indie albums
Album Review: Spoon – ‘Hot Thoughts’
It’s been over 20 years since their debut album Telephono was released in 1996, and they have done nothing but look forward ever since. I have no problem saying that Spoon have released some of my generations best rock records, and they’ve done it continually on their own terms. Through a major label fumble that …
Album Review: The Shins – Heartworms
The Shins confuse me. Heartworms is the fifth album by a band that was effectively a side project of a band which only released one album. In the past initial listens to their albums have left me disorientated, confused and of the opinion that they had ‘lost it’, only for the album of theirs that …
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 …
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: Why? – Moh Lhean
There has always been a disarming eclecticism throughout the works of Yoni Wolf; somewhat of a musical chameleon with each album, the works of Why? always set out to be something completely left-field of what we come to expect from previous albums. It’s a lasting appeal that rightfully needs to be addressed from the outset …
Album Review: The Pigeon Detectives – Broken Glances
The indie rock scene that took place about 10 years ago was headed, at least in Northern England, brought something fresh and in some cases, new. From Leeds, one of the bands that drew attention was The Pigeon Detectives, along with their go for the jugular indie rock sounds sounds and lyrics. Their release Wait …
Album Review: Grandaddy – Last Place
In the early years of the last decade, I saw Grandaddy as one of a trio of bands that opened the doors to a style of music I still occasionally refer to as ’Cosmic Americana’. The other two acts were Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips, both of which had enjoyed crossover hit albums that …
Album Review: Meursault – I Will Kill Again
When artists operate under different names, it can often be more obvious to them than to the listener what the difference is. And while Neil Pennycook’s sojourn as Supermoon wasn’t necessarily a radical departure (with some songs evolving across guises), his return to Meursault and a fuller sound helps to balance out the careful elements …