Reviews

Flamboyant art-rock trio Palaye Royale have ramped up the musical theatrics for their long awaited third studio album, 'The Bastards'. As far as record release cycles go, The Bastards era by comparison to its counterparts, 'Boom Boom Room (Side A)' and 'Boom Boom Room (Side B)', has been a challenging campaign so far. From tackling troubles with UK venues, to facing the cancellation of the UK/EU run as a result of the current COVID-19 outbreak, overall it’s been a turbulent time in the run up to 29th May. However with successful pop-up shops, some Palaye in the parks and several shows under the belt, the band have defeated these difficulties, as Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig and Emerson Barrett of Palaye Royale have produced an adrenaline fuelled rock n’ roll record with 'The Bastards'. 

Your favourite punk uncle Jeff Rosenstock has added a surprise release to a lockdown full of surprises, but is 'NO DREAM' what we all need to brighten up the solitude?

In the decade since their debut album, Caligula’s Horse have proved themselves time and again to be a force to be reckoned with on the Australian prog-metal scene, and indeed, the world. This latest offering, 'Rise Radiant', sees them master their sound, step back, and reap the rewards of their labour.

SURPRISE! Can’t Swim have released a secret EP, however it's no surprise that these revisits are excellent. As far as lockdown projects go, this is one of the most imaginative efforts and shows the technical prowess of Can’t Swim as musicians.

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. 

While far from being an objectively bad album, 'Afterburner' ends up suffering from some less than memorable songs, which hinder this otherwise great, and quite experimental, ninth Dance Gavin Dance record.

Trivium’s ninth, (yes, really) album finds itself in a very interesting position. 'The Sin and The Sentence' was well received, and was accompanied with a monstrous touring cycle backed up by the likes of Code Orange, Power Trip and Venom Prison including an utterly triumphant Brixton Academy show. The question is this: will 'What The Dead Men Say' keep the momentum moving forward rather than careering backwards?

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'.

Many bands are trying their hand at creating pop-punk music, and Project Revise have thrown their effort into the mix with the release of their latest EP 'Songs From The Shed'. The five-track EP follows the well-rehearsed formula, but does it score top marks?

The fact that producer Shooter Jennings – son of country music legend Waylon Jennings - gets as much, if not more, attention than Jake Smith for his involvement in The White Buffalo’s sixth full length album, 'On the Widow’s Walk', is a real shame. The album, while not perfect, is an enjoyable slice of Americana that deserves repeated listens and features a couple of tracks that will become live staples.