ALBUMS REVIEWS
Nancy Elizabeth - 'Dancing'
Singer-songwriter Nancy Elizabeth may sing about being " flat broke Simon Jay Catling
Pure X - 'Crawling Up The Stairs'
It's rare to hear a songwriter as open as Nate Grace is on 'Crawling Up The Stairs'. Texan trio Pure X's second album doesn't so much invite you in for a chat as sit you down and stare you in the eye until things get uncomfortable. 'Written In The...
Majical Cloudz - 'Impersonator'
Montreal's Majical Cloudz sound like hookah-smoking hippies, but their second album is focused and weighty, not spaced out. Matthew Otto keeps the production spooky, surrounding Devon Welsh with minimal drones and ghostly backing vocals, which...
John Murry - 'The Graceless Age'
This Tupelo, Mississippi singer-songwriter may only just be making his debut, but he doesn’t give the impression of being green – opening track ‘The Ballad Of The Pajama Kid’ sounds like a grizzled blues band playing ‘Knocking On...
Boats - 'A Fairway Full Of Miners'
Mat Klachefsky sings like a girl. If you can warm to his yelping there’s plenty to enjoy on Winnipeg indie-poppers Boats’ third record: homespun takes on the solemn twinkles of early Arcade Fire; keyboards and vocal harmonies stolen from the...
Scout Niblett - 'It's Up To Emma'
Bearded guitar shop employees would no doubt scoff at Scout Niblett’s ‘technique’. Granted, her guitar/vocal/highly intermittent drumming approach is sparse, but deliberately so: if anyone tries to call this ‘lo-fi’ or ‘outsider...
Dirty Beaches - 'Drifters / Love Is The Devil'
Vancouver-based Alex Zhang Hungtai has focused on the cinematic side of his Dirty Beaches project on this double album. First half ‘Drifters’ is action packed. ‘I Dream In Neon’ is a dangerous-sounding minimal take on glam-rock with...
Har Mar Superstar - 'Bye Bye 17'
Har Mar Superstar was a man for the early to mid ’00s, when his single-entendre R&B earned him a fleeting notoriety, somewhere between electroclash provocateur and indie-rock semi-celebrity. His fifth album, however, is worth a listen. ‘Bye...
Charlie Boyer And The Voyeurs - 'Clarietta'
Charlie Boyer And The Voyeurs released their debut single ‘I Watch You’ last October. All grinding guitars, rolling organ and frantic drumming, it’s as exciting a three-minute record as you’ll have heard all last year. Guitar music dead?...
Tribes - 'Wish To Scream'
The first seeds of doubt come within 0.5 seconds. Before Tribes even play a note of opener ‘Dancehall’, we hear singer Johnny Lloyd’s deflated intonation. “Right,” he sighs, as if psyching himself up for another day of graft down the...
