Jess Webberley is going places. Maybe even to the stars. Because, as Graywave, they have single-handedly conjured up an EP of cosmic dreampop that’s both strikingly immediate and exploding with potential. There were hints of such quality on a handful of singles released since the project began in 2019, but from the very first drum beat here it feels like […]
Read moreWith the secret out- that this side project from erstwhile members of Set and Setting and Woe isn’t destined to possess their same sonic intensity- Timelost lean even further away from the heavy on their second record. They still suit their self-described grungegaze tag, but here ever bigger beams of light break through the clouds. ‘Better Than Bedbugs’ is bolder […]
Read moreIt had been so long. Ok, so nobody is calling Justin Broadrick a slacker. There is pioneering industrial, jarring post-punk, dense metal, council estate electronics, and time as a member of Napalm Death on his resumé, and he’s pretty much released something new every year since 1984. And he hadn’t even neglected Jesu really. Fresh mixes of old records keep […]
Read moreConsidering how Marc Richter has excelled at producing some of the most supernatural, least manmade-sounding music of the last 20 years, it was surprising, perhaps even mildly disappointing, to learn that this, his latest venture under the Black to Comm moniker, would be an exploration of the human voice. Sure, Richter has conjured up some ethereal wails before, but what […]
Read moreQuite something, this. Each of the four tracks on ‘Cameo Blue Estate’ sounds better than the one before it. And that’s not because French four-piece Mascara start off on the wrong foot or anything. Opener ‘Concrete/Surface’ goes from a chunky, swirling riff to satisfying alt rock stomp with ease, and if it loses some momentum when the distorted guitars drop […]
Read moreStrangelight aren’t technically a new band. Oh sure, ‘Adult Themes’ is the Californian quartet’s debut album, but some of these songs were written over 15 years ago. Back then, Transistor Transistor frontman Nat Coghlan, and Julia Lancer, drummer of The New Trust, met on tour, made a connection and cut some demos. Now, along with erstwhile members of Swingin Utters […]
Read moreOh man. Ever since his debut album, Keaton Henson has worn his heart on his sleeve. And his guts on his sleeve. And his mind, and his soul, and whatever other body parts prove that he really means what he’s saying. Channelling lost love into raw poetry and anxiety into art, the London-born singer songwriter has produced some of the […]
Read moreUSA Nails are wound impossibly tight. The London-based band specialise in high-speed, high-tension blasts of fuck-you punk-rock, and have operated with feverish, dedicated intensity since their inception. That means there’s little room between their buzzsaw riffs and relentless rhythms to take a breath- they were once described as “a speeding train that won’t stop”. And there’s little room in their […]
Read moreThis would count as a killer one-two punch, if Tokyo’s Sans Visage and the quirkily-named Look At Moment actually wanted to kill. Instead, both groups have learned lessons from screamo stalwarts like Suis La Lune and Loma Prieta, and have tempered their hardcore sounds with slow-burning intensity, elements of post-rock, and grungy melody. Sans Visage start ‘Deception’ with a menacing […]
Read moreIt’s easy to see this, the ninth Deftones album, as a reflection of the eighth Deftones album. I liked ‘Gore’ plenty but the Californian outfit’s 2016 effort was met with a decidedly lukewarm reception. The consensus seemed to be that while it was atmospheric, it wasn’t exactly dynamic, and while it wasn’t bad, it fell short of the band’s lofty […]
Read more