Album Reviews

Smith & Burrows deliver beautiful, unpretentious pop perfection that is so much more than just “good enough”. They return as their self-named moniker, a decade after their festive 2011 debut Funny Looking Angels. The acoustic […]

The name Pale Waves evokes visions of creamy, sparkly dream-pop or shoegaze before assuming the creation of artifice. Yet Pale Waves definitely slot neatly into the indie-pop category, especially with the release of their latest […]

There’s a familiarity in A. Smyth’s debut album Last Animals that would have you thinking you’re listening to an artist who has been around you your whole life. Its ten tracks are delivered with confidence and sure […]

Django Django captures the essence and excitement of live music in their new album, Glowing In The Dark. It’s a living breathing project that marries texture and accomplished songwriting. The album bubbles, spits and pops […]

Puma Blue is 25-year-old South Londoner, singer/songwriter Jacob Allen. He once described his moniker as an “imagined character who is a half washed-up drunk, half big cat, just slumped in a barstool and reeking of […]

Bicep strike a beautiful balance between epic, dense soundscapes and intricate production finesse on their new album Isles. The Belfast duo develops their sound from their eponymous debut, choosing richer thicker textures that capture the […]

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Arlo Parks has seen her career take off at speed – since making her bow with the Super Sad Generation EP in April of 2019, the London-based […]

Describing their music as “Somewhere between Doom, Symphonic and pure Heavy Metal”; this Portuguese four-piece concept is based on “King Solomon’s Lemegeton” (also known as The Lesser Key of Solomon or Clavicula Salomonis Regis – […]

The day Brexit was voted for remains tragic for millions. For this post-punk band, that day wasn’t all bad since they got signed to Rough Trade. With drive and good humour (they are named after […]

Without hesitation or trepidation, The Sonder Bombs continue making inventive music worthy of much more than passing attention. Enter the band’s new album, Clothbound, slated for release on January 29 via Take This To Heart […]

Bob Mould has been credited with being one of the Godfathers of the Alternative, Grunge and Underground musical movements of the ’80s and ’90s. His founding and participation in the seminal underground group Husker Du […]

Missouri-based new wave/dream-pop/post-punk outfit Prismatics introduce their sophomore EP, Endlessly, which follows 2018’s New Emotion, the band’s debut EP. Due to circumstances imposed by the pandemic, the recording process transformed into something out of a […]

In the environment of Covid, many have despaired about living through a time of pandemic and lockdowns. Amid these surroundings that fearless duo of truth-tellers, Sleaford Mods deliver their latest dispatches from the plebeian streets […]

XS Noize: ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2020 – Top 20 There isn’t much to say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said somewhere – it was chaotic, bizarre and unprecedented across all walks of life, […]

The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 meant that many of us had to spend a lot of time indoors. Definitely a bummer in most cases, but one of the few silver linings is that musical geniuses […]

On December 18, electronic dream-pop artist Tycho, aka Scott Hansen, will release Weather Remixes via  Mom + Pop x Ninja Tune, featuring reimagined versions of the eight tracks from last year’s Weather, the recipient of […]

Mansun were without a doubt one of the most interesting and unusual groups to grow from the Britpop era of the mid-’90s. While the industry and the music press were desperate to comfortably pigeonhole every […]

Chicago-based Americana threesome Midnight Canyon releases their self-titled debut EP, a delicious blend of country-rock, pop, and SoCal-flavored soft rock. Midnight Canyon comprises Pat McKillen (lead vocals, 12-string guitar), Packy Lundholm (bass, electric guitar, B3 […]