Album Reviews
Album Review: Real Estate – ‘In Mind’
Real Estate have always come across as indifferent to the world around them. They seem to be completely aware of the what’s going on, but despite the good and bad that comes crashing down all around they breezily strum and sing their songs of nostalgic navel gazing and pining for something they may never get. …
Album Review: Pulled Apart By Horses, The Haze
The fourth studio album from Pulled Apart By Horses is here, two and a half years after the release of their last offering. This time around, the band are embracing a scuzzy, more punky kind of vibe- even more than fans may be used to from the Leeds rockers. This only makes their sound even …
Album Review: Tennis – Yours Conditionally
‘Yours Conditionally’ the new album from Tennis was ceremonially launched from the jetty of their own label, ‘Mutually Detrimental’ on the 10th March. This finest of Riviera deserts is made up of ten tracks that are like dollops of whipped ice cream, dazzled in crystal sugar, lathered in unctuous sauce and flaked in nearly the …
Say Psych: Album Review: Gnod – Just Say No to the Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine
Gnod are a punk infused psych krautrock collective hailing from Salford, Greater Manchester. Having formed in 2006 they have become an institution in their own right and are essentially a collective with a rotating list of musicians who frequent art-hub Islington Mill. With an impressive back catalogue under their belt they have garnered an increasing …
Album Review: Sir Was – Digging A Tunnel
That this album by Joel Wastberg AKA sir Was is his debut album as a solo artist is almost inconceivable, accomplished that it is.His background as a multi-instrumentalist gun for hire for the likes of José Gonzalez (both in solo guise and as a member of Junip) appears to have been a catalyst to finally …
Album Review: Homeshake – Fresh Air
Peter Sagar was perhaps best known once as the former guitarist from Mac DeMarco’s live band, However, Edmonton’s Peter Sagar is creating a new name for himself quite literally with his new solo project. Redefined in his new guise of musical project ‘Homeshake’, the Montreal-based singer-songwriter and musicians’ new album is intended to ‘’clear his …
Album Review: Holly Macve – Golden Eagle
I’ve always been a sucker for a female singer-songwriter. I grew up on a diet of Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette. The more pain and angst they sung of, the greater their songs seemed to become. And that’s a part of my taste that has continued ever since then, comparing everyone who has come since to those …
Album Review: Thundercat – Drunk
Driving home from picking up my son at school the other day we were listening to Flying Lotus’ Until The Quiet Comes. I looked over to my son and said “What I love about this music is that it’s a perfect mix of woozy trip hop, groovy hip hop, and complex jazz chord structures.” My …
Album Review: Thunder – Rip It Up
There has always been something comforting about Thunder. Perhaps it’s their no frills approach to the classic hard rock sound, perhaps it is down to their reliable quality in terms of output (from 1990’s Back Street Symphony to Rip it Up, they’re still recognisably the same band in terms of their sound, with relatively few …
Album Review: Desperate Journalist – Grow Up
Desperate Journalist come of age with their most powerful and refined music to date on new album ‘Grow Up’. We, at Backseat Mafia, have often professed our love for Desperate Journalist. I thought I’d better state that straight away. You may think this means that this review will be biased – based on a history …