Departures and Moose Blood have been two of Fist In The Air Records’ most positive artists over the last year, and for good reason. The former released the excellent ‘Teenage Haze’ whilst Moose Blood established themselves as one of the UK’s hottest prospects with the equally excellent ‘Moving Home’, one of my favourite releases this… Read More Moose Blood / Departures – Split (Review)
The only real criticism of 2009’s appropriately named ‘Monolith’ was that it often lacked direction, occasionally meandering instead of constantly delivering across the albums hour long length. It will come as a relief to fans then that ‘Silver Door’ is a much more polished and driven collection of songs that still manage to sound huge.… Read More Sights and Sounds – Silver Door (Review)
The original Marshall Mathers LP is easily my favourite Eminem release, and one of my favourite albums of the early 21st century. Naming his eighth studio album after his third and most critically acclaimed one may seem a bold move but ‘The Marshall Mathers LP 2’ is a solid continuation of his best release, 13… Read More Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Review)
Following NME’s recent and somewhat controversial list of the 500 greatest albums of all time it got me thinking about what I consider to be my own favourite albums. My selections are by no means the greatest albums of all time, and this isn’t me calling out NME, but I’m a sucker for a good… Read More Update: My Top 100 Albums (Page)
Musicians getting together to help charity is an idea I can always get behind. I said as much when I reviewed a Big Footprint Records split earlier in the year, and the proceeds from that split went to The Boys And Girls Club of America. This time round, Soft Speak Records have compiled a 6… Read More Soft Speak Records – Fest Split (Review)
Couples releasing music together can go one of two ways, often being either incredibly cheesy and overbearing or adorable and endearing. When Perma (husband and wife duo Max Bemis and Sherri DuPree Bemis) released ‘Knockout’ earlier this year it was definitely the latter, and thankfully their debut album follows suit. I’ve been a fan of… Read More Perma – Two Of A Crime (Album Review)
AFI are one of those bands who’ve been around for a long time now, having formed in 1991, and they’re one of the even fewer bands to have never really released a bad album over that many years. ‘Burials’ marks their ninth studio album and it’s definitely darker than ‘Crash Love’ (an album I found… Read More AFI – Burials (Review)
Topshelf Records sure know how to pick ’em. They have a knack for churning out incredibly talented artists who release equally brilliant albums. A prime example would be Have Mercy and A Great Big Pile Of Leaves’ exceptional releases on the label earlier in the year, so I had high hopes for Jess Abbott’s latest… Read More Tancred – Tancred S/T (Review)
There’ve been a lot of good pop-punk albums to see daylight in 2013, and now you can add Seaway’s debut album to that list. It isn’t on a a level with say ‘The Greatest Generation’ or ‘The Finer Things’ but by no means is a bad album, and for a debut it’s full of promise… Read More Seaway – Hoser (Review)
I always struggle when reviewing dance / electronic music, hence why it’s a genre I rarely touch on, but I’ve been a fan of Feed Me for a few years now and wanted to give it a crack so please forgive any clumsiness, ignorance and general lack of knowledge on my part. It’s been a… Read More Feed Me – Calamari Tuesday (Review)
Back when Lower Than Atlantis were more hardcore than radio-friendly rock Mike Duce shouted ‘Genre, must be hard to distinguish, with only a GCSE in English.’ About a year after ‘Far Q’ was released I achieved a GCSE in English and a year after the release of ‘Changing Tune’ I achieved an A-Level in it.… Read More Thoughts: Genre
‘Pax Am Days’ seems to have come out of nowhere. I literally knew nothing about it until last week and finally listened to it yesterday. Turns out it’s pretty good and it’s definitely different. Following up a power-pop album that featured a duet with Elton John with a 14 minute, 8 song punk EP definitely… Read More Fall Out Boy – Pax Am Days (Review)
I have the utmost respect for A Day To Remember and their efforts to stick it to the man and wade through legal battles in order to release and play music the way they want to, but also because when they hit their stride they’re one of the best bands around. They hit this stride… Read More A Day To Remember – Common Courtesy (Review)
Mayday Parade were one of those bands who emerged in the late 00’s with ‘A Lesson In Romantics’, a few years after bands like Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy really broke through and set the bar for upbeat pop-punk with long song names. Sadly Mayday Parade’s second album was definitely a sophomore… Read More Mayday Parade – Monsters In The Closet (Review)
When I tell people I buy records chances are their first response is ‘why?’ and it’s a fair reply. What is the appeal of vinyl as opposed to CD’s and digital downloads? It’s a question I ask myself every time I consider splashing out on a record and it’s one I don’t dwell on for… Read More Thoughts: Vinyl Records and Why I Prefer Them
These days I’m finding it harder and harder to truly appreciate pop-punk as a genre. More and more often the music seems to be taking a backseat to the clichés it provokes. Fortunately, ‘The Finer Things’ by State Champs is all about the music and it was always going to take an album as brilliant… Read More State Champs – The Finer Things (Review)
It’s no secret that Jonny Craig has an exceptional voice, and when he really hits his stride he’s capable of making truly beautiful and moving music. As with all past releases his voice is the main appeal, and it really is incredible. It’s just a shame the songs here are a little repetitive and don’t… Read More Jonny Craig – Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (Review)
Very few bands have undergone the musical changes that Panic at the Disco have over the years and even less make it through retaining their former class. The American now-double act had just about managed it, until now. From the pop punk hallmark that was ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’, to ‘Pretty. Odd.’ (probably… Read More Panic At The Disco – Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! (Review)
It takes either ability or uniqueness to break through in the congested UK hardcore scene, with new bands emerging and competing on a daily basis. TRC have had both of the above for a few years now but have never really surfaced, remaining as primarily an underground band. ‘Nation’ should see that change because it’s… Read More TRC – Nation (Review)
It’s been around 18 months since I bought Ryan Keen’s ‘Focus’ EP on iTunes and since then he’s released another successful EP, played the iTunes Festival (amongst many others), appeared on SBTV, played around 250 gigs and pretty much established himself as one of the most promising up and coming singer/songwriters in British music. Not… Read More Ryan Keen – Room For Light (Review)
Craig Reviews Music 