Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

PETE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Sea Of Eyes / The Lamplighters remix EP

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Formed in 1997, the curiously named Pete International Airport is a musical project featuring the talents of Dandy Warhols man Peter Holmström (also of Sun Atoms, a band who released some excellent material in 2024), and Collin Hegna of Federale, a genre-hopping act who also offered one of 2024’s finest discs.

Under their Pete International Airport moniker, these musicians and other assorted friends have explored various sounds, usually veering towards influences from the 80s and 90s alternative scenes. In the last quarter of 2023, the band made a welcome comeback with their long player ‘It Felt Like The End of The World’ – the first wholly new PIA work since 2017 – which introduced new listeners to their indie/goth/rock sounds.

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SMOKE AxD – Vaya Con Dios EP

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Smoke AxD (aka Smoke All Day) brings together artists previously associated with Madball, Crown of Thornz and Hatebreed, which, in hardcore terms, sounds like it should be pretty amazing. On this EP, those musicians bring some massive riffs, as you’d expect, and the vocal performances often attack like a concrete sledge. There are a lot of moments where the material sounds like something unearthed from the late 90s, so they’ve got that classic/nostalgic angle covered too. So, why then, do the five songs on this EP sound so…frankly uninspired?

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THE HOLY KNIVES – I Don’t Wanna Win EP

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On their 2018 full length ‘Year Of The Dog’, rock duo The Holy Knives shared some very full sounding, atmospheric songs. The material had a definite core sound: bits of melodic garage rock could be found meshing with even older influences, resulting in tunes like ‘Memory Book’ sharing a huge vocal against a hefty drum beat, ‘Loose Tooth’ working a wobbly twang against a massive croon, taking a little more of an atmospheric indie rock stance and, in an unexpected twist, ‘Lucky Day’ sounded like an old Chris Isaak number remixed by Portishead man Geoff Barrow. It was the kind of record that set solid foundations for future works.

On their 2020 EP ‘Always Gone’, the cinematic elements of the Holy Knives sound used keys to create something even more retro, and by the time of their 2023 single release ‘Keep On Lyin’, even more of a groove had been established, showing how even though this duo had a sound that worked for them, Kyle and Kody Valentine certainly weren’t shy of embracing a natural musical progression.

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THE BIG DEAL – Electrified

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Serbian band The Big Deal released a very confident debut in 2022’s ‘First Bite’. Although their music wasn’t particularly original, the album’s best tracks showcased talented musicians, capable of sharing a huge sound, and whose brand of melodic rock and metal consistently hit the mark with strong callbacks to Pretty Maids and other Euro fare.

Following the album’s release, guitarist Srdjan Brankovic made a great contribution to Ronnie Romero’s ‘Raised On Radio’, but then seemed to disappear. Considering he guested on a number of albums up to this point, his relative quietness came as a surprise, but his fans will certainly welcome his return here, and find plenty to enjoy within his work on this second release from The Big Deal. Much like before, the best material places Brankovic’s guitar playing rather highly in the end mix, but there’s very much the feeling that this is a genuine band project, rather than merely just being the Srdjan show with a few in-house hired hands.

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MUCK AND THE MIRES – Zoom Breakup EP

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In the summer of 2023, Muck and The Mires released the ‘Cool Imposter’ single. With a blend of 50s kitsch, late 60s garage rock guitar and one of the most repetitious hooks ever, it quickly marked out a place as one of their strongest tracks to date. Their 2024 EP ‘Zoom Breakup’ doesn’t quite summon the same fire – although always enjoyable in their own way, it would’ve been a tall order for its six numbers to reach the same heights of shameless infectiousness – but the release is certainly a more than welcome addition to the veteran band’s catalogue.

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