Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Two of the likeliest lads from Manchester team up for the first day release of their new collaborative project. And its something of a full circle moment, with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher previously citing Stone Roses hero John Squire in a list of formative teenage musical inspirations, who, in turn, first encountered the former when both bands were working the same studio, respectively recording Definitely Maybe and The Second Coming. The pair first shared honours three years after that, co-writing 'Love Me & Leave Me' for Squire's relatively short-lived outfit, The Seahorses, in 1997. Skip forward to 2022 and Squire joined the Gallaghers et al on stage at Knebworth, reprising his appearances for renditions of 'Champagne Supernova' at the band's 1996 shows, spurring the idea to do something together again. Here's the result - and it's precisely what the duo should sound like together.

Review: The legendary James Taylor Quartet will soon return with a much anticipated new full length but before that they offer a glimpse not what to expect from it with new single 'Hung Up On You.' Taylor himself has explained that 'Hung Up On You' was left over from a writing session from his other band The Prisoners and that it was "interesting to see how my JTQ guys, usually funk players, took to this approach." It channels the gritty punk and new wave essence of Medway to deliver a fast-paced rock'n'roll anthem that passionately rants about an enduring, unreciprocated love.

Review: The fantastic James Taylor Quartet delivers a punk-infused track with a powerhouse chorus here that channels the energy of Taylor's time with The Prisoners when supporting The Ramones during their 1986 UK tour. Of that time he has said The Ramones were "incredible-watching their three-hour sets every night at 21 had a huge impact on me. It took until I was 60 to find a way to act on that inspiration." Though The James Taylor Quartet has always had a punky rock 'n' roll vibe in their live shows, this feels fresh and like a new discovery, despite the influence always being present on some level.

Review: Warner has worked on a run of Joy Division reissues this month and after their most famous "Love Will Tear Us Apart" comes "Transmission" which is not far behind. A 2020 Digital Remaster reboots the sounds but retains the grit and urgency of the original, which is a surging post-punk anthem filled with angst but also a sense of vulnerability and melancholy that makes it so much more enduring. "Novelty" on the flip has a broken beat line, gauzy guitar riffs and is underpinned by an excellent insistent baseline that never lets up.

Review: It's hard to untangle this hopelessly sad anthem from the equally tragic death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, but if we had to put a bet on it we'd say it would still be hailed as the masterpiece it is now without those unfortunate events. Coming, as it did, after the two albums from the band, it's the perfect half way house between their powerful, guitar-powered sound and the futuristic synthesiser waves that informed New Order not long after. Plus, it's a heartbreakingly brilliant song with lyrics that have spoken to subsequent generations without fail.

Review: It's the debut EP from Speedy Wunderground's visceral funk-punk-rock-garage experimenter Joyeria. First unveiled digitally in October 2022, with such depth on the studio work it's safe to say picking up a vinyl copy is more than recommended, end product having benefited from the deft hands of Dan Carey. For those less familiar, he's also assisted Fontaines DC, Kae Tempest, and Wet Leg on production.
Musically, 'FIM' is like entering a parallel universe of sorts. '9 To 5' is a dance floor filling electro-indie stomper that bores holes to (through?) the mind, 'Colour Film' summons the spirit of Lou Reed and introduces him to Ringo Deathstarr, maybe, 'Performance Review' takes us to a place of grit and societal frustrations, guitars to back that up, 'Decisions' is a stunning piano piece with abstract samples.

Review: There's almost no point writing about this one - an album that already has legions of disciples waiting to embrace it, with pretty much everyone who knows the names Liam Gallagher and John Squire guaranteed to be interested in what their self-titled LP is about. More so, without even hitting play we all kind of know what it's about, with two of the biggest names to come out of Manchester's 1990s indie rock breeding ground coming together for a record that sounds every bit the sum of its parts. Squire's incredible guitar playing - a centrepiece of The Stone Roses' sound - is incredible as ever, sending riffs soaring over the dilapidated rooftops of North West England and out into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, Gallagher's elongated but gruff vocal style remains steadfast across ten anthems-in-the-making. Powerhouse stuff, but like we said, nobody expected less.

