Thursday 17 May 2018

Swervedriver - Hebden Bridge Trades Club, May 14th 2018 (LIVE REVIEW)


We know time has not been particularly kind to the Britpop era but the shoegaze scene immediately preceding the Cool Britannia nonsense is enjoying something of a renaissance. Tonight, Oxford based Swervedriver, once shoehorned into this ‘Scene that Celebrates Itself’ genre, kicked-off a new European tour following a sizeable North American trek last autumn, the quartet returning with a handful of spring UK dates celebrating the 25th anniversary of their seminal release ’Mescal Head’. Indeed, the album is to be played in full tonight, preceded by every track from their debut long player ‘Raise’ in what is basically a set of two halves. 

Sunday 13 May 2018

Big Ups 'Two Parts Together' (ALBUM REVIEW)


Brooklyn rabble-rousers Big Ups return with their storming third album Two Parts Together – a fitting title given that the record is one part crystal clear waters, one part tsunami-scale tidal wave.

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Gomez - Leeds 02 Academy, April 29th (LIVE REVIEW)


The first thing you notice about the 2018 live incarnation of Gomez is that lead singer Ben Ottewell finally boasts an appearance catching up with his oak aged Mississippi delta growl; seemingly so out of place two decades ago on the then fresh faced 21-year-old, who sang like he’d been brought up in a New Orleans brothel drinking moonshine instead of breast milk.