
Look, most bands put a song out to let you know new things are coming, but not 2nd Grade. The power poppers from Philadelphia have chucked THREE whole songs at our ears and mercifully, they’re all really fun and filled with skuzzy pop hooks and jangly guitars. The revival of power pop is very welcome

Today is John Lennon’s birthday – he would have been 84 – and to celebrate this, we’ve been treated to something rather surprising. While a lot of repackaged music from musicians can feel a little exploitative at times, churning out old stuff without much new going on, that’s not the case with this latest Lennon

The excellent GULP are having a party for the 8th instalment of their broadsheet counter-culture magazine, which features all the wonderful words, tidbits, diatribes and cool design we’ve come to expect from them now. The issue drops on Friday 11th October and you can get down in person at The New Cross in Manchester’s Northern

If you know Tim Heidecker, he takes having a laugh pretty seriously and as well as being a fine comedian, writer, podcaster and musician, he’s also willing to put his money where his talented mouth is. Tim, along with Eric Wareheim and Dave Kneebone founded Abso Lutely Productions which gave us ‘Tim and Eric Awesome

You;l know Lauren Mayberry from the ace Chvrches, but she’s had some really cool solo stuff out and there’s a new one for you called ‘Something In The Air’, which is coming out ahead of the new LP ‘Vicious Creature’. The press release says the album is about “sexuality and empowerment from a profoundly personal

The Horrors are back with a new line-up and after some genuinely great neon coloured synthy bits, they’re back to their gothic roots with a new track called ‘The Silence That Remains’. Of course, there’ll be an album and tour too. You can find dates yourself, but the LP is called ‘Night Life’. So what’s this

Good hardcore will have you sat in your pants at home, imagining running headlong into a crowd of people, limbs flailing around wildly and emerging from the pit with a tooth missing and wanting to go back for. Regardless of whether you’re the kind of person who does that or not, the new Punitive Damage

There was a collective feeling that, in the period that was post-girl group, that while the solo singers and artists were all well and good, we were in the mood for a new pop group of some kind. We’ve seen a huge amount of impressive R&B solo stars and soul-adjacent singers, but when you’re listening…

The lovely folks of Saint Etienne have announced details of a new LP called ‘The Night’ and there’s a new song which is borderline ambient called ‘Half Light’ to listen to – it’s genuinely one of the loveliest things you’ll hear all year. The album will land December 13th and is the 12th from the group.…

Kelly Lee Owens has been doing great things lately, and her new LP ‘Dreamstate’ is something that you should absolutely have in rotation. Mixing synthpop with house and tech, she’s collaborated with some big hitters (Daniel Avery, Chemical Brothers, Bjork to name just three) and her own work is genuinely excellent. Have you heard ‘Higher’ yet?…

It is Friday, so let’s have a bop. Jessie Ware has teamed with Salute (normally spelled lower case, but it looked weird in a sentence) for a clubby shuffler, which is just the ticket to send us into the weekend, right? Ware teamed up with the Manchester knob-twiddler and says: “I’ve been a fan of…
THERE’S NO MONEY IN THIS GAME ANYMORE, BUT IF YOU WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR THE POP CORPS, YOU ARE WELCOME TO GET IN TOUCH. HAPPY HUNTING.
POP CULTURE IS WORTH TALKING ABOUT.
CONTACT: HOWDYPOPCORPSATGMAILDOTCOM