It’s always hard to decide on what the ‘best’ albums of the year were… There could be some that you’d been eagerly awaiting and loved upon release and scarcely went back to thereafter, or even the opposite – the more you listened, the more it grew – as well as records that captured a particular…
After 12 years away, The Jazz June are set to make a triumphant return with ‘After the Earthquake’, which will be released via Topshelf Records on 10 November (what a label! Their output this year has been phenomenal). Recorded by Evan Weiss of Spectral Nights favourites Into It. Over It. and mastered by his bandmate…
When The Xcerts released ‘Scatterbrain’ in October 2010, no-one – especially the band themselves – could have predicted that it would be four years before they released another long player. It’s not like the band have been lazy. They’ve toured relentlessly, played with brilliant bands like Biffy Clyro across Europe and became a reliable highlight…
A London-based trio consisting of talented producer Ash Gardner, Hugo Sheppard and Three Trapped Tigers’ Adam Betts, Emperor Yes are the latest band from the Alcopop! roster that will have you grinning from ear to ear. All the way through their debut record, ‘An Island Called Earth’, you’ll be lifted to another planet by their…
We’ve spoken at length about our love for the much-missed Stagecoach before and have hosted the first releases from frontman Luke’s Barham’s solo project Uncle Luc. ‘I Write’, ‘Farewell Monsoon’ and the songs featured in his mini movie ‘Owner of the Loneliest Song’ hinted at a more stripped-down sound than his previous band, but with…
‘I nearly lost you on our wedding day. It was early afternoon, and you were leaving from lunch with your best friend, when your vehicle careened into an SUV… as it turned out in front of you, violently flinging you into the waiting airbag. You were shaken and dazed, but otherwise ok and still determined…
After forming in 2007, releasing their first album in 2011 and playing extensively throughout the United States and in Europe (including a London show with our very own Our Lost Infantry) over the past seven years, Prawn have returned with their follow-up to 2012’s ‘Ships’ – the ornithologically titled ‘Kingfisher’. Complete with artwork of the…
We first saw Cardiff band Samoans on the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading festival back in 2012, and although it’s taken the four-piece a while, they’ve finally released their debut album ‘Rescue’. Written while frontman Daniel Barnett recovered from a broken back, the long-awaited record promises to be a turbulent and rather emotional whirlwind, but…
Formed in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Calley in 2010, hardcore heroes My Fictions have released a number of highly acclaimed recordings through the brilliant Topshelf Records and ‘Stranger Songs’ – their first full-length album – is set to unleash their sound to an even wider spectrum of unexpected music fans. One of the heaviest bands on the…
Returning after 16 years and fully immersed in the so-called ‘emo revival’, Braid have released new album ‘No Coast’ via the ever-reliable Topshelf Records. Hailing from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the quartet’s last album was the seminal ‘Frame & Canvas’ in 1998, but after so long away, will the band be able to deliver new material that…
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