Category: Short Reviews

Hep cat Strat:  Old school rock’n’roll albums are now so common that the ‘retro’ genre could arguably be described as incredibly modern. Nevertheless some do it better than others, and Nick Waterhouse does it about as well as anyone outside of the 1962. Every track on his self-titled fourth album is a perfect a facsimile of… Continue reading Nick Waterhouse – Nick Waterhouse →

Un ucelllo canoro triste in una maglia di lana:  With his windswept hair and taste in chunky knitwear, Jack Savoretti is every inch the heart-throb, but he has a fathoms-deep voice and a melancholy bent that belies his cherubic appearance. As befits such a voice, many of the tracks on Singing to Strangers are bathed… Continue reading Jack Savoretti – Singing to Strangers →

Ska Fowk:  Folk-rock, particularly folk punk rock, can be a bit of hard sell. As a genre it conjures up images of crusty hippy types in cargo pants being tiresomely political. The Story Is..., the fourth album from cult folk-rock band Skinny Lister, threatens to head into the heart of that territory with the Ska-infused… Continue reading Skinny Lister – The Story Is… →

Dustbowl Disco: For anyone who was nostalgic for 80s and 90s indie music, but also disappointed by that genre's general lack of Mariachi trumpets, Merseyside's Red Rum Club have arrived at last. Debut album Matador offers ten artfully crafted rock songs, all of them intriguingly augmented with the under-appreciated brass instrument. This isn't pure gimmick.… Continue reading Red Rum Club – Matador →

The latest short reviews setting the UK's regional press on fire:   Black Delta Movement                  Preservation      8/10 Anyone with an ear for honest-to-God rock’n’roll won’t fail to be knocked sideways by this infectious collection of barnstormers. Of the many influences worn brazenly on the Hull-based group's sleeves, there’s a clear Jesus & Mary Chain/… Continue reading New Music August/September →

Short and screech:  Nine Inch Nails conclude their experimental trilogy that began with EPs Not The Actual Events in 2016 and ADD VIOLENCE in 2017 with what Trent Reznor insists is a full-length album, but at a svelte 6 tracks and 30 minutes in length is really somewhere in between.  Nevertheless not a second is wasted in this pulsating handful… Continue reading Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch →

Lame heard beauty: Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson is following the well-established if not entirely auspicious showbiz tradition of actors releasing covers albums just in time for father’s day. Tales From Home does at least have the distinction of an uncommonly tasteful selection of tracks, including new versions of Gordon Lightfoot’s If You Could Read My Mind,… Continue reading Eleanor Tomlinson – Tales from Home →

A fistful of belters: The spirit of Sergio Leone hovers over the seventh release from Canadian Country singer Lindi Ortega, and like that director's Spaghetti Westerns, Liberty is quirky, spooky and wildly entertaining. Opening with an Ennio Morricone-style instrumental, the album is awash with Mexican guitar and lyrics about horses, hats and guns. The full… Continue reading Lindi Ortega – Liberty →

Drinking gin in the bargain bin: Hailey Tuck is the latest in the seemingly never-ending stream of modern acts taking tracks from rock and pop’s back catalogue and re-interpreting them in a self-consciously retro style. Although the Texas-born singer has at least headed down the lesser explored of avenue of old-school jazz, and boasts first-class… Continue reading Hailey Tuck – Junk →

Trigger warning: He’s still performing at 84-years old, so when Willie Nelson calls himself the last man standing, he isn’t joking. Nevertheless, there are plenty of laughs to be had on his latest album. That knowing title is reflective of the morbid wit that peppers the lyrics, as is Bad Breath’s refrain that it’s ‘better… Continue reading Willie Nelson – Last Man Standing →