ONE DAY, AFTER SCHOOL… – In Skeletal EP

in skeletal epAlthough their choice of band name might suggest third rate pop-punk, skateboards and girls ahoy, Wakefield’s terribly monikered One Day, After School… (complete with punctuation) owe no such musical allegiances. Sure, they’ve saddled themselves with a name that wouldn’t suit a band in their advancing years, but musically they’re pretty smart. Their earlier releases deliver indie rock fare that toys with Sonic Youth noise and Pavement‘s slackness, but often with an accessible heart. Their third release – 2016’s ‘In Skeletal’ – is much broader with experimentation from the outset, presenting some great instrumental work bookended by lyrical pieces.

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MORE THAN MOST – Impossible Is Temporary EP

More Than Most EPFormed in 2014, London based band More Than Most wasted no time in attracting the attention of the online press and by the summer of 2015 had also already gained airplay via the Scuzz TV channel and positive support from various outlets…and all before the release of their debut. With the support More Than Most have secured – and comparisons to Flyleaf thrown into the bargain – it should be expected that the aforementioned debut EP comes with plenty of crunch. That’s not always the case.

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Love, Loss and The Eternal Soundtrack

At an unspecific point in 1979, my dad arrived home from work carrying a long playing record. It turned out to be the new Police album.  At this point, ‘Message In a Bottle’ had been all over the radio and I knew I liked this new music. My mum, on the other hand did not have quite the same enthusiasm; she’s a bit put out that this does not have ‘Roxanne’ on it. Presumably, the album – like others – had been purchased at Barnaby’s, a record shop (no longer there) very near my dad’s then place of employment; a giant tin shed in which he worked with dangerous acidic chemicals and little regard for health and safety. That Police album (‘Reggatta De Blanc’) got played a lot. If I think hard, I can still see Dad sitting by his Fidelity stereo system lifting the needle onto the record and playing the title track over and over and I remember thinking how fitting it was that the word emblazoned on the front looked a bit like the word fiddle. That piece of music must have spoken to him:  decades later, he would still attract my attention by calling my name to the tune of that track.

The sight of my dad coming home with new music in this way was not entirely uncommon.

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LIFELINE – Scream

lifelineA collaboration between bassist/vocalist Nigel Bailey of melodic rockers Three Lions and Shy vocalist Lee Small, Lifeline’s debut album ‘Scream’ presents thirteen old style hard rock tunes, most of which find both performers in good voice. Enlisting Three Lions keyboard man Andy Bailey, Lawless guitarist Paul Hume and long time friend Steve Clarkson to supply musical assistance, it’s a more than solid line up who perform at their best, even at times when the material doesn’t always hit the mark.

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