Beck’s much anticipated 13th album follows the lush and melancholic Morning Phase and though Colors is equally lush, it’s an album built on widescreen technicolor, bold sonic brushstrokes and a saturated pop aesthetic. On first listen it feels like the quirks and eccentricities that made Beck so iconic are absent on this album but dig below the pop-laminated surface and you’ll find an equally audacious … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Beck – Colors
Protomartyr immediately stood out from the rest of the anguished post-punk pack when they first emerged four years ago with their debut album All Passion No Technique. They went from strength to strength over their next two albums, twisting Joe Casey’s mantra rants over caustic punk, dark indie guitars and tumbling drums before arriving at their most realised set of recordings to date. Relatives In … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Protomartyr – Relatives In Descent
Gold Class seemed to hit the ground running when they released their debut album It’s You in 2015 and backed it up with urgent and emotional shows centred around the controlled drama and tension of singer Adam Curley. On their new album Drum they’ve cemented and built on their already impressive post-punk sound. Control is the order of the day on Drum. The songs feel … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Gold Class – Drum
The fascinating evolution of Joshua Homme continues on this, the band’s seventh album. He’s spoken of not wanting them to become a parody of their own original sound and if you rewind back to Regular John, the opening track on their self-titled debut it sounds positively primitive and a million miles away from how they sound now. Back then he was peddling Kyuss mark II … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Queens Of The Stone Age – Villains
Out Of Silence is unique for the fact that it was rehearsed and then recorded live at Finn’s Auckland studio, whilst being streamed live to the world via Facebook and You Tube. It was a fascinating insight into a logistical and creatively adventurous undertaking. Even for those who didn’t see or know about the process, the spirit and communality of the session is imbued in … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Neil Finn – Out Of Silence
The indie rock matchup of 2017 has finally revealed the first single and video with Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile releasing their new song ‘Over Everything’. It’s a stunning black and white video too, with swapped lip-syncing and some amazing scenery. The album Lotta Sea Lice will be released on 13th October via Milk! / Matador and they’ve also roped in colleagues such as Mick Turner and … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile – Over Everything (2017)
This is album number four for Jen Cloher and in keeping with the title and stark artwork, featuring her naked and with guitar, it is her most honest, clear-cut and autobiographical release to date. So many songwriters cloud their ideas and experiences in metaphors and diversionary tactics but Cloher goes straight for the literal and personal, detailing the trials and tribulations of extended periods apart … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jen Cloher – Jen Cloher
Still one of the leading lights of the Australian strand of guitar strummed, literate indie pop/rock songs, Underground Lovers have influenced the sound of many a local band over the years from The Sleepy Jackson to Blank Realm and on to Shining Bird. They’ll no doubt continue to hold that sphere of influence with their latest and one of their best albums. Staring At You … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Underground Lovers – Staring at You Staring At Me
Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin (The Drones), Lauren Hammel (High Tension) on drums and Erica Dunn (Harmony, Palm Springs) have unveiled the sound of their new band Tropical Fuck Storm. It’s a jerky, catchy post-punk song that swaggers and slithers along, sounding like it could collapse at any moment. It’s a glorious collision of chaos and euphoric rock. The debut TFS 7″ single, “Chameleon Paint” b/w … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Tropical Fuck Storm – Chameleon Paint
New Zealanders Die! Die! Die! are back with a new album and a new clip for the single ‘How Soon Is Too Soon (It’s Not Vintage It’s Used)’. It’s definitely not as punk driven and intense as some of their earlier material but it’s equally as commanding, drawing on distorted and looped effects and a kind of warmly-detached Bailter Space feel as the song circles … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Die! Die! Die! – How Soon Is Too Soon (It’s Not Vintage It’s Used)
Zola Jesus returns with the first single from Okovi, her new album on Sacred Bones Records, due out Sept 8th. It finds Nicole Hummel in fine form, juxtaposing dramatic flurries of strings, industrial electronic rhythms and low frequency bass thrums as she backgrounds her lead vocal with the deathly howl of her self-voiced choir. There’s a turbulent, anxious and haunting feel to the song that … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Zola Jesus – Exhumed
Boris are now 25 years into a career that has stretched from the barren expanse of doom to hazy dream pop renderings and onto avant garde soundscapes and blistering, psychedelic punk rock. They hone in on a style and explore it to its logical extreme. On Dear they again hit the heavy button but this time they go deep into the detail, exploring both heaviosity … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Boris – Dear
Doubtful Sounds 