SINGLE: Officer Kicks – Automatic

I’ve developed a knack for telling how good a release is by the style of the cover artwork. The most obvious thing about the Officer Kicks single, other than the band’s stupid name, is the Libertines typeface. My guess, therefore, is that this band is a rocky Libertines rip off, all effort put into the attitude […]
Sound of Guns have been touring with Adam Green prior to the release of their new single, Alcatraz.  Though they were talented musicians when they visited Club Academy in Manchester last month, they never got the crowd going in the way Green did. This was because, unlike Green, they couldn’t help but take themselves too seriously, and […]

SINGLE: Sound of Guns – Alcatraz

SINGLE: Goldfrapp – Rocket

After being widely maligned since its beheading, the 80s is now back. 2008 saw Neon Neon release their blinding album Stainless Style. It allowed us to revel in 80s power pop once again, with the added incentive that you could like it without shame because of its semi-ironic nature. If challenged you could shrug it […]
Upon hearing Machine Gun my initial reaction was one of mirth. I looked at my friend, he looked at me, and we both laughed. A few listens later and I’m less certain. Is this ridiculously good or just ridiculous? The dirty drum and bass intro I like, but the drop into a sort of electro-metal […]

SINGLE: Noisia – Machine Gun

SINGLE: Angus and Julia Stone – And The Boys

To begin I’d like to resort to basic national stereotypes. Australians are not renowned for their subtlety. They produce bands like AC/DC and Men at Work. Their national monument is a giant rock. Their drink of choice is the delicately brewed XXXX lager, and their film stars spend their time displaying their larger-than-yours knives. So […]
Every now and again I go through the releases I haven’t had a chance to listen to, just in case I’ve missed something. Undercover Martyn is just such a release. Now, I’m not a massive fan of indie. The vast majority of releases sent to me, especially in 2008, were by God-awful Libertines clones that […]

SINGLE: Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn

SINGLE: Table – Songs You Can Sing

Table is not a particularly autoerotic name, but “Songs You Can Sing” is a small little gem of a song – not one turn to turn you on perhaps, but one that will squeeze deep pangs of emotion from the hardest heart. Hailing from Manchester, the guitarist plays in another very good act named Petty […]
As one listens to A Rumour In Africa, it is not the coming world cup, the political turmoil within, or the vast plains of the African nations which come to mind.  What one thinks of is jumping out of an aeroplane in Australia or New Zealand or some other god awful backpacker occupied island. Not, […]

SINGLE: Errors – A Rumour In Africa

SINGLE: Motion Picture Soundtrack – Glass Figures

Rewind 7 years and Glass Figures would be the shit, the cutting edge bollocks to inspire a generation of teenagers. Fast forward 7 years and this slickly produced car crash, which sounds like a rehash of early Bloc Party and Interpol combined, becomes an anachronistic plastic balls up, out of time and out of place. […]
Daisy Dares You is the nom de plume of 16 year old Daisy Coburn, a girl fresh from the badlands of Essex. Incidentally the name is taken from a 90s ITV television programme called ZZZap! which was aimed at deaf children. A cruel person would say that her music will attract the same audience. It […]

SINGLE: Daisy Dares You – Number One Enemy