ATTIC THEORY – The Sign Of An Active Mind EP

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Formed from the ashes of three underground bands in 2017, Liverpool’s Attic Theory quickly gained some high profile champions on the rock scene. Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot is on record as being one of their early fans, and long before their debut release emerged, the band had already shared stages with Terrorvision, US legends Candlebox and Saving Abel.

Their 2020 EP introduces their work to a wider audience via six tracks that blend a classic rock heart with elements of a very 90s inspired post-grunge edge. It’s a sound that, when it works for Attic Theory, works brilliantly. Even when it misses the mark slightly, as most bands do on occasion, their musical intents are always more than clear. Whatever angle of hard rock the band chooses to tackle, however, the riffs are huge and the hooks are more than assured.

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Stream: The Ghost Of Indie Top 20 (A Real Gone Playlist)

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Back in the 90s, a series of compilation albums called ‘Indie Top 20’ provided exciting listening for a generation of NME readers.  The series of cassettes (and latterly CDs) brought together 20 indie hits and underground bangers of the day, providing what would become an important time capsule for future generations.

The compilers were unafraid to pitch the era’s heavyweights Pop Will Eat Itself and Carter USM against the then up and coming Sleeper and Salad; it also gave a huge platform to bands that now seem too often forgotten, like Tiny Monroe and 18 Wheeler.  Whatever appeared, fans absorbed like sponges.  Those compilations were often responsible for creating cast iron favourites.

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Yes announce 30 disc box set of 1991’s ‘Union’ tour

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The 1991 Yes album ‘Union’ is one that very much splits opinion.  Rick Wakeman famously nicknamed it ‘Onion’ as it made him cry whenever he heard it, and even from a fan perspective, it never really connected with a strong audience.  Those who liked the poppier route Yes had taken in the 80s found musical kinship in the more commercial tracks – like the lead single ‘Lift Me Up’ and Billy Sherwood’s excellent ‘The More We Live – Let Go’ – but didn’t really like the proggier aspects, while the proggy fans welcomed the return of Steve Howe and a few more adventurous bits but still had no time for the pop aspects still present.  It was a case of “too many cooks” – the album took in too much variation and enlisted five different producers – and in an attempt to please everyone, almost ended up pleasing no-one.

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Check out ‘For The Dreamers’, a new track from Astral Drive

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Back in 2018, multi-instrumentalist, producer and one-time member of The Cure launched a new project, Astral Drive.  The “band” acted as an outlet for Thornalley to revisit the kind of 70s AM radio pop he’d always loved.  The album marked itself out as an instant classic, often inviting comparisons to the best works by Todd Rundgren and Jeff Lynne; the kind of record that would keep fans of classic retro pop entertained for years.

The album was then represented in stripped back arrangements on a digital release (self-titled, referred to as “The Green Album”), but it didn’t seem as if the world would see brand new music from Astral Drive again for some time…or possibly ever. The original LP almost sounded like a flash in the pan for retro cool; a perfect statement of the past, recreated for the present.  To follow it up with anything as perfect would be a tall order after all.

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