Album Reviews

Chicago pop band Plain White T’s have released their 7th album American Nights. The band made a name for themselves with their Grammy-nominated single “Hey There Delilah” in 2006/2007 – there hasn’t been much to […]

Indiana’s Henry Kohen AKA “Mylets” brings his one man band ‘loop rock’ to the fray with his debut album, Arizona. As per the Mylets band camp page “Mylets is Henry Kohen, Henry Kohen writes the […]

Although it takes a little time to get into, Waxahatchee’s third album Ivy Tripp further refines and develops what’s always been endearing about the Philly based singer-songwriter. Waxahatchee is the by any other name solo project […]

Mancunian four piece Slow Readers Club wow us with their Deep Electro-Indie vibes on their new album Cavalcade. Bringing electronica and Indie-Rock together, Slow Readers Club have created a sound that is simultaneously familiar and […]

With The Air Conditioned Nightmare, Doldrums steps out on the shadows and gives his weird electronic stylings something that can cross into some mainstream appeal. What can we say of Canadian musician Airick Woodhead? Well he […]

Critic favorite Indie Pop singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens has released his seventh studio album this week, Carrie and Lowell. Stevens has been displaying his superior musical abilities, using haunting melodies and insightful lyrics for years since […]

The London via Brazil duo The Tamborines are releasing Sea of Murmur the follow up to their debut album the 2010 Camera and Tremor. The DIY, Indie Noise Pop duo have moved away from the […]

“I don’t know where to begin…” is the opening lyric to Death Cab For Cutie’s eighth album Kintsugi – a statement that would be totally understandable considering the changes the band has been through in […]

The description “Emotional electronica” sounds like a contradiction in terms. I come from the position that the two are not mutually exclusive. Anonymous singer songwriter Wolf Colony is a deft practitioner in the unlikely genre. […]

In late 1988 Robert Smith and his bandmates were recovering from the unexpected success of their album, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, which had brought the band to its highest level of mainstream popularity […]

Messrs Howlett, Flint and Maxim return from a 6 year hiatus with their new project titled The Day is My Enemy and a welcome return to form it is as well. Going off the boil […]

Hampshire’s travelling troubadour Laura Marling returns with her greatly anticipated fifth studio album Short Movie on 23rd March 2015. Following her move to LA a few years back and the success of 2013’s Once I […]

There are a few albums that can instantly transport me to my youth in just a few opening notes; Sparkle In the Rain is on that short list. As an American heavily in to U2 […]

Usually, when reviewing an album for XS Noize, I’m obliged to give a rating out of ten to reflect how I feel about it. Whenever I am considering how an album rates on that scale, […]

New drummer, new label, and new music…big changes for any band and only the most resilient artists can navigate that kind of change. Cincinnati’s Benjamin Davis is one of those artists and The Mess Remade […]

It’s been fascinating watching Courtney Barnett’s journey over the past few years, in the way that it’s grown in such an organic way that I don’t think I’ve seen in my time. Originally releasing two […]

Northern Ireland’s outsider three piece Therapy? return with their 14th studio album Disquiet. In spite of their misfit status, they have outlasted a great number of their peers and yet remained tangibly underground, sticking to […]

Modest Mouse fans have had a long agonizing wait for new material. It has been eight long years since the extraordinary album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank was released in 2007. Wait no […]