Queens of the Stone Age have come a long way since the release of their stoner rock infused debut. The many musical twists they’ve taken haven’t always worked out for the best, but you probably couldn’t accuse them of being a band who’ve churned out the same album time and again.
Sick of It All were one of America’s most celebrated and beloved hardcore bands. Their recorded legacy is remarkably consistent in terms of quality, and their later albums present a more accessible brand of hardcore than many of their contemporaries. While nineties albums ‘Scratch The Surface’ and ‘Built To Last’ gained most of the music industry’s praise, lesser known recordings such as 2014’s ‘Last Act of Defiance’ present an equally powerful band, now of veteran status, but not resting on their musical laurels.
Throughout the 80s, Magnum were one of the great hopes of British AOR. Their mid 80s releases ‘On A Storytellers Night’ and the Roger Taylor produced ‘Vigilante’ gained the band critical acclaim, and remain beloed by fans. 1988’s ‘Wings of Heaven’, arguably, represented a career peak, and a show from Hammersmith captured on that tour formed an essential VHS release. Unfortunately ‘On The Wings of Heaven Live’ languishes in a VHS limbo, now unlikely to gain an official DVD release.
If you’ve been paying attention to the rock underground throughout 2024, you’ll have encountered Las Nubes. The vibrant noise-makers have released a couple of genuinely excellent singles that have showed off the full range of their riff based talents. The music has dropped dream pop and shoegaze inspired riffs against a Melvins-like doominess. At other times, you might have heard them thrashing through a very Stooges-centric garage rock blueprint. No matter where there music has taken them, Las Nubes have never been less than thrilling, and their self proclaimed “fucking loud” second album really helped them to gain a place within the hearts of those seeking out cult sounds.
When people think of alternative bands, they’d probably name about fifty before The Veldt came to mind. Even within the microcosm of shoegaze and dreampop, the US band have never seemed to get their full due. They’ve never seemed to gain the same kind of love heaped upon them that Ride, critics’ darlings My Bloody Valentine, and even Slowdive have managed. Yet, those who’ve understood their unique take on shoegaze and indie sounds absolutely love them. The band are the very definition of “cult”.