Album Reviews
Album Review: Twin Peaks (Music From The Limited Event Series)
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with the Twin Peaks TV series. Who killed Laura Palmer was the question that was on everyone’s lips. Who was the mysterious Bob, The Giant and The One Armed Man? Back then I professed to know what was going on and that I understood every last scene. But …
Album Review: Deer Tick – Volume 1 and Volume 2
Acclaimed roots-rock-americana-country-folk-acoustic-boundary-breakers Deer Tick have released their first new material in four years via Partisan Records. The good news for fans is that they have released not just one, but two new records. This is not a double album either, these are two separate collections of original material (Volume 1 and Volume 2), both recorded …
Album Review: Sparks – Hippopotamus
When Sparks roared back to relevance with 2002‘s Lil’ Beethoven, it was treated as a glorious return to form. How long that form would last was another matter. Was it a one off, or the start of a more sustained period of creative success? 2006’s Hello Young Lovers very much confirmed that the previous album’s …
New Music: Mogwai, Every Country’s Sun
Scotland’s Mogwai are one of those bands that have been on the periphery of my vision (or hearing?) for many years, receiving strong critical acclaim and amassing a huge and dedicated following. I just haven’t had room on my brimming musical plate to encompass them, and to be honest the idea of a (mostly) instrumental …
New Music: Unruly Girls, Cruel Tales
Many years ago in the nascent years of Backseat Mafia, we wrote about a number of exciting Italian bands creating distinct indie rock with style and attitude. One of these was a wild and brilliant band called “Sweet Jane and Claire” who (as their name suggested) were very much a Velvet’s-influenced attitude-laden breath of fresh …
Say Psych: Album Review: Juju – Our Mother Was A Plant
Rating: 9/10 JuJu is the project of Italian multi-instrumentalist Gioele Valenti who also works with Lay Llamas. Following on from his successful debut album in 2016, Valenti has teamed up with Fuzz Club Records to release second LP Our Mother Was A Plant on 22nd September, the same day he is billed to return to …
Say Psych: Album Review: L.A. Witch – L.A. Witch
Rating: 8/10 L.A. Witch, who’s name is a partial misnomer, hail from Los Angeles but do not partake in any sort of witchcraft, unless you class creating soundscapes of hazy Californian nights many years prior to their birth. This ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound has ensured increasing support and …
Album Review: Flyte – The Loved Ones
‘The Loved Ones’ is the long anticipated debut from London four-piece Flyte. It’s been some time in the making – about 3 years in fact. Flyte separately admit that as early as age ten, a career in music was their only ambition. Drummer Jon Supran and bassist Nick Hill met guitarist and lead vocalist Will …
Album Review: Alvvays – Antisocialites
Alvvays may have to contend with unreasonably high expectations of their second album, but – trust me – ‘Antisocialites’ is that good. The first time I heard the Toronto-based group was in Rough Trade East on a balmy August evening in 2014. I’d read a brief write-up on one of their singles that same day, …
Album Review: Everything Everything – A fever dream
Everything Everything has been building a really solid career throughout their nearly 10 years of existence. From the 2011’s weird, fresh and intense debut album Man Alive, to the melancholic, introspective Arc, the band has seen the career grow at a satisfying pace. The political, upbeat and angry Get To Heaven, featuring lyrics with darker …