Following a run of enjoyable digital singles, Octavian Winters released their debut EP ‘The Line Or Curve’ in October 2023. Rounding up the band’s previously available tracks and premiering the excellent ‘Velveteen’, its five songs explored an old school goth sound, but by blending that with a much tougher post-punk influence, the release shared a superbly dark mood laced with very strong melodies throughout. One of the EP’s highlights, ‘Surreal’ managed to bring the cold brilliance of ‘Faith’ era Cure into the realms of the more modern, potentially making it amenable to fans of bands like Lacuna Coil, and the combination of Jay Denton’s huge bass melodies and Ria Aursjoen’s soaring 80s vocals resulted in something atmospheric. With slow but wondrous melodies underscored by ringing guitar, it showed how classic 80s goth rock riffs and melodies could sound just as thrilling forty years on.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
ROSALIE JAMES – Full Of Chemicals
Singer songwriter Rosalie James began her musical career in earnest in the summer of 2023. Over the following year, she received a surprising amount of attention. Not only from BBC Radio in her native Cornwall, but also from farther afield. Her first couple of singles, ‘Girl I Was’ (released in April) and the brilliant ‘Soft Target’ (released in June) were well received via various online outlets, and showed off her great talent for a pop rock sound and personal lyric. Both tracks felt very different from each other in such a way that it piqued interest for the promised forthcoming album.
MR. BIG – Ten
Since the late 80s, Mr. Big have been one of the most popular acts on the melodic rock scene. Their superior musicianship and a gift for very melodic hooks has made them a hit with musos, the less demanding radio listener, and a whole world of rock fans in between. The albums have always centred around some superb guitar work, but first and foremost, Mr. Big have come armed with accessible songs and melodies, and in Eric Martin, they’ve always had a gifted and reliable frontman, possessed with one of his generation’s finest voices. In terms of smart, melodic rock, an on form Mr. Big can be the full package.
SUNBOMB – Light Up The Sky
Although the name Sunbomb might not be a massively familiar one on the rock scene in 2024, the band features a few familiar faces. Making up the core of the band, LA Guns guitarist Tracii Guns is joined by his old bandmate Adam Hamilton on drums, and taking on vocal duties, you’ll find legendary Stryper man Michael Sweet. This new band aren’t contemporary sounding, nor are they especially subtle, but Sunbomb were never likely to be either. According to Tracii, the main aim was to make the kind of metal album he “would have made at [the age of] seventeen”, back in 1983.
MARK BACINO – Top Of The World
Mark Bacino’s 2010 album ‘Queens English’ saw the US singer songwriter moving away from the perfect bubblegum pop he’d shared on his earlier records, but for those willing to invest the time, it was an album rich in character. With a narrative theme concerning home and family, the material was more mature: ‘Happy’ revisited the sounds of Randy Newman; ‘Muffin’ hinted at a love of Billy Joel, and the title cut opted for something a little more direct with a pinch of 70s glam informing its sound. It was the kind of record that worked best as a whole, and yet could still be cherry-picked.