#658: Leeds Festival 2017: Sunday

Despite getting little sleep thanks to the very public break-up that happened in the tent behind ours on Saturday night, Sunday morning arrives with the campsite in good spirits and the weather continuing its rare good form, as rumours begin to circulate about a ‘secret’ set over on the Festival Republic Stage from London’s Wolf Alice

This review was originally written for Musos' Guide. Click here to read in full.

#657: Leeds Festival 2017: Saturday

While I might consider myself something of a   Festival veteran these days, arriving halfway through the weekend is something I’d never done before. Unfortunately, work commitments meant that this year we don’t arrive on site until early Saturday afternoon, a move which has both pros, and cons.

This review was originally written for Musos' Guide. Click here to read in full.

#656: Mogwai - Every Country's Sun

Scottish post-rockers Mogwai are a band who need little introduction. Since their inception in 1995, the band have been at the forefront of the UK’s instrumental/post-rock scene, experimenting with time signatures and dynamics while subverting expectations on almost every album and soundtrack. And though their last record, 2014’s Rave Tapes might well have been their least ‘Mogwai’ record yet, their highly anticipated ninth studio album, Every Country’s Sun, isn’t so much as a return to form, as a re-embracing of their original ideals.

This review was originally written for London In Stereo. Click here to read in full.

#655: Turnover - Good Nature

That ‘Good Nature’, the third album from Turnover should initially come across as light and breezy, ephemeral almost, is something of a surprise given the record’s overarching ideas of learning and self-development, something which has always seemed to play an intrinsic part in the band’s make-up. 

This review was originally written for DIY Magazine. Click here to read in full.

#654: Thumpers - Whipper & Glazed

With most tracks on Thumpers’ debut album ‘Galore’ clocking in at roughly the four-minute mark, it’s a bit of a shock that the average length track on ‘Whipped and Glazed’, their second album, comes in closer to nine. That’s not the only difference. Where ‘Galore’ came across as universally optimistic, floating on warm swells of upbeat instrumentation, ‘Whipped and Glazed’ feels somewhat torn.

*Please note: This review was of a demo version of the record accidentally serviced by the bands PR and isn't an accurate reflection of the finished album.

This review was originally written for DIY Magazine. Click here to read in full.

#653: Flogging Molly - Life Is Good

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the sixth album from Celtic punks Flogging Molly, ‘Life Is Good’, is arguably one of the band’s most upbeat and optimistic records to date. Despite the title coming from a conversation had between frontman Dave King and his mother as she lay on her deathbed, the likes of ‘The Hand of John F Sullivan’ and ‘Welcome to Adamstown’ kickstart the record with a feeling of urgency and elation.

This review was originally written for Clash Magazine. Click here to read in full.