Reviews

Leeds and London duo Kamikaze Girls have recently released their highly anticipated 5 track EP, Sad. The songs are immense: as though weighed down by thought and experience. Intense and dark, Kamikaze Girls aren't for everyone, but are sure to strike a chord with any receptive fan.

Brawlers have always been the kind of band that does what it says on the tin. Punk music may be oversaturated with songs about getting wasted and waiting for girls to text you back, but at least Brawlers do this exact thing rather well.

You only need to look at the success of Netflix's Stranger Things and the sudden obsession with corduroy miniskirts to see that there's been a rise in 80s nostalgia culture. It's no wonder, then, that Philadelphia quartet Beach Slang have captured the hearts of punk rockers young and old with their new album 'A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings'.

Jonathan Greenwood's recording project The Doublecross takes the basic mould of Hot Water Music's upbeat melodic punk and adds a bit of radio-friendly sheen to it. Keep Bleeding is an album that succeeds in spite of itself, and is shamelessly enjoyable as a collection of fun, if commercial, rock songs.

There's nothing like a Thursday gig to brighten up the week, so when we heard Chasing Cadence were playing an EP release at the Black Heart we were ready to rock.

Be Nothing is everything you'd expect from Boston Manor. Whilst they operate within a somewhat stale pop-punk scene, they're one of the few bands who manage to fit into the genre comfortably, whilst also managing to defy expectations and bring something refreshing to the table.

Arguably two of the most hyped underground artists in the UK right now, Black Peaks and HECK have done the decent thing and embarked upon a co-headline tour. We caught them at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus to see what the fuss was all about.

There's a definite case of dual identity happening on You Make Everything Disappear: half dark, moody post-hardcore and half mellow, experimental rock, Trade Wind have shown that they don't just blow in one direction.

Danish trio John Alcabean have been making waves for a little while now with their scuzzy, garage rock sound, and with their debut release they've shown that they could become a force to be reckoned with on the live circuit.

Giraffe Tongue Orchestra boasts a hugely impressive array of talent, comprising of Alice in Chains vocalist William DuVall, guitarists Ben Weinman of the Dillinger Escape Plan and Brent Hinds of Mastodon, Dethklok bassist Pete Griffin and former The Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen. The group's debut record, Broken Lines, can be best be described as a mix of mathcore, prog rock and funk (the last of which is certainly out of left field, given the previous music made by the group’s members).