The kids are coming up from behind.
After several pioneering EPs, mixing spiritual jazz, Godspeedian post-rock and rap-rock (but verging on spoken word), Manchester’s Maruja (Harry Wilkinson (lead vocals, guitar), Joe Carroll (saxophone, vocals), Matt Buonaccorsi (bass) and Jacob Hayes (drums)). released their long awaited debut album, which offers a dose of ferocious agit-prop backed by sinister rhythms and mournful saxophone. The … Read more
North Carolina’s Wednesday revived Indie rock of the 90s (power pop, grunge, shoegaze, slacker rock, country rock), sounding sort of like all of the above. Singer, Karly Hartzman falls somewhere in between Liz Phair and Alannis Morrisette. Bleeds is their most varied and dynamic album yet. Note the mix of scorching guitar riffs, tuneless singing … Read more
In an era of ‘noise rock’ and ‘dark-punk’, New York’s Geese were a breath a fresh air. 2023’s 3D Country presented a band both drowning in their influences (particularly the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin) but with the capacity to perform their imitations with a ‘new wave’ vivacity, with new ideas and a new presentation, … Read more
Welsh singer Cate Le Bon continued in the dreamy hypnagogic disco vein on Michelangelo’s Dying after 2022’s Pompeii – perhaps inspired by her namesake Simon le Bon of Duran Duran fame. The album was recorded in the Joshua Tree desert. The main limitation is that the cybernetic mutant pop has been done before and the … Read more