J. EASTMAN AND THE DRUNK UNCLES – No Capo Required

This Minneapolis based garage rock band is entirely unpretentious. At no point do these musicians stretch too far beyond their garage-ish musical limits – limits that are occasionally just a little too obvious – nor do they display any kind of ego. By their own admission, J. Eastman & The Drunk Uncles are rather shambolic. Still, a fairly loose and carefree attitude has got them so far and this third release works very much on a maxim of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Or in the case of the Uncles, it might even be “if it sounds a bit broke, let’s swill some booze and knock things about until they sound better.”

True to their word, bits of ‘No Capo Required’ do indeed sound sloppy. That said, you’ll have heard sloppier…and sometimes from bands who actually genuinely believe they’re the very acme of musical perfection.

Continue reading →

HIGHRIDER – Roll For Initiative

Highrider’s 2016 EP really meant business. Within twenty minutes, the Swedish In Flames obsessives growled, thrashed and pounded their way through four almost faultless tunes that owed so much to the past, especially with a root in classic thrash – and yet still sounded contemporary for the time of release. An unlikely soundtrack for the summer, that short look into a world that blended thrash with melodic hardcore and 70s hard rock organs promised so much for the inevitable full length debut. A year on, ‘Roll For Initiative’ expands on those musical themes and results in a more mixed album. Within the eight featured tracks, you’ll hear more of the things that made Highrider an instant success, but also a few experiments that aren’t quite as immediate.

Continue reading →

Led Zeppelin: 50th Anniversary Releases – What, Exactly, Does Jimmy Page Have Planned?

In January 2018, it was announced that Led Zeppelin’s posthumous live release ‘How The West Was Won’ was to be given a reissue to coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary. Recorded at two US shows in 1972 and then spliced together to give the feeling of experiencing a complete show, it has rarely been cited as a fan favourite. Nevertheless, that’s not stopped it being re-issued on CD and also given a blu-ray and (prohibitively expensive) vinyl release for the first time.

Continue reading →

Philip Whitehead explores wintertime blues on new single

Philip Whitehead is a singer-songwriter from London whom over the past year or so has been releasing download independent singles.  His last offering, ‘Paper Man’s Blues’ – released in November 2017 – was his best track to date, being an acoustic track that harked back to the personal nature of Bob Dylan’s classic ‘Girl From The North Country’ [streaming here]

Continue reading →

Grab a free download of the new K7s digital single, featuring Kurt Baker

K7s are a new band based in Spain who really deliver when it comes to looking for that classic sounding punk pop hit.   Their debut single ‘Running Back; mixes the pop hooks of ‘Dookie’ era Green Day with the drive of ‘Anthem For A New Tomorrow’ era Screeching Weasel.

If that style does it for you, then the K7s could well become an instant favourite.  What’s more, you can download both tracks of their new digital single from Bandcamp for absolutely free.  Just follow the Bandcamp widget.

Continue reading →