Picture credit: Sheva Kafai Portents of red moons,flowers and cosmic symbols? Must be the new album from Death Valley Girls. The gals who once convinced Iggy Pop to do an Andy Warhol and eat a burger in their ‘Disaster’ video, are back, with a few changes to their winning formula, but it’s still recognisably them.Continue reading “Album Review: Death Valley Girls-Welcome To Earth”
Tag Archives: 2026
Bloc Party- Then and Now
Bloc Party’s debut ‘Silent Alarm’ is -bizarrely -twenty five years old this year. For me, it still holds up, because it has that sense of urgency. ‘Helicopter’ is a banger among bangers. And now, their new album, ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’ is out, and they are still worth listening to. They’ve weathered the storms,Continue reading “Bloc Party- Then and Now”
Boom! An Explosive Farewell to River City
Angus and bestie Boab (Scott Fletcher and Stephen Purdon) Top: Frank Gallagher as Lenny Murdoch. Bawbags, burrrds, dysfunctional families and gangsters: few TV soaps cut to the heart of Glasgow humanity like ‘River City’. But alas, it is no more, and last night’s episode was the final, after twenty four crazy years. A few spoilersContinue reading “Boom! An Explosive Farewell to River City”
Album Review: Arab Strap- Half-Told Tales
This new album, the ninth from the inimitable Falkirk duo, sees Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton on fire. It’s not often that a band gets a new lease of life later into their career, but then, they’ve always been one to buck trends. Few speak to the creeping malaise as accurately as The Strap. FromContinue reading “Album Review: Arab Strap- Half-Told Tales”
Album Review: Josh da Costa- New Wave Graveyard
“Welcome to the US, 80s, 90s”, Mark E Smith once chanted. We’re firmly entrenched in both decades in Los Angeles singer-songwriter and musician Josh da Costa’s rather charming debut solo album. Easy breezy jangle like ‘Proving Me Right’ and ‘Cordelia’ shimmer like cinematic Cadillacs on hazy highways, and ‘Skygirl’ and ‘Hospital Clown’ bounce like 90sContinue reading “Album Review: Josh da Costa- New Wave Graveyard”
Our Bodies Are Not Trends
The recent trend for mega-skinny bodies is really concerning to me. When I was a teen and up until my early thirties, I was slender, and have never been particularly overweight, until the last six years when I’ve been disabled. So it was horrible to see that, yet again, the twig look was starting toContinue reading “Our Bodies Are Not Trends”
Social Media Is The Latest Scapegoat
Sir Keir Starmer has followed Australia and today implemented a blanket ban on social media for anyone under the age of sixteen. A group of parents who had lost their children spearheaded the campaign. Whilst I obviously feel for the families who lost their children, social media is not the issue- there are many problemsContinue reading “Social Media Is The Latest Scapegoat”
Album Review : Horse Lords- Demand To Be Taken To Heaven Alive!
Originally from Baltimore and now based in Germany, Horse Lords cut an experimental swathe through the indie music scene. This new album sees them expand their sound even further. The title track is as though Battles got together with Steve Reich, and created alien funk. Blips and beeps build into looping percussion and vocals. It’sContinue reading “Album Review : Horse Lords- Demand To Be Taken To Heaven Alive!”
Mark E Smith : His Part In My Downfall
The audition had been bloody. Smith had various band members by the lapels, shaking them like human piñatas, waiting for ideas to just fall out. Smith kept screaming, for reasons best known to himself, “Peters and Lee!” A new musical detour for us to consider, no doubt. There had been dark mutterings in the ranksContinue reading “Mark E Smith : His Part In My Downfall”
Film Review : Billy Idol Should Be Dead
When I was a kid, Billy Idol epitomised the naughty boy we all fancied. He was always a bit cheeky, but we knew that. What we didn’t know was that he was also a heroin addict. Jonas Akerlund’s documentary about the former William Broad, who grew up in Bromley and reinvented himself as “punk” singerContinue reading “Film Review : Billy Idol Should Be Dead”
