Whether solo, playing as a member of the Kurt Baker Combo or a key member of Spanish pop-punkers Bullet Proof Lovers, something that comes across on pretty much any Kurt Baker recording is how much joy he gets just from playing music for the love of it. He’s also frighteningly prolific. If he’s not sweating it out at live shows, he’s in the studio. If he’s not in the studio, he’s writing. Obviously, with such a frantic recording artist, not everything makes the final cut of an album, but Baker is never content with leaving things on the shelf.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
INDONESIAN JUNK – Stars In The Night
Indonesian Junk’s self-titled 2016 debut celebrated everything that was trashy about late 70s power pop and slightly glammy punk-pop. Huge cues from the CBGBs scene informed the bulk of the music, which was potentially enjoyable in a fairly chaotic way…provided, that is, the band kept to the upbeat. The slower numbers didn’t always fare so well and on top of that, frontman Daniel James’s drawling vocals were the very pinnacle of acquired taste. In short, then, despite glimmers of something, it was an album that could – and should – have been so much better. [A full review can be read here.]
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NATTERERS – Toxic Care EP
Hardcore punk has existed in many forms over the years, from the straight edge to the crusty to having deep roots in subgenres like grindcore. Despite variations, it’s often at its best when played absolutely straight. For lovers of traditional hardcore, this debut EP from Natterers immediately sets the band out as one to watch. Although only their first proper release, this EP shows a huge professionalism, not only in the way the songs are crafted, but also the way they’ve recorded. This EP retains a DIY ethic without sounding like it has been recorded in a shed.
CHARLOTTE CARPENTER – Shelter EP
Charlotte Carpenter’s 2016 release ‘How Are We Ever To Know?‘ was a deeply personal selection of songs that showed the British singer-songwriter unashamedly exorcising some emotional demons. The nature of the material didn’t always make it an entirely comfortable listen, but it was more than obvious Carpenter had a huge talent. The following year’s ‘Shelter’ brings more personal issues to the table, but tempers the hurt with more of a varied musical style.
DIG DEEPER – In Central European Time
Taking cues from late 60s psych and various trippy Americana bands from more recent times, Norway’s Dig Deeper are a curious hybrid of Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Pink Floyd, Richmond Fontaine and a half remembered garage band from eons past. ‘In Central European Time’, the band’s third full length release, often plays like a dark road movie for the head and should appeal to fans of the aforementioned, possibly even those familiar with fellow Scandinavians The Bloakes, Trevor & The Joneses and King Black Acid.