There’s always been bands, like Pendulum or The Prodigy, who have forged dance elements with guitar music to create an explosion of both sound and energy, but the line between rock and electronic has recently become even more blurred. Turning to computer generated effects has become commonplace for everyone from Silverstein to The Used and with their third album 'GLUE', Boston Manor joined the ranks. 

When The Used lit the scene on fire with their self-titled debut album back in 2002, they quickly established themselves as heavyweights. Two years later, 'In Love and Death' followed, catapulting them even further into rockstardom - but more important than the platinum records, high profile tours and hordes of fans, was the sound. What they brought to the table was frenetic, unhinged and dirty in the best way. Bert McCracken’s way with words and knack for manipulation through his emotional and vocal range wrapped listeners around his finger and after years of creative experimentation and many albums, he’s roping us in for another ride with eighth album, 'Heartwork'.

'Bruise' is a manifesto of an artist defiantly refusing to be pigeonholed by genre, blending pop, rock, electronic elements - and everything in between - together to present something so wholly out of the box that it can only be authentically Lizzy Farrall.

There’s something distinctly cool about not putting bands who are essentially carbon copies of one another on tour together. It wasn’t until recently that pop-punk bands brought pop-punk bands and metal bands supported metal bands, and it turned into a weird clique where one couldn’t sit with the other. The point is, when you look at Static Dress, Chamber, Can’t Swim and Counterparts on paper, you question why they’d be on tour together, but when you see them live, hardcore elements overlapping despite their sound being very different from each other, it feels like kismet.

There’s a vast number of things Can’t Swim are accomplished at, but if you absolutely had to single one out, it would be their seemingly effortless ability to add groove to every song they write. It’s not just melody, a hook or a catchy riff either, it’s a little bit of magic that takes it far beyond something that’s simply pleasing to listen to.

Here’s the thing about punk shows; they’re fast, they’re loud, they’re sweaty and if the phrase “this song’s about…” doesn’t come up at least once, then a bear doesn’t shit in the woods. We took a trip down to London's Scala for an exceptional night of punk rock from co-headliners Laura Jayne Grace and the Devouring Mothers and Frank Iero and the Future Violents.

The Murder Capital achieve two vitally important things with 'When I Have Fears'. The first is an undeniably accomplished debut album. The second is the ability to make a prominent punk record that invokes a strong sense of feeling, proving The Murder Capital have stepped into the spotlight with their best foot forward.