mikehaydock has written the following articles:
his debut by Remember Remember sits snugly alongside Errors’ debut album on Mogwai’s Rock Action label, proving that those wily Scots don’t just make fantastic music, they can also spot it from a mile off. Yet with this lot it's happy songs for happy people... »
This group of fans are here for three songs, and all of them are from Finch’s first record: ‘New Beginnings’, ‘Letters To You’ and ‘What It Is To Burn’. That album came out in 2002, six-and-a-half years ago. But these fans are stuck in the past and refuse to move on, trapping the band in limbo.»
Make no mistake: this is a disastrous night of epic proportions. On this evidence, if The Automatic manage to rally themselves and survive to album number three, it'll be a genuine shock»
This Is A Fix is a pleasant mess, and it’s well-meaning, but you still feel The Automatic are fighting against the pop tag they should embrace»
The album to break Secondsmile into the mainstream? No. The album to cement their reputation as one of the most exciting bands in Britain? Too right»
Whether she likes it or not, Atlanta-based Kaki King now has a prefix to her name: “One of Dave Grohl’s favourite guitarists”»
This latest album by Even is doing absolutely nothing to help the cause of Australian music. In short, this self-titled fifth album is a chronic disappointment»
Moby's Last Night is sensible, clean, pleasant. But it lacks that essential injection of endeavour and emotion»
Maybeshewill are a poppy alternative to post-rock bands that make you work just to be rewarded with a single nugget of prettiness»
Leeds’ The Rosie Taylor Project are an attractive proposition: a band of gentle acoustic lullabies that reference Nick Drake and more»
As a pop record, this is a winner, crammed with memorable choruses. And, musically at least, Baumer are thoughtful, forward-thinking lads with an enviable ability to diversify their sound»
Laudanum proves a powerful introduction to this Glaswegian four-piece. Ursula Minor have taken their time over five tracks on this debut EP rather than trying to rush through a full album’s worth of material»
This is a fascinating record that enjoys toying with musical boundaries and unnerving the listener. It isn’t the kind of album you can listen to on repeat, and you should keep it away from your more sensitive friends»
It’s tough to imagine Minus picking up loads of new fans with their fourth album, but within their genre they're a fascinating prospect. If this album does reignite the press buzz, it will be well justified»
Even an atrocious song in the middle can't override the fact that this is an enjoyable album, easily good enough to please Get Cape’s fans and bosses. But he’ll need to expand his range next time to keep people interested»
Is it just me, or are there a lot of miserable bastards around at the moment? Well here’s an antidote that might just help - the debut album from Enjoy Destroy, a blustering pop-rock band from Hampshire»
Boston’s State Radio are a politicised band that fuse rock, punk and reggae. Is it wrong to be put off from the start? Nah: UK listeners can still enjoy these pop choruses»
Moonbeams is an infuriating listen: an album that shimmers one minute and lurches off into the shadows the next. It jumps about and tries to show off, when restraint and subtlety were generating such rich rewards»
That line between well crafted pop song and dad rock durge is being trodden again, this time by Los Angeles duo The Meadows. It’s a dangerous game, but The Meadows are simply incapable of shaking their classic influences»
Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus is about to release his fourth solo album, Real Emotional Trash (his second with The Jicks), and DiS spends some time in the singer's company to learn about ear fatigue and fending off bears»
Georgie James are hopelessly positioned in the UK market. An American blues-pop band on a small, independent, American label, they don’t fit into any comfortable media niche»
Farewell execute their shtick well: Isn’t This Supposed To Be Fun!? is polished, catchy and energetic, crammed full of songs that any of the band's pop-punk contemporaries would be only too happy to include on their latest albums»
Watching Fuck Buttons live raises so many questions, that you’re still scratching your head as the final synth note wavers and dissolves into the air. What do you want from a gig? Is the music enough, or should the live ‘show’ entertain? Can electronic instruments replace a live band? On and on and on, questions piling on top of each other»
Charlottefield's second LP is a restless and urgent collection of songs that will keep you permanently on your toes. It doesn’t overdo the twists and turns, and it's not been over-polished. What it is: thrilling»
Minus The Bear make fabulous records that demand clarity in a PA system, so it’s deeply frustrating that they’re playing in the unapologetic of sound Astoria 2»
As catchy as moments on Cobra Starship’s second album are, it's a hollow affair, packed with cynical pop hooks that have been polished until they shine like Paris Hilton’s lip-gloss»
A chaotic sprawl of hardcore riffs infused with punk fury and pace, The Politics Of Crruelty positively drips with sweat, sex and violence.»
A slot supporting pink-haired transvestite and glam-rocker Jeffree Star is hardly the perfect billing for Reading's Kill The Arcade, but a band's got to start somewhere»
Going To Where The Tea Trees Are won’t give you an energy boost, but it might just smooth away the worry lines. In Peter von Poehl’s world, everything feels under control»
