Reviews
June 2015
1st June
Album Review
3 Stars
Algiers - Algiers
Algiers haven’t found themselves a niche; they’ve dug out a trench and settled in for war.
Album Review
4 Stars
Florence + the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
‘How Big…’ couldn’t feel any more massive if it tried.
Album Review
4 Stars
Four Year Strong - Four Year Strong
Conviction and assurance, this is something to live by.
EP Review
5 Stars
Fucked Up - Year of the Hare
This is a record which doesn’t make sense, because it doesn’t have to.
Album Review
4 Stars
Girlpool - Before The World Was Big
With a sourcebook as infinite as personal experience, Girlpool are an unstoppable force.
Album Review
4 Stars
Jamie xx - In Colour
No producer around can match the momentum backing Jamie xx’s every move.
Album Review
4 Stars
Kid Wave - Wonderlust
This is a band dreaming of sunshine in even the gloomiest moments.
Album Review
4 Stars
Major Lazer - Peace is the Mission
What Diplo has created in his third Major Lazer outing is no mere concept, no experiment — it’s a damn blueprint.
Album Review
4 Stars
Rolo Tomassi - Grievances
This is a confident return to form.
Album Review
3 Stars
Slaves - Are You Satisfied?
The real charm of this record comes in its additional moments of character.
Album Review
4 Stars
Soak - Before We Forgot How To Dream
Bridie Monds-Watson is in possession of a potent and distinct voice.
Album Review
1 Stars
The Darkness - Last of our Kind
Fifteen years into their career, there seems to have been a conscious removal of tongue from cheek.
8th June
Album Review
3 Stars
FFS - FFS
‘FFS’ plays like some kind of musical Breakfast Club.
Album Review
3 Stars
No Joy - More Faithful
No Joy’s fastest, heaviest and most complex record to date.
Album Review
4 Stars
Of Monsters And Men - Beneath The Skin
A lush master-class in pop sensibilities and folk storytelling.
Album Review
4 Stars
Pins - Wild Nights
‘Wild Nights’ feels like a step forward for Pins.
Album Review
4 Stars
Prinzhorn Dance School - Home Economics
‘Home Economics’ is a bolshy swagger through the urban landscape that shaped it.
Album Review
4 Stars
Sauna Youth - 'Distractions'
The London four-piece deliver an utterly incensed and highly intelligent second record.
15th June
Album Review
5 Stars
Gengahr - A Dream Outside
‘A Dream Outside’ dwarfs expectations.
Album Review
4 Stars
Hudson Mohawke - Lantern
This is the power of Hudson Mohawke, coming soon to a discotheque near you.
Album Review
4 Stars
Jaakko Eino Kalevi - Jaakko Eino Kalevi
‘Jaakko Eino Kalevi’ is a reminder that pop can be both for your head and your feet.
Album Review
4 Stars
Outfit - Slowness
Theatrical and dramatic without being too pretentious.
22nd June
Album Review
4 Stars
Creepoid - Cemetery Highrise Slum
Disorienting and satisfying in equal measure.
Album Review
4 Stars
Desaparecidos - Payola
This is an album designed to move people.
Album Review
5 Stars
Everything Everything - Get to Heaven
Pop explorers Everything Everything have finally discovered their utopia.
Album Review
3 Stars
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
This debut sets a nice, if mostly safe, blueprint.
Album Review
4 Stars
Meg Baird - Don't Weigh Down The Light
An effervescent and modern third LP from underrated San Franciscan folk presence.
Album Review
3 Stars
Son Lux - Bones
When Ryan Lott and co. really hit their stride, ‘Bones’ is haunting, arresting, and unlike anything else.
Album Review
5 Stars
Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool
The flag waving spearhead for a whole bunch of young British bands.
29th June
Album Review
3 Stars
LA Priest - Inji
This is a pop artist finding his feet.
Album Review
4 Stars
Refused - Freedom
Persuasive, pummelling, precise. Refused are no longer fucking dead.
