immense. Flat-out fucked drums, flamethrower guitars, and Read more…
Meghann Wright’s Twitter bio describes her work as “sad bastard music” – and it certainly Read more…
The “death of the album” has been declared many times in recent years – but nonetheless, musicians keep making them and are showing no signs of stopping (and thank God for that!). Almost a decade and a half into the twenty-first century, there still exist bands and artists capable of composing immersive, engaging, and fully satisfying collections of songs that stand up to repeated, unshuffled listens. Here are fifteen of them. Read more…
Although I was gutted at missing most of Cardboard Carousel‘s earlier-than-planned set, what I did catch was as wonderful as I’d anticipated. Cardboard Carousel are an incredibly talented husband-and-wife team whose precisely attuned vocals give their carefully-worded tunes the depth they deserve.
I was probably the only audience member who was completely new to Ezio (whose name my spellchecker wants to change to ‘Wazoo’), and it was cool to see a pair of artists receive so much enthusiastic appreciation. Whether bouncing between acoustic-based genres – taking in rock, folk, blues, country, flamenco, and gypsy jazz – or prefacing an encore with an in-depth discussion of the walk of shame, Ezio were consummate showmen and instrumentalists. Along the way were laughs, melancholic moments, and more than enough lilting serenity to ease my post-Marmozets bangover. Read more…
Last night was a reset-hitting moment for a venue whose continued survival was confirmed just over 24 hours previously. Vintage swing music played in the background while earlycomers gathered around a table laden with instruments, effect boxes, microphones, an iPad, and even fairy lights to await the arrival of first act, A R T E L S. Read more…
When an album brings to mind Boy Hits Car (one of my favourite bands of all time) and Spotlight Cannibal (one of my favourite bands of right now), it’s a winner in my eyes. On this, their eponymous debut album, Yeti Love are winning at music, and doing it in style. Read more…
A week after The Boileroom first announced its status as a newly threatened independent live music venue, it’s great to see the team there aren’t letting the stress and pressure get in the way of still more amazing shows. Tonight ran as smoothly as ever, and any raw and agitated nerves were most likely soothed (if temporarily) by the following acts: Read more…