Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. The gorgeous, vast landscapes of Naboo, the expansive, endless wastes of Tatooine, the solemn stillness of the Jedi temple; it’s fair to say I have watched Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, dozens of times in my life and will watch it many more times in the future. Indeed, there are few blockbuster films so celebrated and vilified at the same time, so polarising and dividing, with no Star Wars film bearing quite so much expectation. With The Phantom Menace celebrating 25 years this May with a return to cinemas, once mo ..read more

Indie rock icons GROUPLOVE have released a deluxe version of their album ‘I Want It All Right Now,’ featuring six new tracks. GROUPLOVE have evolved, offering up a body of work built on a raw but incandescent sound that vocalist/keyboardist Hannah Hooper refers to as “resistance pop.” On the new songs they are channelling their ecstatic energy into the deepest tensions of the human psyche, all while playing with the contradictions and complications of existing.   Vocalist/guitarist Christian Zucconi comments on the standout track ‘Can You Feel My Love. “Can you feel my love? It’s a questi ..read more

Black Country duo Big Special sit down with Archie Jackson to discuss their debut album ‘Post Industrial Hometown Blues’ ahead of its release on 10th of May. Vocalist, Joe Hicklin and drummer Callum Moloney, talk on the vulnerability and rawness shared throughout the album as they open up on the recording, producing and the effort that went into crafting their post-punk, poetry driven debut. So, what can we expect from your first album release? Joe Hicklin [JH] – It’s been a long time coming! We started writing it in lockdown, and pretty much been at it since then, so we’re happy to be gettin ..read more

The band marked the release with a new single, ‘Marionettes.’ Brighton-based post-metal band El Moono have just released their debut album ‘The Waking Sun.’  The LP follows up on the success of their previous EP, ‘Temple Corrupted’, which received rave reviews from a number of prominent publications, including Metal Hammer, Kerrang!, and Guitar World. To mark the release of the new record, the band have also shared their new single, ‘Marionettes.’ Chatting about the track, the band addressed the lyrics’ prominent themes of control. “[it’s] about being someone’s puppet, understanding ..read more

‘A Shared Sense Of Purpose’ is Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan’s new single. A Vince Clarke remix is also out now. This drop is ahead of their upcoming, fifth album ‘Your Community Hub,’ out May 24 via Castles In Space. Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan is the one-man retro-futurist electronic project of Gordon Chapman-Fox. The new single is out now on all digital platforms, as well as limited edition 7” and 12” vinyl formats. These all include an elegiac remix by Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure legend Vince Clarke. Gordon comments on Vince Clarke’s work, “He’s been a d ..read more

The album has already received rave pre-release reviews from critics. Photo credit: Jared Leibowitz Today, Kentucky-based hardcore band Knocked Loose have released their brand new, “savagely aggressive” album, ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To.’ The LP comes five years after their previous effort, ‘A Different Shade of Blue.’ Pre-release reviews for the album have been exceptionally positive. The Guardian gave it a perfect score, writing, “Being crushed underneath this album is one of the great musical experiences of the year.” The review from Kerrang was similarly glowing, asserting t ..read more

My name’s Izzy Hayden and I’ve been a huge music fan my whole life. Not just to the normal level but to the extreme. If I go a whole day without listening to any music, I feel like somethings wrong and I find it hard to sleep. Its hard for anybody to pick their favourite bands but I love loads so its especially difficult. Despite that, I’ve managed to decide on my top 10 bands/artists of all time… Covering so many genres and moods, its impossible to put The 1975 into a category. Some of my favourite songs of all time are their guitar riff heavy tracks like ‘Sex’, ‘Robbers’, ‘Milk’ and ‘Lostmyh ..read more

Back in December, I saw Yorkshire based pop-punk band Mr. Showdown opening up for Stu Blenkhorn at his album release party. Though I only managed to catch 15 minutes or so, I was thoroughly impressed. They had lots of energy, they rocked hard, and it was overall a lot of fun. Originally, I was planning to interview Stu here, but he told me that he didn’t really have anything “interview-worthy” to talk about. However, he did flair up that Mr. Showdown had some very interesting stuff coming down the pipeline, and suggested it was worth getting an interview. I couldn’t have agreed more. So, natu ..read more

Marisa And The Moths are grungy rockers who have released a video for their new single ‘Borderline.’ The track can be found on their second album ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ which is out now! On the video, frontperson Marisa comments, “The story in this video is a nostalgic look back at myself as a young child, and those feelings of being an outcast and not fitting in, and how that started to change through the process of me discovering music and alternative culture. I imagined how proud that younger version of myself would be if she could see me now, embracing who I am and fronting a band, and do ..read more

Today, Manchester alt-punk band The Empty Page have dropped their new album ‘Imploding’, via their own Vociferous Records. Due to having to battle ill health, a global pandemic and general life stuff, this is their first album since their debut ‘Unfolding’ in 2016. To celebrate its release, they have unleashed a new single with a video called ‘I’m A White Hot Blade (Witches Are Wicked)’. The video for the track was shot (by Camille Alexander) at Ember Ironworks in Skipton, where people can actually go and make a knife in the same way they would have done in decades past.   Lead singer Kel ..read more