New music
Thomas H. Green
Suede finish “Sabotage”. It’s a mid-paced, elegant number set off by swirling, circling central guitar. Frontman Brett Anderson hangs from his microphone stand on the left apron of the stage to deliver it, with the lights down low. Afterwards he paces back to his bandmates, body taut, hair a-flop. He tells the audience he’s been involved in a long ongoing experiment; “standing in front of VOX AC30 amps for 30 years.” The resulting problem, he adds in a rising shout, “is that I can’t hear you.”It’s a showbiz shot, dryly delivered, but it works. He keeps coming back to this, demanding a louder Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Bad Religion have been making politically aware, high-speed, melodic punk rock for throwing yourself around with glorious abandon for nigh on 40 years now. As anyone who saw them at last year's Download Festival will be aware, however, their longevity does not mean that they have become stale or jaded in any way. Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz and their fellow rabble-rousers may be long in the tooth but they still sound like young men going full-tilt with a sound that suggests a more tuneful Dead Kennedys or a more political Husker Du. Their long-playing ode to President Tiny Hands, alternative Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Pet Shop Boys are never shy of producing stylishly conceived fan mementos. Coming not long after Faber & Faber’s hardback collection of Neil Tennant’s lyrics, this four-disc set is just such a slice of lovingly rendered memorabilia. After well over three decades in the game – but one since they had a Top 20 hit song – the duo retain a devoted following, ever eager to invest in whatever they’re up to. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am one such, and this review – of a film of a concert I’ve already reviewed on theartsdesk – should be read in that light. After all, who else is buying it Read more ...
Kathryn Reilly
Sleaford Mods are livid. About everything. But then, aren’t we all? If any single voice could represent this particularly bewildering era, it would be Jason Williamson’s. Outraged, marginalised, furious, he’s determinedly (with the help of henchman Andrew Fearn) dragging the fetid carcass of British society over the coals. Truly, this is a band for our times. And Margate is a fitting place for the post-punk poets to express their wrath.One quarter "Shoreditch-on-Sea", three-quarters the seaside town they forgot to bomb, this is classic Brexit land. Money’s been poured into various (arty Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Torso Hell tells the story of an American soldier whose limbs were blown off in Vietnam. Amazingly, he and his buddies survived, and in the ensuing medical chaos his arms and legs were re-attached to them rather than him. The narrator says “At the hospital, it’s so crazy and confused that when these guys come in, the doctors and nurses don’t know what from what … they just start sewing. The main guy stays a torso, but they put his arms and legs back on the other guys. Two guys each get one of his arms … two guys each get one of his legs.” It’s a typically bizarre Terry Allen set-up. Read more ...
Asya Draganova
In the End, the final album by Limerick band the Cranberries arrives three decades after they first formed and just over a year after Dolores O’Riordan’s unexpected death. As a full-stop to their career, it therefore also marks something of a legacy for the singer as well as the band.As might be expected, Dolores’ angelic and powerful voice delivers raw emotion and energy throughout their swansong - the unchanging signature of the Cranberries’ sound. The melodic tracks from In the End embrace the simplicity of familiar chord progressions, maintaining their alternative rock and pop sound with Read more ...
Russ Coffey
Indie-rock sure ain't what it used to be. These days boys-with-guitars sound no less manufactured than actual boy bands. And, of all these generic outfits, few appear to have less musical substance than Welsh four-piece Catfish and the Bottlemen.The Balance, the Llandudno bands' third LP, is pure indie-by-numbers. It's full of chugging guitars with angsty vocals sung in a regional accent. Occasionally everything goes quiet before bursting into a massive chorus. It's as the band has sat down and tried to recreate the essence of Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys.The problem is Read more ...
Lisa-Marie Ferla
This year, says Gary Barlow, marks 30 years since five boys walked into a room in Manchester and auditioned for what would turn out to be the UK’s most successful pop act. It is fitting, then, that what they are billing as the Odyssey tour features 25 hits from across three decades - and more than a few callbacks.The trio - Barlow, Howard Donald and an increasingly hirsute Mark Owen - may keep promising to take us “back to the 90s”, but there’s a decidedly futuristic look to the stage with a giant, glowing orb proving the pre-show focal point. As their band take their places in the shadows, Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Get The Blessing are a band whose music never fails to conjure up images of someone like Steve McQueen driving along a coastal Californian road, looking cool as you like in very dark shades, sat in an open-top sports car from a seriously stylish cops and robbers film from the mid-Sixties. This is despite the fact that their first album was only released in 2008 and they hail from Bristol.Born from the rhythm section of Portishead’s touring band, Get The Blessing play cool jazz that has hints of Hard Bop, lush cinematic soundtracks and even post-rock textures. While it’s a sound that is Read more ...
Guy Oddy
There aren’t many musicians to catch the ear of a substantial community of music lovers that includes both metalheads and world music fans, as well as having been invited to play the White House – especially when playing only instrumental tunes on acoustic guitars. Given that Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero hail from Mexico, however, it’s no surprise that their appearance in Washington DC was at the invitation of Barack Obama and not President Tiny Hands.Mettavolution is be Rodrigo y Gabriela’s sixth studio album and their first since 2014’s 9 Dead Alive, but it certainly doesn’t betray Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Bananarama are one of the most successful girl groups of all time. Consisting of Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, the band’s third original member Siobhan Fahey left in 1988 to form Shakespears Sister. The trio reunited in 2017 for a tour but new album, In Stereo, sees them back as the long-standing duo. The pair have been friends since their school days.Bananarama formed in London in the milieu of post-punk clubland, their opening shot “Aie a Mwana” leading to a major label record deal and backing vocals for Fun Boy Three who were, at the time, one of Britain’s most eagerly anticipated new Read more ...
Lisa-Marie Ferla
How to put a full-stop on an over 50 year recording career? For multiple Music Hall of Fame-rs The O’Jays, the answer includes a party track penned by Bruno Mars, a reworked 60s single and a final chance to ruminate on the state of the world. The appropriately-named The Last Word packs a lot into a mere nine songs, and while the result is a bit of a mixed bag, it’s great to see one of the leading lights of the Philadelphia sound call time on a storied career on their own terms.The Last Word finds the trio - founding members Walter Williams and Eddie Levert plus Eric Grant, who joined in 1995 Read more ...