Articles
sonnypike has written the following articles:
Rival Schools - Pedals
Pedals feels dated, preserved in the clinical amber of Pro Tools-centric production that was so prevalent when Rival Schools were last on the scene.»
Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil
If familiarity breeds contempt, regularity breeds complacency, and Deerhoof’s prodigiously consistent output should not overshadow how precious they are. »
The Thermals - Personal Life
An album which doesn’t lack for ideas, but will struggle to hold your attention. »
Stereophonics - Word Gets Around/Performance and Cocktails (Super Deluxe Editions)
With hindsight we can contextualise Stereophonics properly as an adept and energetic rock band that were strangely apart from their time. »
The Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years
There’s a warmth and tenderness running 1,000 Years which wasn’t often allowed to surface within Sleater-Kinney.»
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Despite the aimlessness of much of FRR’s second half, nailing it is what BSS do brilliantly. »
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
After the misfire of Living With The Living this is a content, relaxed record with nothing to prove. Ted Leo is a man un-fussily playing to his strengths. »
Lali Puna - Our Inventions
The major problem is a lack of drive, an urgency deficiency, no one element or song taking the album by the scruff of the neck. »
To Rococo Rot - Speculation
Speculation is a masterful lesson in elegance and how to blend minimalism with majesty. »
Roll Deep - Street Anthems
Albums never meant much to grime. It's barely even a song-centric genre, with its usual emphasis on bars or catchphrases of just a»
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Grandeur suits Biffy Clyro, and their overblown songs manage to tug effectively on heartstrings despite their foibles. »
Sonic Youth, Hush Arbors at Kentish Town Forum, Camden Town, Fri 23 Oct
Sonic Youth have unequivocally earned the right to do whatever they want. Still, do they HAVE to be so resolutely fixated on their most recent material when playing live?»
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young
Unfortunately rather than evoking the thrill of Eighties experimentation, Phrazes For The Young smacks of a 1982 Tomorrow's World vision of The Future. »
The Cribs - Ignore The Ignorant
They’re now stuck in a tricky hinterland between the teen thrills of scuzzy guitars and a sort of faux-rebel music for middle managers’ commutes. There’s a constant cloak of restraint on Ignore The Ignorant and that’s patently not a positive thing for a band like The Cribs. It’s all a bit tasteful. »
Reuben - We Should Have Gone To University
Reuben liked a whinge. Despite their obvious affability and a smattering of fanatical support, few bands have bemoaned their lack »
The XX - XX
Striving for mood is futile. If your intentions are in any way transparent, you’re going to fail. Contrive downbeat miserablism in»
Clark - Totems Flare
Some musicians are in it for the long haul. Their art pours out of them via cathartic necessity rather than any obligation or ulte»
Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose
I Had The Blues... totally lacks bile, humour, invention, or adrenaline. Its creators have scarcely hit 20. What gives? This is duvet music, offering vague comfort but impossible to feel any excitement for. »
Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another
It’s all about control for Andy Falkous. Rage is the driving force behind his music, and as leader of Future Of The Left and mclus»