BAD VALENTINES – Memory Tattoos EP

It takes all of two bars of Bad Valentines’ ‘Last Days In The Sun’ to advertise the trashier end of this Finnish band’s rather varied rock sound, when a high toned guitar wails against a punchy backdrop. The immediate effect is like discovering a more melodic deep cut from earlier Scandinavian bands like Gluecifer, or a more pop-centic Hellacopters. Their rock ‘n’ roll chops shine even more brightly when a rousing lead guitar break rears up midway, but its when reaching for more melodic climes that this EP’s opening track really comes into its own. A punchy verse is offset by a hugely melodic and really confident vocal courtesy of scene new-comer Hon, and although she sounds great on the verse sharing more of a pop-rock tone than the music immediately suggested, it’s when hitting a harmony driven chorus she really begins to impress. It’s fairly simple with the band using an ascending melody to reach a one line hook, but the results are as catchy as hell. In terms of making a good first impression, this introduces Bad Valentines in the best possible way. It’s a genuinely strong number.

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Check out the new video for Detroit Run’s ‘Tightrope’

At the end of May 2025, up and coming UK alternative rock band Detroit Run released their debut EP ‘Defiance Part One’. The material showed great promise, and even if some of the band’s riffs slipped into an obvious formula when played as a whole, the EP’s five tracks played brilliantly when approached on an individual basis.

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LÙLÙ – Lùlù

When French band Lùlù released their eponymously named debut single in the closing weeks of 2024, it felt like the most exciting thing to happen to the power pop world since Gavin Bowles & The Distractions released their debut LP a year earlier, or possibly even since The Shang Hi Los released ‘Aces, Eights & Heartbreaks’ in January 2023. It’s not even that the track broke new ground; far from it, in fact. Its all round brilliance came from a desire to work squarely within a classic style.

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TEENAGE BUBBLEGUMS – Infamia EP

In a pre-lockdown age, Italian punks Teenage Bubblegums hit their audience with a sound that blended huge influences from the early Ramones catalogue with the musical prowess of a couple of 90s Fat Wreck bands. That approach really came of age when the band cranked out ten numbers in under fifteen minutes on their 2019 “long player” ‘In Limbo’. The record’s chunky riffs and dual male/female vocal created something tough yet melodic, sharing something that could be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of Europunk fans.

Five years on, the ‘Infamia’ EP presents a much more mature and rather different sounding band. Allowing themselves room to stretch out, the five featured tracks take almost as long to play through as twice as many songs from the Bubblegums’ past, but the band’s command of a riff is still great.

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KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND – Disco Kills EP

From the release of their 2011 EP through to 2022’s ‘Voodoo’, Kill Your Boyfriend have steadily crafted an impressive mix of post punk and heavy electronica sounds. Over the course of more than a decade, they’ve remained true to themselves, never really sought commercial acceptance, or softened their sound. On 2025’s ‘Disco Kills’, there are a couple of interesting musical deviations, but the bulk of their material remains incredibly harsh.

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