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.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
GENTLEMEN ROGUES – Surface Noise
Since their formation, Austin’s Gentlemen Rogues have created great music that’s hugely indebted to the older college rock sound. Via a series of EPs, their very retro approach won them a loyal audience within the rock underground, and comparisons to The Replacements certainly didn’t hurt their progress. Over a decade since their humble beginnings, their 2024 release ‘Surface Noise’ finally sees the band stretching beyond their preferred short playing format with a full album’s worth of material, and it comes as a great relief that their punchy music doesn’t necessarily need to be heard in short bursts to have the greatest impact.
STARS LIKE OURS – Better Every Day EP
The self titled full length album from Boston’s Stars Like Ours was the ultimate throwback, in the best possible way. The band’s sound recycled bits of Letters To Cleo, The Muffs, Other Star People and other 90s alternative groups with love, and gave the listener a record that absolutely overflowed with nostalgia. If nothing else, it proved that a combination of fuzzy alt-rock guitars and bubblegum inflected choruses just never gets old, but luckily, Stars Like Ours showed off a tightness and skill for well written hooks that also helped the material to stand beyond any nostalgic feelings.
THE SHADOW MAJLIS – The Departure
A musical project helmed by multi-instrumentalist Ali Jafri, The Shadow Majlis’ debut album ‘The Departure’ defies easy categorisation. The material takes in elements of goth, rock, world music and even dub reggae to create a cornucopia of sound with subtle layers that offer the listener something different on each play.
PALLAS – Arrive Alive
As far as the more casual observer is concerned, the prog rock revival of the 80s was kicked off by Marillion and their ‘Market Square Heroes’ EP and subsequent hit album ‘Script for A Jester’s Tear’ in 1983. Marillion certainly flew the flag for prog’s unexpected commercial success during that decade, but the rumblings of a brilliant, but terminally unfashionable musical revival had actually begun much earlier.