DORKATRON – The Extra Mile EP

Dorkatron are a straight-up pop-punk band from Austria. Featuring ex-members of DeeCracks, the band arguably gained their most attention in 2017 when they released a Star Wars themed track, ‘May 4th’…at a timely moment in December. Such a funny thing to do. Perhaps they were inspired by the chaos and bewilderment of The Star Wars Holiday Special? Whatever, the main thing you need to know about Dorkatron is that despite not having the best name in the world, they create fine, fine melodic punk; better than a lot of the tunes given to the world by DeeCracks themselves, in fact, since, above all else the vocals on this second EP are hugely melodic. …And when it comes to a bit of longevity, that’s quite important.

Continue reading

Listen: Smoke Season release cover of Don Henley’s classic ‘The Boys of Summer’

Don Henley’s ‘The Boys of Summer’ is one of the most enduring songs of the 80s.  There’s something in the narrative that seems to resonate with so many people.  Maybe it’s the thoughts of summers past; maybe it conjures memories of lost friendships.  Whatever it is, so many people love it and over the years it’s been covered in a variety of styles.

Continue reading

ALLFATHER – And All Will Be Desolation

In 2016, Allfather unleashed ‘Bless The Earth With Fire’, a hulking brute of an album that valued riffs over chorus hooks, resulting in a record that presented the very best in sludge metal recorded on a DIY budget. Extensive gigging followed, including bills shared with the mighty Morag Tong. Over the next eighteen months, the Kentish band drove big riffs into peoples’ skulls from small stages whilst simultaneously teasing about working on new studio material.

Continue reading

IDAHO GREEN – Rancher Bones EP

Montana’s Idaho Green are a band not so much shrouded in mystery as cloaked within the obsurd. Their list of band members is obviously fabricated and their band bio partly lifted from the legend of Lynyrd Skynrd. Scraping below the surface, though, they’re not related to Steve Gaines or Ronnie Van Zant; they’re still very much alive and have been active in one form or another since 2008. They’ve been releasing material since 2012 and the ‘Rancher Bones’ EP is their sixth release and despite only being short, it shows more scope and invention than before and is certainly more varied than 2016’s ‘Fuck Yeah…We’re Idaho Green’.

Continue reading

Listen to the new single by Darkwing

Brooklyn’s Darkwing make a huge sound.  It isn’t one that’s easily pigeonholed: some of the vocals draw influence from 80s goth bands like Bauhaus with their echoing presence, but they aren’t a goth band.  The drums rattle at speed like they’re driving a solid piece of garage rock, but if you’re looking for something along the lines of The Hives or a DIY band signed to Brooklyn’s own King Pizza Records…just forget it.

Continue reading