
Everyone loves a bit of mellow, well-made, ’70s folk-rock. And if you don’t, that’s on you. Grow up. With that, it’s all well and good delving into the past and ferreting out forgotten gems – but what of the new bands carrying the torch? Well, let’s have a listen to Mapache. Mapache have announced a…

The BBC Archives have hit gold again, this time with a brilliant look back at a London pirate radio station back in 1982. You’ll hear killer reggae from those with radio shows made with pure love. Pre internet, pirate radio was vital because often, it was one of the only opportunities anyone got to hear…

One of the most underrated bands of the ’90s are Urusei Yatsura. They were noisy good fun and could deliver sugary sweet punk as well as delivering all manner of unholy noise on your ears. Hailing from Glasgow and with good hair, their gigs were chaos, with drumsticks used as blunt force to hit guitars…

Blur announced some massive Wembley gigs and that was that, right? Wrong. They have surprised everyone by announcing a new album! It’s called The Ballad of Darren and is out July 21 via Parlophone. Their first since ‘The Magic Whip’. And there’s a new song too, called ‘The Narcissist.’ Damon Albarn: “This is an aftershock record, reflection and…

Donald Trump’s use of ‘YMCA’ (and to a lesser degree, ‘Macho Man’) by the Village People has been a curious thing. For someone who is, and represents everything virulently homophobic and a whole other bunch of phobics in the US, it’s particularly strange that he’d plump for a song that is not only very camp,…

David Corio kickstarted his career fresh out of university, freelancing for the weeklies and music rags in 1978. While in London, he began to take portraits and going to shows, and in part, he focused on reggae musicians. He’s no slouch – Corio’s portraits find themselves in the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A, the National…

The other day, we wrote a long piece worrying about the notion that the new one from Liam Gallagher and John Squire being actually half decent. Well, the single is out now and, like most of these hand-wringing things, it might have all been a waste of time. It might not, mind. Have a listen…

The Lemon Twigs didn’t much around in 2024, getting a new song out at 1 second past midnight, and handily, it’s a good one! Following up from the ace ‘Everything Harmony’ LP, they’re pushing on with harmonies, jangles and power pop with a track called ‘My Golden Years’. Have a listen.

We all know Eurovision defies logic – that’s why we love it. Australia have been entering songs recently, which of course, meant that sniffy Suede fans who only take notice of pop music twice a year (to be ‘above’ Eurovision, and to complain about how much of it is on the Glastonbury coverage) were out…
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