#665: Catching Up With....Document

Forming in Tel Aviv, Document are a post-punk four-piece who banded together following a shared love of ’80s bands such as The Fall, and Wire, as well seminal ’90s artists such as Fugazi and Dinosaur Jr. Their tracks explore themes of dis-connectivity and digital addiction, the individual dealing with bureaucracy,corruption and the repeating void of the modern life, oscillating between moments of anxiety and outrage to moments of hope and ecstasy. Louder Than War caught up with the band following on from the release of their most recent single, Hustle.

This feature was originally written for Louder Than War. Click here to read in full.

#664: Los Campesinos, Manchester Club Academy

It’s often said that those bands you discover in your formative years are the ones that stay with you forever. And while this is certainly true, if the bands themselves were also in their formative years, then it’s something that runs even deeper. Discovering Los Campesinos! on late-night radio almost exactly a decade ago was something of a revelation for my sixteen-year-old self, and while the production was crude and the writing a little on the nose, its frothy, poppy nature and made-for-Myspace lyricism spoke volumes.

This review was originally written for Louder Than War. Click here to read in full.

#663: Common Holly - Playing House

Soft, subtle and at times even skeletal in its composition, Playing House, the debut album from New York born, Montreal raised Common Holly is an album hinged on the uncertainties and inevitabilities of growing up, and as such, “contemplates the notion that it is conscious thought and deliberate action that defines and cements maturation from child to adult”.

This review was originally written for Louder Than War. Click here to read in full.

#662: Tom Rogerson & Brian Eno - Finding Shore

​​Ambient music has always been a difficult one to put your finger on. Lacking the immediacy of your more traditional genres, its appeal is that of nuance and of subtlety, and the almost insidious way certain melodies or refrains permeate ones’ thoughts, as if they’ve been there all that time. The same is true about Finding Shore, the new collaborative album between pianist Tom Rogerson and ambient royalty, Brian Eno.

This review was originally written for Line of Best Fit. Click here to read in full.

#661: Memnon Sa - Lemurian Dawn

Fittingly named after a mystical ‘lost land’ in the southern hemisphere, Lemurian Dawn is Memnon Sa’s second release, and is a psychedelic foray into something both futuristic and uncompromisingly tribal. Coming off the back of 2015’s Citadel, a record steeped in doom-laden guitars, Lemurian Dawn feels something of a departure; analog synths replace the guitars almost-entirely, while strings, ancient world instruments and even throat singing intertwine, resulting in something primal and otherworldly.

This review was originally written for Drowned In Sound. Click here to read in full.

#660: Sløtface - Try Not To Freak Out

Norway isn’t the first place that comes to mind when thinking of sun-kissed pop-punk, but that’s exactly where Sløtface hail from. Forming in 2012 after discovering a shared love of British ‘00s indie bands, the four-piece have gone from strength to strength over the course of a liberal smattering of singles and EPs, making a name for themselves as much for their outspoken feminism and liberal attitude as their upbeat indie-pop-punk.

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

#659: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Echo of Pleasure

Fittingly for a band of their name, New York’s The Pains of Being Pure At Heart have never been a band to shy away from sentimentalism. Over the course of their ten year career the band, brainchild of founding and only permanent member Kip Berman, have made a name for themselves thanks to the C86 inspired jangle of early releases, as well as the more nuanced contemporary pop of  2014’s Days of Abandon.

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