
Many bands aim for Pet Sounds when they’re trying to make ambitious pop, but a lot of groups miss out on the pure, inventive, playful joy when they’re channelling Brian Wilson, Curt Boettcher & Co. There’s a shed pop, ramshackle feeling to when these things work best, like someone’s tripped over a box of classroom…

A Tory MP has attacked the whole of Drill music, because she thinks it is the reason that young people carry knives. Nickie Aiken says there’s a “direct link” and wants the government to look at record labels that release music that is found “celebrating gang culture.” At the House of Commons, the Cities of…

Never mind Tay Tay announcing a new LP – we can ignored that as everyone has already talked it to death already. We’re more interested in the imminent music from the mighty Kacey Musgraves. She’s been making a slow-melting psychedelic country music since her utterly fabulous ‘Golden Hour’ album (yes, that wasn’t her debut, but…

Look, we were all set to write and long love letter to Fonteyn’s utterly perfect LP ‘Trip The Light Fantastic’, even though it’s not a new release, because it really is one of the most wonderful records you’re likely to hear. The reason we were hesitating is purely selfish, and that was because we didn’t…

We’ve talked about our love for Dina Ögon at length before, and now there’s a new LP to talk about, and that’s the salve we needed to kick off 2024’s first new release review. Again, we find the band in groovy, sophisticated form, melting psychedelic soul, Balearic, dream pop, and something so uniquely their own,…

As the future of being a working musician looks increasingly bleak, collectively we need to work out a way of getting people paid. If we don’t, that means music will only be viable for people who have parents with blue links in their Wikipedia pages and the like. So, with micropayments and subscriptions becoming more…

There’s a new song from STRFKR (hey! That’s a naughty word hidden in there!) called ‘Under Water / In Air’ and it’s a very breezy, poppy bedroom indie song that sounds real nice on a Sunday morning. STRFKR’s Josh Hodges sez: “It was probably one of the most collaborative songs on the record. It started…

Lambrini Girls are one of the most popular grot punk bands around right now, and they have a new single out called ‘God’s Country’ which goes after the state of the place we call home, and while it’s about as subtle as a brick in the teeth, you have to admire them for not hiding…

Iron Maiden are funny aren’t they? They’re real ale metal. It’s all little England flirting with Satan rock ‘n’ roll. There’s a place for it, obviously, but did you know just how much lead singer Bruce Dickinson cares about asthma? Now, for the uninitiated, Brucie Baby is the kind of rock ‘n’ roller that a…

Warpaint are ace. They’re psychedelic and groovy and don’t make any bad records. To celebrate 20 years together, they’ve put out a new song called ‘Common Blue’ which is as wonderful as ever. This is classic Warpaint, if you’re wondering and being a bit of a drag. Sidenote: Warpaint have the best drummer on the planet…

Too often, when a musician in the current period of music takes on something that’s akin to ’90s indie rock or grunge, they forget one crucial thing – the melody. If you look at The Breeders and the songs of Kurt Cobain, a love of tunes and hooks is evident, so when someone disaffectedly hides…
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