Review: New wave icons The Jam performed Boston in what would become their final year as a group. The set was part of their Trans-Global Express tour, which was put together to promote their penultimate studio album The Gift. The band were at the peak of their powers at this point having been on the road for months. The setlist is a career-spanning joy with some of their most-loved numbers, including 'That's Entertainment', 'Pretty Green' and 'Carnation'. Of the material from The Gift, the single 'A Town Called Malice' is an era-defining banger that can't help but induce a giddy sense of joy and the title-track is full of snarl and bite and a perfectly rowdy way to close the set. The shade of green that this vinyl has is perfect - you wouldn't want it looking any other way.

Review: Studio album number three from mighty Manchester icons James could not come soon enough back in 1990. In the run up to the grand unveiling, we'd had outright anthem 'Sit Down' released as a single during summer 1989, a rousing bombshell of a track that still kicks today, and at the time suggested something very special was waiting in the wings for fans, and legions of new recruits the band were garnering.

When Gold Mother finally landed the reception was understandable - not least when we look back at the group's storied career to date. As a record, this might be the highest concentration of James' best songs you'll find anywhere, with tracks like 'Come Home' and 'How Was It For You' helping secure a place among the finest long players of the 1990s.

Review: It's been a pity to witness Jane's Addiction's onstage bust-up in 2024 just because they're one of the best American rock bands ever and we wish they'd settle their differences. But let's rewind to a more settled chapter in their existence. Formed in 1985, they were the hottest band in Los Angeles at that time and they bucked the trend by releasing a live album as their debut album. Originally released via the indie label Triple X in 1987, it was recorded at Roxy Theatre, with overdubs added at a studio later. Many of the songs on here would end up re-recorded once the band landed their major record deal. But there's a charm and magic to hearing things a little less polished and tapping into a band on the cusp of greatness. Standouts include the melodic classic 'Jane Says' and the Van Halen-esque lead guitar epic 'Pigs In Zen'. Both were later re-recorded and released on their acclaimed Nothing's Shocking album. Meanwhile, their cover of the Stones' 'Sympathy For The Devil' (re-titled 'Sympathy') shows off the band's penchant for Zeppelin-esque wig-outs and is an indicator of the sheer voodoo power that Dave Navarrow (guitar) and Perry Farrell (vocals) conjured on stage together. If only they can work things out soon.

Review: English new wave band Japan put out a small handful of albums in the late 70s and early 80s and managed to make an indelible mark with them. Exorcising Ghosts is a 1984 compilation that now gets reissued as a half-speed record. It was assembled in cahoots with lead singer David Sylvian after the band disbanded and features three recordings from the early-era work on Hansa Records. But mostly it draws on music from their two studio albums on Virgin Records, namely Gentlemen Take Polaroids in 1980 and Tin Drum in 1981. The extended and slightly varied versions make this a real must for fans.

Review: Michelle Zauner's music is lovely as ever on this, her fourth Japanese Breakfast album. Again, it's a thing of exciting beauty and big emotions, soft sounds and melancholic melodies. Harmonies that wrap us in thoughts of pure romance and falling head over heels, these sepia hued images cast from the memory bank of treasured moments made painful, then reflective and warming, by the passing of time. Clearly part of the loved and lost club, Zauner's songs almost feel effortless in their ability to invoke such tangible and raw feelings without really insisting on themselves. This is thoughtfulness with a capital T, set against a meandering backdrop of soft rock, indie balladry, and swooning string pop. As complex as it is easy to fathom - the unmistakable work of a human artist.

Review: Produced by Grammy winner Blake Mills, For Melancholy Brunettes sees Michelle Zauner move away from the bright energy of Jubilee to explore darker, more introspective themes. The album delves into the complex emotional landscape of melancholy, capturing the bittersweetness of desire and "the perilous pursuit of one's dreams." Reflecting on her transformative rise, which includes the success of Jubilee and Crying in H Mart, Zauner contemplates the dangers of longing and the consequences of unchecked ambition. The album's narrative unfolds through themes of temptation, regret and reflection and though that sounds heavy it culminates in a hopeful listen.

