Named after the creek in Alabama where Kate Crutchfield spent her formative years, Waxahatchee evolved from Kate’s initial solo acoustic bedroom alter ego into a full band concern, the autobiographical ‘Saint Cloud’ comprising Waxahatchee’s fifth release and third on Merge records.
Originally and perhaps somewhat unfairly pigeonholed within the new acoustic movement first emerging in the late 1990s, South London quartet Turin Brakes seemed to follow a similar career path to many of their contemporaries.
Mining the rich punk-funk history of their hometown then drizzling overtones of Motor City industrial techno, Brooklyn based trio ‘The Wants’ first release ‘Container’, is proving a hotly anticipated affair, ever since blistering road trip floor filler ‘The Motor’ appeared at the start of the year, causing many a hip to gyrate.
Far more likely to hand you a pint than plant a glass between your eyes the Dorset Dropkick Murphys, Black Water County, roister rather than riot on Comedies & Tragedies, the crowdfunded follow-up to 2017's Taking Chances.
Unless it turns out that their skeletons are made of actual steel, SHEAFS couldn't be tied any closer to their hometown of Sheffield – the band is named after the river which flows through the city and which gave it its name, their spiky punk-rock barrelling forward as relentlessly as the industry it spent centuries powering.
Reworked albums can vary in quality yet under the right circumstances, have the potential to be as interesting as the original material, the Cinerama version of Wedding Present long player ‘Valentina’ case in point. Saying that, Anna Calvi’s music has always pushed away at the outer creases of the envelope, each of her three daring records to date receiving Mercury nominations, making Ms Calvi the first solo artist to achieve this feat.
