Life is a highway, and Kris Barras Band are picking up speed along its twists and turns. The MMA fighter-turned-bluesman has taken a nod from tour buddies Black Stone Cherry and gone all in on the southern rock for their fifth outing. According to the frontman, “‘Halo Effect’ still keeps the essence of what Kris Barras Band are; big riffs and even bigger choruses. It’s just that, this time, we’ve turned everything up to 11 and beefed it up!” While this is a cracking album for fans of classic rock, especially of the flavour that Those Goddamn Crows cook up, this also marks the point at which Kr ..read more

Getting noticed isn’t easy. If your music speaks for itself but if no one hears it, what do you do? Scottish alt-rockers Dead Pony had this exact problem. After releasing a series of EPs, they felt they were getting nowhere, that their career had stalled and making music was, in fact, like flogging their namesake. So they reconsidered, made something uniquely theirs and gave it a title that sounds like a dare, so here are five reasons why you shouldn’t ‘Ignore This’. Firstly, this isn’t a rerun. It’s a reinterpretation of their core sound. High-energy and upbeat, it’s alt rock but here they’ve ..read more

You can’t seriously call your band Fortune Teller and title your first EP ‘Premonitions’ without expecting an avalanche of clairvoyance jokes, can you? Luckily, you don’t have to reach for a crystal ball to see big things in this pop-punk band’s future. They aren’t relying on prophecy, they’re being proactive. Despite their social media feeds vying for your attention, until now there’s been no substance to divine from, so this five-track EP sets the standard. Hailing from a former coal-mining area of Glamorgan, it’s not hard to see why Fortune Teller wanted to escape. Pop-punk is a genre ..read more

While She Sleeps have come racing out of the stalls with ‘SELF HELL’, their sixth studio album to date. An amalgamation of various music genres, from their delicious brand of metal to hardcore to even a more synth rock side, this promises to be a strong offering from these Sheffield-based powerhouses. ‘PEACE OF MIND’ opens this album with a huge punch of power, before segueing into ‘LEAVE ME ALONE’. Bruising guitar work opens this absolute powerhouse of a song – it simply brims with pure, unadulterated rage. Electronic undertones are punctuated with war cries of, “Leave me the fuck alone!” It ..read more

Every day your newsfeeds are full of Tech-bros telling you A.I. music is the future, but they’re wrong. Music doesn’t have a simple recipe. You can’t tweak the ingredients to make it tastier. It’s not supposed to be easily digestible. It’s not supposed to be bland. It’s supposed to be an idea carefully expressed. It’s supposed to make you feel something. USA nails understand that art takes many forms. It’s thought-provoking, personal, and stirs something in your soul. If A.I. output music like their new album ‘Feel Worse’ you’d think it was broken. Any band that names themselves after a Blood ..read more

As the great philosopher Ye once said before he jumped off the deep end of acceptability, ‘that, that, that, that don’t kill me can only make me stronger’. His statement could absolutely be Greywind’s mantra. Irish emo siblings Steph and Paul O’Sullivan simultaneously faced huge amounts of both harsh criticism and critical praise when they released their debut, ‘Afterthoughts’, back in 2017. The dark days of the pandemic hit them hard, and they pledged not to release a second of new music until they’d got the rights to their album back under their control. With the world now back to something ..read more

If you’re connected to music in any way, either a performer, behind the scenes industry member or just a devoted fan, the pandemic sucked. The world completely stopped, recording processes were halted, touring plans dissolved, any hype or trajectory plateaued. For the fans, it was a frustratingly long waiting game, sat twiddling our thumbs waiting for a slither of hope. For the artists, it was excruciating, especially those that had a wealth of inspiration and aspiration ripped from them. Gouge Away is one of those artists, and ‘Deep Sage’ is their third long awaited record that very nearly ne ..read more

As legendary punk rock band NOFX wind up their time on this planet after 40 years, Fat Mike and co. have announced two very special London shows at O2 Academy Brixton on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 June 2024. These dates will see the band play three different albums each night, and form part of their final, farewell tour dates – where they’ll perform at the iconic London venue, two decades since their very first appearance there. On Tuesday 11 June, the band will perform ‘Punk In Drublic’, ‘Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing’ and ‘Pump Up’, with support from Descendents, Codefendants, Pulley and Last ..read more

There is so much to love about Kid Kapichi’s latest outing. The Hastings punks’ third album, ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’ is a riotous snapshot of where they stand in the world today, and by the end of it you feel like you know them. They’re your mates you meet at Wetherspoons, mouthy and charismatic, hiding their razor-sharp intelligence under a top coat of blunt sarcasm and anecdotes that start with “remember that time when…” In the firing line this time: the police force, Brexit, hustle culture and, err, the nineties.  The advance single drops are some of the strongest tracks on the ..read more

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