Review: When Jesus & Mary Chain reunited in 2007 there were tons of questions about what this would mean for their music, music in general, and the planet. Well, OK, maybe more their music. The notorious 1998 on-stage implosion between brothers William and Jim Reid was a culmination of tension between the siblings that afforded the band their inimitable conflict of sound, but also seemed to call definite time. It would be another decade before they attempted to work together again, with a show at Coachella, then another ten years passed while they figured out where from there. In the end, Damage & Joy was the answer, 2017's album, co-produced by Youth in a bid to bring in a potential mediator should things go sour. They didn't, and the record was well received - somewhere between old JAMC and a new era. Now we have Glasgow Eyes, an extension of that. Rather than born of conflict, tracks feel united in a common goal, synths rising to the fore above guitars, combative tones receding in favour of comfortable juxtapositions and contrasts.

Review: Whether you're a big Stereophonics fan or not, there are two fundamental truths. One - 'Local Boy In the Photograph' wonderfully encapsulates a period in our lives we will treasure forever, and remains a tune to this day. Two - Kelly Jones is one of the finest singers of his generation, capable of moving between melancholia and euphoria in equal measure, all with a whisky-raw delivery that positioned him as experienced veteran long before he'd even cracked a single crow's foot on those wise eyes. Inevitable Incredible is the latest proof he's still got it. Yes, this is very easy going stuff and aimed squarely at a kind of middle-soft-rock-folk-leaning-country-indie audience. But, also yes, everything here hits with real emotional resonance and the songwriting is superb. Tender, vulnerable, resolutely human, if this is what happens when Jones hauls up on a Norwegian island solo, and spends six days recording on his piano, we'd like that to happen more often.

Review: Jonsi's third studio album, Obsidian, is now available on vinyl for the first time, following its initial release alongside his installation at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in NYC. Co-produced and mixed by Paul Corley and Nathan Salon, Obsidian delves into darker themes compared to its predecessor, Shiver. The album features ten tracks with evocative titles inspired by ashen landscapes, taking listeners on a sensory journey through erupting flares. Jonsi's masterful layering of vocals over orchestral passages blurs the boundaries between senses, creating a profound and immersive narrative experience.

Review: Bright new Gen-Z pop star Jordana makes a noter bold statement of intent here on her Face The Wall LP. Her third album is all about "overcoming being overcome with emotion and anxiety" and the 10 tracks were produced by Cameron Hale and mixed by Miro Mackie. Stylistically it take sin plenty such as indie rock, pop punk jams, and some cool balladry. In it, the singer confronts all manner of issues from pandemic isolation and depression to breakups and veganism, as well as some personal relationship issues.

Review: What is left to be written about the debut Joy Division album that hasn't been written already? Well, not much except to say if you've never heard it, you must. This is the more raw of the two studio albums, powered mainly by the foundations laid down by bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. But although the rudimentary electronic experimentalism of its successor Closer are missing - with the possible exception of 'She's Lost Control' - Martin Hannett's production job creates an uneasy world of magical reverbs and echoes that lure in the listener. From its iconic, Peter Saville sleeve to classic songs like 'Shadowplay' and 'Interzone' - which started life as a cover of Nolan Porter's Northern Soul cult hit 'Keep On Keeping On' - this is the template that effectively launched a thousand bands, from indie and post punk to goth and beyond.

Review: In January 1980, Joy Division toured Europe as they prepared to enter the studio to record their second album Closer. This recording from Amsterdam's legendary hippy hangout Paradiso catches them right at those crucial musical crossroads, building on the success of the hulking rhythms of Unknown Pleasures and heading towards the proto-electronic influences that would shape that second album (and the even more seminal career of New Order beyond that). As well as pre-studio outings for Closer tracks like 'She's Lost Control', 'Atrocity Exhibition' and 'A Means To An End', there's also a relatively rare airing of what would become their sonic talisman, 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', alongside the - as ever - frighteningly heavy debut LP material.

