Good Charlotte – ‘Generation Rx’ (Album Review)

After a decade of slogging away as one of the most hated pop-punk bands of all time, Good Charlotte went on hiatus and returned with 2016’s Youth Authority. It was a decent effort, and recognised as such, a promising sign of lessons learnt and extra miles run while sweating blood in the name of self-improvement. At their best, Good Charlotte stood up for the world’s downtrodden misfits – and that positive stance is likely why Read more…

Posted on 13 September 2018

Deaf Havana – ‘Rituals’ (Album Review)

On last January’s All These Countless Nights, Deaf Havana hit an all-time high. Countless musicians dream of the Holy Grail, the achievement of simultaneous commercial and artistic success – and these guys achieved it in style. All These Countless Nights was sick, and hit the UK Albums Chart in fifth place.

Everything was looking up, and everyone wanted Read more…

Posted on 30 July 2018

Trophy Eyes – ‘The American Dream’ (Album Review)

Relocation is usually key to creative development, whether it be stylistic, mental, or physical. New perspectives, directions, lessons, discoveries, and opportunities rarely come when people sit and stagnate – and Trophy Eyes have never been ones to stick fast and stand still. That fact has earned them plenty of detractors, but it’s also Read more…

Posted on 24 July 2018

Daughtry – ‘Cage To Rattle’ (Album Review)

Five years is a long time in rock ‘n’ roll – and that goes quintuple for former talent show contestants, who are normally expected to vanish into obscurity within twelve months of emerging into the public eye. But then again, Chris Daughtry is a star with proven staying power – and Cage To Rattle is a strong showing for a Read more…

Posted on 13 July 2018

30 Seconds To Mars – ‘America’ (Album Review)

Although 30 Seconds To Mars have some undeniably epic tracks in their back catalogue, their career to date has always been based on following whichever trends happened to be culturally dominant at the time. From early 2000s alt-metal to emo, then alt-rock, and now electronic pop, derivative music with just enough idiosyncrasy to stand out from the pack has always been a 30 Seconds To Mars calling card. Don’t get me wrong – I like this band, but Read more…

Posted on 06 April 2018

Incubus – ‘8’ (Album Review)

Incubus are masters of the musical curveball. Ahead of every album they release, the unexpected is the only thing to be expected. Unpredictability and consistent reinvention have been Incubus constants from the day their major label debut SCIENCE dropped.

That day was close to two decades ago – and Incubus are still going strong on 8. To say they’ve been Read more…

Posted on 21 April 2017

All That Remains – ‘Madness’ (Album Review)

All That Remains have really stuck their necks out here.

My strongest music-related belief is that bands and artists should be allowed to play whatever the hell they like. Without the concept of creative freedom, music’s history would be very dull indeed. We’d probably still be banging rocks with sticks, or humming along to bone flute quartets, and there would be no rock ‘n’ roll, no Read more…

Posted on 16 April 2017

Deaf Havana – ‘All These Countless Nights’ [Review]

For Deaf Havana, the past few years have been nothing if not chaotic. With 2013’s Old Souls, the Norfolk alt-rockers broke into the UK Top Ten, hit a new level of success, and even found themselves supporting Bruce Springsteen. On the surface, Deaf Havana had achieved almost everything any given rock band could possibly hope to tick off on their bucket list.

As we tend to expect when dreaming of the future, life should have been all roses from then onwards. But financial and interpersonal communication issues came close to derailing Deaf Havana, before they made some major changes behind Read more…

Posted on 24 January 2017