indie rock
Live Review: No Cigar and the Art of Outgrowing The Room You’re Standing In – Eora Land/Sydney, 29.10.25
You could tell before the doors even opened that it was going to be a tight squeeze. Both Lansdowne shows had sold out, the first so quickly that a second was added, only for that one to disappear too. Aotearoa’s No Cigar have been quietly gathering word-of-mouth momentum that’s now anything but quiet. Inside, it …
News: Wunderhorse’s debut Australian tour sells out as momentum builds behind MIDAS
Wunderhorse’s debut Australian headline tour has officially sold out, with shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth all reaching capacity. The sold-out run comes in the wake of their acclaimed second album MIDAS and cements the band’s growing international appeal.
Live Review: Smashing Pumpkins / White Lies / Rocket – Piece Hall, Halifax 12.08.2025
Words: Jim F / Pictures: Huw Williams It was a brilliant, almost life-affirming night in Halifax as The Smashing Pumpkins rolled into town to play to a sold-out Piece Hall crowd of 6,000 last Tuesday. The warmth of the summer evening matched the warmth the audience showed all three acts, turning this historic courtyard into …
News: Joan & the Giants find beauty in heartbreak on their greatest release yet, latest EP ‘The Five Stages of Grief’
Breakups are messy and never just one thing. Grief doesn’t arrive in a neat sequence, and Joan & the Giants’ new EP ‘The Five Stages of Grief‘ catches every jagged edge of that truth. Across six tracks, the Boorloo/Perth band chart the collapse of a nine-year relationship between frontwoman Gracie Newton-Wordsworth and the band’s now-former …
News: Royel Otis Announce National Tour Following Upcoming Album Release ‘hickey’ Next Month
Off the back of a sold-out run of international festival slots, Royel Otis are heading home for their biggest Australian shows to date. This October, they’ll play four huge events in support of their upcoming second album, ‘hickey’, out August 22 – including their very first arena show in Naarm/Melbourne AND another homecoming show at …
Live Review & Gallery: DIIV’s ‘Frog in Boiling Water’ Tour Brings Beautiful, Glorious Grit to Vivid – Eora Land/Sydney, 13.06.25
Touring ‘Frog in Boiling Water‘, their first album in five years, DIIV brought their thick, slow-dripping sound to life with a set that doubled as a collage of cult consumerism, protest, and digital rot. Across the huge screen behind them, ads flickered like computer viruses: Soul-Net, ExxonMobil, fake slogans, anti-slogans. Aesthetics lifted from American mall …
News: Chicagoans Pretoria return with new EP If We’re Pretending
Building off a trio of singles released last year, the Michigan-formed and Illinois-based quartet Pretoria‘s new EP takes a sideways look at upping sticks to chase a new dream, which is exactly what they did a year ago, leaving behind Grand Rapids for the surroundings of Chicago. The 7-track EP marks the first major release …
Album Review: Tavare-‘Too Small To Be So High’: A delicate and solemn slow core triumph.
Trying to keep track of Canadian experimental guitarist and composer Aidan Baker’s recorded output since his first release in 2000 is an almost impossible challenge. The Discogs bible lists around 170 albums under his name and that’s not including the stuff he’s created as part of bands like Arc and Nadja. Baker has become a …
Live Review: Pixies / Big Special – Leeds O2 Academy 19.05.2025
Pixies and Big Special rolled into Leeds, and it was a night of both contrasts at the O₂ Academy: a blistering, opening set from The Big Special, followed by a masterclass in enigmatic cool from the Pixies. The Big Special opened the night with a performance that was nothing short of brilliant. The duo—Joe Hicklin …
Live Review: Manic Street Preachers – Critical Thinking Tour, Manchester O2 Apollo, 2.5.2025
The Manic Street Preachers launched their much-anticipated ‘Critical Thinking’ tour with a sold-out show at Manchester’s O2 Apollo on May 2, 2025. Despite unforeseen delays due to a reported motorway fire and Glossop’s notorious traffic, which caused us to miss support act Honeyglaze, the evening unfolded into a triumphant celebration of the band’s enduring legacy. …