Brooklyn-via-Athens, Georgia post-punk band Bambara’s fourth album ‘Stray’ is a record all about death with words and themes ranging from the surreal and dark to the sublime and delicious. Their second album on Wharf Cat Records, it follows acclaim from Steve Lamacq and shows with Idles. The intense and slightly industrial sound of ‘Miracle’ opens…
Ella O’Connor Williams recently released her debut album ‘I Was Born Swimming’ under her Squirrel Flower moniker via Polyvinyl Records. Ella was born on 11 August, 1996 (the hottest day of the year) with a membrane between her and the rest of the world (still inside of a translucent caul suc membrane, surrounded by amniotic…
Self-taught singer, songwriter and producer yllwblly wrote the album ‘Land Lover’ in the mornings before starting his office job while in the midst of a painful break-up and is now ready to share the 13 songs with the wider world. The Boston-based artist counts Elliott Smith as one of his major influences but we also…
Incredibly, ‘The Scenic Route’ (order via Bandcamp here) is Dropkick’s 16th album. Released via Bobo Integral Records, the Scottish band claims it’s their ‘most accomplished, coherent and fully realised collection of songs to date’. With a melody Norman Blake would be proud to call his own, ‘Feeling Never Goes Away’ opens the album with a…
Featuring a self-portrait as its cover, ‘Likewise’ is the debut solo record from Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan and although it has plenty that will appeal to fans of her day job, it also finds her experiementing with more expansive instrumentation and instruments including harps, synths, strings and electronic beats. ‘Piltdown Man’ opens the record with…
Sløtface follow up 2017’s fantastic ‘Try Not to Freak Out’ with ‘Sorry for the Late Reply’, a record that finds songwriter and vocalist Haley Shea sharing her thoughts on being an American living in Norway with American parents and her conflicted feelings about the state of the world today. ‘S.U.C.C.E.S.S’ opens with Haley shouting ‘Why…
Good Good Blood’s new album ‘At Your Mercy’ (order via Bandcamp here) finds James Smith once again offering poignant, emotional words over atmospheric bursts of guitar and piano. Opener ‘All These Days’ has choral vocals and lyrics about waiting for something to happen and trying to find the right thing to say, while the shoegazing…
Toronto-via-Charlottetown indie rockers Kiwi Jr release debut album ‘Football Money’ via Persona Non Grata Records (Pip Blom). The record, engineered by Aaron Goldstein and mixed by Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh, follows shows with huge bands including Wolf Parade, New Pornographers and Alvvays. Clocking in at under 30 minutes, the 10 tracks kick off with ‘Murder…
Kevin Barnes’ indie-pop veterans of Montreal return with ‘UR FUN’, their first album since 2018’s ‘White is the Relic/Irrealis Mood’. Billed as a ‘staying-in-love record’, it promises to be full of potent pop hooks and foot-shuffling melodies. The album opens with ‘Peace to All Freaks’, a song with an important message and a burst of…
Beach Slang kick off 2020 with the release of brand new album ‘The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City’ (10 January via Bridge Nine Records). This time around, James Alex is joined by a very special guest on bass: Tommy Stinson of The Replacements. All written and arranged by James, the 11 tracks kick off with…
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