Wakefield’s One Day, After School released their debut EP ‘In Skeletal’ at the very beginning of 2016. Given the timing of the release and it only being a four song affair, it seemed fair to think that a full length album would drop at some point that summer. The summer came and went. Then autumn…then a very cold winter. The band were nowhere to be seen. Fast forward to Easter 2017 and – finally – their triumphant return. To say it was worth the wait would be an understatement, since ‘The Invisible Anchor’ taps into everything that made the EP enjoyable and more besides.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
NORD – Alpha EP
Danish five piece Nord believe in metal with a captial M. They also appear to believe that the inclusion of hugely melodic passages is entirely necessary if they are to attract more than a niche audience. They’d be right to assume that, too, especially when their debut EP includes more than a little death metal throatiness.
MIRA – Mira EP
Emo. Originally shorthand for emotional hardcore and practised by melodic hardcore bands like Youth of Today, Rites of Spring et al, by the beginning of the twenty first century, anything labelled emo couldn’t be further away from those origins. There was a spell in the mid 90s where alternative rock bands with a slight indie leaning were also labelled emo (the best of which were the much missed Sense Field and the short-lived Shift) and they were great, but beyond that, emo just became a lazy tag for “whining sub-goth naval gazing with floppy fringe”. Surely, somewhere in the US, Brendan Canty wonders what the hell happened?
RUM THIEF – Time To Make A Move EP
In the summer of 2015, singer-songwriter Jot Green (aka Rum Thief) released ‘Reach For The Weather Man‘, an EP of hard jangling tunes coupled with social commentary and an unavoidable sense of Englishness. Like a northern Frank Turner, an underground Alex Turner or perhaps a Mike Skinner with actual tunes and talent, he showed a strong ability to couple grass roots messages with a gruff but fairly timeless indie-rock backdrop. A fair while passed and nothing more was heard. Had the Rum Thief been swallowed up by his day job, or even run out of things to tell the world? It would seem so.
LUNAR TWIN – Night Tides EP
Lunar Twin’s third release puts their previous recordings in the shade. A downtempo work, ‘Night Tides’ is an absolute beauty. Released via the Moon Sounds Records (home to Bloodhounds On My Trail and the excellent Foreign Resort), it represents a huge step forward for the US electronica duo. It’s six numbers encompass a whole world of electronic and atmospheric moods, but both the scope of the arrangements and a superb production sound go a long way to making everything sound like the work of a full band.