Reviews

After a purgatorial stint of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also affected certain aspects of the album itself, The Killers are back with their seventh studio album, Pressure Machine. The band co-produced […]

In a creative foreword, Keith Knight shows a teacher educating her pupils about Billie Holiday and how her life is an opportunity to value “the contributions of blacks, Jews, women….” Her biggest hit, “Strange Fruit, […]

Enigmatic artist Catbells recently released her debut EP, Wilderness, a sumptuous blend of dreamy, wistful shoegaze and alt-pop. A bit of an introvert, Catbells always appears wearing a cat’s mask, i.e., her doppelganger or alter-ego, […]

Fans of chanteuse Laura Marling and her insightful songwriting can revel in the other side she displays on her second LUMP effort Animal. Marling once again teams up with Tuning member Mike Lindsay to follow […]

Forming in 1977, Descendents are one of the first hardcore punk bands ever to arise. Specifically, they are pioneers of the melodic hardcore subgenre, which married the intensity, rapid tempos, and blistering aggressiveness of the […]

What do you get when musicians from two different pop-tinted indie bands, Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat) and Erik Janson (Wildling), get together with a member of a pop band? Jeremy Ruzumna (Fitz and The […]

Affectionately known as Pearl, this outsider who was bullied and abused for being different was able to rise above the cultural barriers of her hometown and period she lived in to become an international star […]

The Atlanta-based quartet Small Reactions have released their third album full of their distinctive self-dubbed “nerve pop” (which attempts to blend post-punk with indie rock) on New Age Soul. The band brings together their vast […]

You will have almost definitely heard of the artists that Gary Topp first brought to Canada, including The Police and The Ramones. Author David Collier who worked with Gary believes Gary’s cultural impact in opening […]

In recent years, the Dublin-based rock band Inhaler have really been making a splash on the Irish music scene and gaining a ton of international recognition. After cutting their teeth for the best part of […]

On June 25th, the musical Oracle of the Northwest, Modest Mouse band leader Isaac Brock delivered his latest take on our universal condition with The Golden Casket. Unlike many artists’ recent releases that shake their […]

It is fair to say that Rag‘n’Bone Man had some luck in his corner as he played out his third and final nights’ residency at the Jazz Café in Camden, London. England has just beaten […]

Almost two decades ago, Dave Keuning left Iowa and moved to Las Vegas, where he placed an ad in the Las Vegas Weekly, which stated he wanted to form a band and cited Oasis as […]

Whilst Lily Allen’s short-lived “In the Name Of” record label, which Sony Music backed, was noted for an absence of quantity of successful artists; this label nonetheless left an impressive legacy of quality artists in […]

There are fewer modern-day solo artists more fascinating than John Grant. From his early days in The Czars to the melodic masterpiece that was his debut solo release, Queen Of Denmark, to the marvellous Creep […]

There is always a reason to celebrate when Neil Finn puts out new musical fare in whatever iteration he decides.  This time he is releasing new material with Crowded House, the band that has always […]

The making of To Carry A Whale was literally a journey in itself being recorded in Tottenham, Southend (in Sam Duckworth’s (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly) studio) and Niagara. More poignantly, To Carry A Whale […]

This week sees the 40th anniversary of Duran Duran’s self-titled debut album. XS Noize looks back on this momentous release from a band that would become the ‘Fab Five’ of the ‘80s. It was December […]