JOHN band Simon Pegg Validation

JOHN – ‘Validation’ EP review


One of the loudest two-pieces around, it’s always a treat to hear new material from JOHN. Sure to wake you up and get you moving. As we all know by now, there’s no slow build-up with JOHN – things get heavy right away and opener ‘Bigger Man’ is no exception. Coming across like a bullet…

Foals What Went Down album review Oxford Reading Festival

Foals – ‘What Went Down’ album review


Foals have always excelled in whatever genre they’ve dipped into. From the amazing pre-‘Antidotes’ tracks of ‘Mathletics’ and ‘Try This On Your Piano’ to their almost-resurrection of nu-metal on ‘Inhaler’, there’s always been something a bit special about the Oxford five-piece. Now they arrive at their fourth album and hopes are high. They turned down…

Zooz band

Zooz – ‘Surf in Stereo’ EP review


A band that seemingly came out of nowhere and is already NME favourites, Zooz are signed to our friends over at Super Fan 99 Records and ‘Surf in Stereo’ is their debut EP. There’s some Shins-style melancholia in ‘Another Day in the Sun’, the opening song which is breezy and full of rhetorical questions, culminating…

Carnival Youth Latvia

Carnival Youth – ‘No Clouds Allowed’


We’ve been big fans of Latvian teenagers Carnival Youth ever since we first heard them around this time last year. Since then, they’ve brought their sun-drenched folk-pop to a number of major festivals around Europe and received praise from the likes of Steve Lamacq, the Guardian and Huw Stephens. A sound that was made to…

Cotillon band

Cotillon – ‘Cotillon’ album review


We recently posted a stream of Cotillon’s (or Jordan Corso, to give him his real name…) ‘Call Me Up’ and it showcased a songwriter with immense promise. Now you’ll have the chance to hear his self-titled debut album. Released by Super Fan 99 Records in the UK, we suggested before that ‘Call Me Up’ could…

Vennart The Demon Joke

Vennart – ‘The Demon Joke’ album review


Although Oceansize only split up in 2011, it seems far longer ago. A lot has changed in the life of Mike Vennart since the end of the much-loved cult band. Joining Biffy Clyro as a further guitarist (and later being accompanied by fellow Oceansize member Richard ‘Gambler’ Ingram to form Biffy-size…), he’s become accustomed to…