A country-flecked midwestern emo EP from hot new things Westside Cowboy, whom I’m very excited to be seeing later this year at the Exchange. Hints of early Modest Mouse abound, amongst many other influences I’m not really aware of. Strange Taxidermy sets a more lilting tone than the rest of the EP follows, but the closer In The Morning with its almost folky harmonies is a strong bookend.
It’s not a bad album, but do we really need this album in a world where Black Country, New Road are doing this female-voice-fronted alt-art-folk vibe in a much more interesting way? Woman is a Tree stuck out on first listen, so maybe that’s my way back in.
I never really listened to The Cribs the first time around, so maybe it’s unfair to dismiss this as just feeling like landfill indie. Surprised to find out Johnny Marr briefly joined them, but then to be fair he’s been in most bands at this point. Self Respect might be either catchy or annoying, we’ll find out which in the long run.
I never really listened to The Cribs the first time around, so maybe it’s unfair to dismiss this as just feeling like landfill indie. Surprised to find out Johnny Marr briefly joined them, but then to be fair he’s been in most bands at this point. Self Respect might be either catchy or annoying, we’ll find out which in the long run.
Hard for me, personally, to get on with this level of sprechgesang (compared to your early BC,NR, for example), at least in a “latching onto it” sense. It’s still good! It’s not necessarily my kind of post-punk, but I reckon with more listens I’ll get into it more. Highlights are Let Me Grow and You’ll See The Fruit and I Need You.
Found it hard to get locked into this - too distracted by actually writing some code at work for the first time in lord knows how long. That’s not to say it’s bad! Sludgy guitar with a shoegaze sheen, a little Cloud Nothings but veering off the path a bit.
Diving into Tom Skinner’s solo work at long last, having very much enjoyed the slightly faltering set at Strange Brew last year. Did some of that improvisation end up on here/come from here? Who knows, I have no memory of that. But beautifully wrong-footing jazz here, with the title track a highlight, tight-locked grooves that begin to unwind just when you think you’ve got a handle on them.
A bit PC Music in the toeing the line carefully of being either hypercatchy or just extremely annoying, but I think with time I’ll enjoy that element of it. Not quite the dentist’s drill to the pleasure centre of you brain in the way A.G. Cook does it, but a lot to like here in Grow Up!!! and Lil Maria.
Big fan of this, having been slightly disappointed by fellow Norwegian pop girlie girl in red’s sophomore effort last year or so. Good solid pop bangers all around. Jotted down Jellyfish, Do It Again, and Fort Knox as highlights for the playlist and then had to stop before I was going to just add it all. Eternal Sunshine might peep its way on there too.
A blend of droning ambient and field recordings (but then what isn’t these days). Hard to pull out much on first listen, oddly captivated by the end of somehow, snatches of some overheard conversation. Feels lived in.
Fun to see Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice pop up on Haze. A good mix of instrumental ambient and bocal loudness. Neon Pulse a fave on the former front, and Art School Girlfriend-featuring I Feel You on the latter front, an excellent closer to the album.
Mavis Staples is responsible for my favourite episode of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, so much so that it forms part of my own little Christmas traditions, and yet I’ve never actually ever really listened to her. Thrilled to put on this collection of covers to find that the opening track is Tom Waits’ Chicago, bringing out the blues of it from a different angle, her beautiful bass voice in place of Waits’ rasp. Leonard Cohen’s Anthem is another highlight, another crack where the light gets in.
Very little to grab onto here. Like The War On Drugs, I just cannot get into this kind of American indie rock. But, we move.
Starting the effort of listening to an album a day in earnest this year. We saw Prima Queen supporting Everything Everything back in 2024 in Bath, and as they made a point of telling us their album was coming out in 2025, it seemed only fair to make a note. It’s their debut, and it achieves - just about - what it needs to: proof of potential, even if their voice hasn’t yet solidified. Enjoyed enough to give another listen, and early highlights are Meryl Streep and Mexico.