Review: Dance pair Tom McFarland and Joshua Lloyd-Watson aka Jungle cut loose on this, their third and most evocative album to date. It is a record packed with the sort of good time grooves and wall to wall party tunes we all want to hear after such a dark 18 months or so. There are plenty of heart on sleeve tunes, hooky top lines and warm, soaring summer chords that are designed to be heard outdoors, on a massive festival sound system with thousands of people singing along next to you. Some slower, dubbed out rhythms provide a nice counter to stop things growing too saccharine, and overall it add up to a great listen.

Review: If you've ever fallen for the mythical Lewis album L'Amour, you'll probably get off on this. First thing's first, the two are very, very different records - Lewis' work is so soft and quiet at times it comes close to no longer existing, but the whole thing has this romantic, skin-on-skin by candlelight, whisper-in-ear quality to it that seems to go straight for the heart and make itself a home right there.

Junior Boys' Waiting Game isn't anything like L'Amour in terms of sounds, but that same sense of getting very close and very personal with what you're listening to, a record that's soon to be your lover, pervades everything here. Certainly more in the opening tracks, 'Night Walk''s warm, spring evening in Miami vibe, 'It Never Occurred To Me' and its strange, staccato use of vocoder'd lyrics and gliding refrains. Electro synth for the bedroom, no less.

Review: Just Mustard's second album is her first for Partisan Records. It is a coherent but widescreen exploration across 10 tracks that all add up to a great whole. Her magic vocals, scything guitars and brooding rock drums all make for intense and scintillant listening. Tracks like 'Seed' roll up and down on lumpy drums with gauzy guitar textures, while there is a more ethereal sound to 'Early' which floats up amongst the stars. 'In Shade' has a catchy post punk rhythm and 'Sore' is dense and caustic shoegaze style rock that drags you with it into a world of questions.

Review: What you see before you ranks among the most mythologised live albums (n)ever released. Like the title suggests, it was originally recorded in 1972 at Parisian rock institution Le Bataclan, a legendary venue which would later gain notoriety after a group of armed gunmen opened fire on a crowd in 2015, killing 90 people. But that grisly recent history belies its status as one of the most respected concert halls in the French capital, and this not-quite-Velvet Underground show has contributed to that legacy. Showcasing the stop-you-dead qualities of Nico's staggering (and unique) vocal timbre, the surreal, immersive qualities of the Cale and Reed's legendary art-rock tones, this time capsule had been bootlegged and bootlegged until 2004, when it finally got an official release. Now it's back.

Review: It could have all been so different when you think about it. One of the UK's most critically acclaimed, celebrated and mourned bands, Joy Division, were originally toying with the idea of calling themselves Stiff Kittens after first getting together. This then changed to Warsaw, after David Bowie's track, 'Warsawa', and it's under this guise they broke into the common conscious, supporting The Buzzcocks, Penetration and John Cooper Clarke at Electric Circus in 1977. Reviews from that show - by music journalist leg-ends Paul Morley and Ian Wood - would ignite the hype. A debut album was planned for RCA Records, 11 tracks that would go on to be known simply as The RCA Sessions. Here they are now, as originally intended, some of which eventually made it onto Joy Division records, others didn't, but all clearly showing musicians defining their sound and place in the scene.

Review: Music From Dreams is a label that never fails to live up to its name. Next to soundtrack your gentle passage from awake to whatever comes next is The Zenmenn and John Moods. The Zenmenn debuted on this label back in April 2021 with Entry The Zenmenn which showed off their beat-making credentials. Not much else is known about them and the same can be said of John Moods. What we do know is that they make superbly horizontal music together as is demonstrated here. These are lush instrumental tracks that lean on folk, soft and yacht rock to help you empty your mind of all woes.