Pop Rock GENRE ARCHIVES
Real Friends – ‘Torn In Two’ [review]
When I first heard of Real Friends I was fresh to pop punk. I liked All Time Low, As It Is, Green Day and My Chemical Romance. I found their first two albums to be too brash and bordering on unlistenable. By the time Composure dropped I’d been to Slam Dunk Festival and, though I still believe their first two records to be poor, that third album really made me fall for them. ‘Stand Steady; is still their best song.
The Spill Canvas – Conduit
The Spill Canvas have made a comeback into what is a very different music world, but new album Conduit sounds like they don’t give a damn.
Lonely The Brave ‘The Hope List’ review
Lonely The Brave’s new record The Hope List is a very pleasing listen, acting as my introduction to a very talented outfit at a perfect point; the band are reborn with new vocalist Jack Bennett and a new sense of drive and direction.
HOLYGOOD- Killing Giants
London based HOLYGOOD (formerly Light You Up) have their first EP coming and it promises to be good. Not only have members of the band toured with the likes of Don Broco, Pvris and State Champs but they spent 2019 touring with Busted. The EP, titled Killing Giants, came out on January 22 and consists of three tracks.
Cheap Meat – ‘People Are The Worst’
There’s no doubt Cheap Meat can write fun, catchy songs you’d expect from the likes of Weezer and Bowling For Soup. Their new record, aptly titled People Are The Worst, exemplifies this brilliantly.
Young Culture: Self-Titled album review
With this brand new, self-titled full length, Young Culture have issued one of the most diverse and challenging records I’ve heard from the alt-rock scene in quite some time.
Hands Like Houses – Hands Like Houses
If a band changes their sound, it’s always called “evolving”. However, evolution is a species adapting to its surroundings and becoming better at surviving. What do we call it when a band changes and the quality has regressed?
Sleeping With Sirens – How It Feels To Be Lost (Deluxe) review
I had the pleasure of reviewing Sleeping With Sirens latest outing How It Feels To Be Lost before it dropped last year. Now I have the pleasure of reviewing the deluxe edition, which affords me the opportunity to look at the album retrospectively.
Neck Deep ‘All Distortions Are Intentional’ review
If All Time Low’s Nothing Personal got criticism for being too pop and not punk enough, All Distortions Are Intentional should definitely get the same treatment.
Creeper – Sex, Death & The Infinite Void
In their first 5 years as a band, Creeper crafted the perfect path, releasing an EP each year for three years, touring relentlessly and then putting out their debut album Eternity In Your Arms. It felt like they were never far away from our speakers and stages and that enabled them to grow hugely in that time. Oh yeah, and the outstanding goth-punk-opera rock songs helped a bit too. Then on 1st November 2018 they played their final show of the tour and announced the end. Then there followed a year of radio silence. Anyone familiar with David Bowie would recognize this as the shedding of a skin, the entry to the cocoon, and, exactly one year after that fateful show, they reappeared with a single and shortly followed it up with the announcement of Sex, Death & The Infinite Void. Now, following a lengthy delay due to COVID-19, the release of one of the most hotly anticipated albums in recent years in upon us.
Delain – Apocalypse & Chill
On 7th February Dutch outfit Delain release 16 track record, Apocalypse & Chill. Not only is it the name of the record but a good bit of advice too. Anyway, Delain are, Within Tempation Martijn Westerholt on keys, vocalist Charlotte Wessels, guitarist Timo Somers, bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije and Joey Marin de Boer on drums.
Halestorm, In This Moment and New Years Day @ Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
To see Halestorm announcing a UK arena tour just a year after playing much smaller venues was a shock, and it meant they’d for sure have to be bringing some heavy hitters with them. These came in the form of In This Moment and New Years Day, who have both commanded a mass following for many years, but also bring something much different to the table both musically and in the performance of said music.
Album Review: Bellevue Days – It Can’t Possibly Go Wrong Ever
Croydon rockers "Bellevue Days" released their long-awaited debut album, It Can't Possibly Go Wrong Ever on the 22nd November 2019, just in time for Christmas.
Junior ‘Beautiful Life’ album review
Junior have spent two years writing 'Beautiful Life', recording it across three studios, with the simple goal of pushing out the boat both with their own sound, and with the messages they can get out in their songs. They work long and then work hard, and it's safe to say that they've proved they're not just another pop punk band.
Slam Dunk 2019 Awards – Leeds
We bring you another festival awards from Slam Dunk!