“Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter, batter! Swing, batter!”. Those of a certain age will know this line from John Hughes’ 1986 classic movie ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. For many in the UK, that is about […]
I wish to register a complaint. This is not about a dead parrot but concerning the passage of time. It is moving far too quickly, and I’m unhappy. How on earth can it be that […]
In 2022, Dropkick Murphys released the album This Machine Still Kills Fascists. The album contained the lyrics of Woody Guthrie, with the band creating original musical scores. It saw a change of direction for Dropkick […]
The term’ hard-working band’ is thrown about quite often. It’s become quite the cliché. The Lottery Winners frequently get this label attached to them as they are no strangers to touring and playing live at […]
The 2 Tone Ska revival was short and sweet and left a long-lasting mark on the UK music scene, with the issues being tackled sadly being as relevant today as they were in the 1970s/80s. […]
Lankum cannot be accused of rapidly spitting out their recorded output. Originally known as Lynched (named after the brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch who formed the band), the band in its current manifestation was formed […]
You know you are in for an interesting evening when the last song playing before the band’s intro music kicks in is ‘You’re the One That I Want’ by Hylda Baker & Arthur Mullard. This […]
The 24th of April 1991 will be a day I’ll never forget. It was my first-ever gig. The band? Inspiral Carpets. I was chuffed to little bits that they were playing in my home town. […]
2023 is still relatively young, yet already it is proving to be a year of challenges. Ongoing war. Crippling inflation. Food bank dependency. Austerity hangover. Unparalleled energy prices. A rigid and unresponsive political class. Enduring […]
There are not many bands who have a career so prolonged they can release twenty-two studio albums. There are even fewer that have been performing for 42 years. That number shrinks further if you only […]
My first act after arriving at The Fire Station was to indulge myself in a spot of reminiscing. Back in the mid-1990s, we were treated to a great collection of female-fronted rock bands: Elastica with […]
As I wandered towards the O2 City Hall, feeling the cold, January air around my face, I recalled that today was also known as Blue Monday. This is not a celebration of a classic New […]
In 2020, the eponymously titled Billy Nomates album, the first by Bristol-based songwriter Tor Maries, oozed post-punk minimalism with very healthy slices of anger and confrontation served in a DIY bun. However, if you tried […]
Joe Talbot, frontman of IDLES, once said of the album Brutalism, “It was a last-ditch attempt for us. We didn’t see it as the first of many albums.” He was feeling confused and felt completely […]
The temperature had just dropped to -1° Celcius as I arrived at the venue. A brass monkey wandered across the quad, looking for a welding torch. Hoping to find warmth inside, I found the venue […]
In 2002, The Flaming Lips released their tenth studio album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. A band that has consistently evolved throughout their career, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots presented a more electronic direction to their […]
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott set a price cap of £30 per ticket for their current tour. They wanted to keep prices as low as possible during a cost-of-living crisis in the UK and railing […]
I can’t quite believe that it is 33 years since the Lightning Seeds first single, ‘Pure,’ hit the charts. I remember buying it from the now-defunct Volume Records in Sunderland. And yet here we are […]
Ferocious Dog hit Newcastle upon Tyne on the eve of Guy Fawkes night on their Never Too Late for Hope tour. The band must have got the memo and arrived duly armed with a vast […]
I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since “Ghost Town” hit the top of the singles charts. The Specials anthemic track is still relevant today, a song about social issues such as racial tensions and […]