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From Monday 25 September 2017

LIVE: Charly Bliss / Whenyoung @ The Old Blue Last, London

Any observant music fan would predict Charly Bliss’ fizzy pop rock to pull in a herd of pastel grunge kids with candy floss hair and eternal smiles. But as Vice-owned hot spot The Old Blue Last fills to bursting point for the band’s live London debut, that prediction couldn’t

Sunday 27 August 2017

Akercocke – ‘Renaissance In Extremis’

Since Behemoth’s 2014 game changer ‘The Satanist’, extreme metal hasn’t been the same. Sudden widespread acclaim and legions of starry-eyed admirers can be viewed as either good or bad depending on your allegiance to the darkest of the dark. Stepping back into this world are Akercocke, late ’90s progressive

Wednesday 09 August 2017

LIVE: Bad Religion / Gnarwolves @ O2 Forum Kentish Town

The term ‘heritage act’ has a lot of connotations — one being ‘old,’ another being ‘important yet no longer relevant.’ LA punk legends Bad Religion have been around for a while, so in theory the term could apply to them, but judging by the unpredictable demographic inside Kentish Town’s

Friday 21 July 2017

LIVE: The Wonder Years / Muncie Girls / The Dirty Nil @ The Hippodrome, Kingston

Pop punk shows are an equaliser. It’s impossible to judge anyone based on superficial things like social status when you’re four beers deep, arm around a stranger screaming your favourite band’s lyrics right back at them. These shows are communal therapy of sorts, but due to the unshakeable stigma

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Flogging Molly – ‘Life Is Good’

Step into a modern pub and archetypes are likely to await you: the boozed-up Fred Perry fanboy fiddling with the pinball machine, the off-duty policewoman slumped by the pool table and the motley gang of withered regulars perched at the bar. Amongst the latter is usually a slender old

Wednesday 14 June 2017

Bad Cop / Bad Cop – ‘Warriors’

When America went loco and elected a burnt pig in a suit as their almighty lord, a flood of interchangeable mainstream think-pieces tried unsuccessfully to see the bright side. Everyone’s favourite headline was something along the lines of ‘well at least blank will get better now’ and low and

Friday 09 June 2017

Malevolence – ‘Self Supremacy’

This mortal realm has no shortage of modern metalcore meatheads in Affliction tank tops. Hit the pit of your run of the mill bro-core flailing party and more than one lukewarm Carling will end up in your hair. That’s just a fact. But how do you deal with it?