Glasgow’s Goodbye Blue Monday make no attempt to disguise their geographic origins. Even though a good proportion of the vocals on their 2018 EP ‘Misery-Punk Ruined My Life’ are of the group/gang shouty variety, there are lots of times where a heavy accent can still be heard. Although their brand of street punk – or “misery punk” as they bill themselves – already attempts to be of a forthright nature, this only gives the material an extra feeling of urgency. This, their third release, features three songs that despite the misery punk tag are actually really rousing.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
New Mott The Hoople box set to be released in November
Mott The Hoople were one of the great bands of the 1970s. Whilst principally known for their mega hits ‘All The Young Dudes’, ‘Roll Away The Stone’ and ‘All The Way From Memphis’, the Mott story started a few years earlier. Between 1969 and 1971, the band recorded four albums for Island Records of a far more experimental nature.
Those albums and various associated extras have been compiled on a lavish six disc box set entitled ‘Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-1971. A very comprehensive set, there’s never been a better way to experience a run of often overlooked albums.
A full press release can be read below.
A review of Ian Hunter’s ‘Fingers Crossed’ can be found here.
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BLACKLAB – Under The Strawberry Moon 2.0
BlackLab are a sludge, doom and fuzz metal duo from Japan. Their album ‘Under The Strawberry Moon’ was released in 2017 in a very limited pressing. Recognising their potential to appeal to an overseas audience, UK indie label New Heavy Sounds remixed the album, beefing up the overall sound and subsequently gave it a broader distribution. The resulting ‘Under The Strawberry Moon 2.0’ isn’t just heavy. It isn’t just doomy. It’s positively devastating.
CHRIS STILLS – Don’t Be Afraid
At the beginning of 2008, singer-songwriter Chris Stills released his debut album ‘100 Year Thing’. A semi-acoustic collection of songs it not only drew influence from his father Stephen – most notably in the vocal tones of the title track – but also seemed to be inspired by then more contemporary sounds, with some songs carrying traces of influence from Days of The New and Alice In Chains’ acoustic material. A follow up didn’t appear until 2005, by which time, his material had seemingly absorbed bits and pieces from Jeff Buckley’s small legacy as well as further showcasing his own talents.
MIKE PACE AND THE CHILD ACTORS – Smooth Sailing
Previously of Oxford Collapse, singer-songwriter Mike Pace takes a different approach on his 2018 LP ‘Smooth Sailing’. Recorded with his other band The Child Actors, the album moves away from the indie rock of their 2015 LP ‘Best Boy’ and is – in Mike’s own words “a big pop record…or something like it, recorded by a forty year old who grew up on indie rock and later discovered the joys of soft singer-songwriters, AOR and prog through bargain bins.”