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Stone Broken

Stone Broken

Revelation

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STONE BROKEN – REVELATION – ALBUM REVIEW

Some bands just have the knack for producing consistently top quality music within their chosen genre. They find their niche and they stick with it. Stone Broken are one such band who already have two solid radio friendly rock albums behind them.

Returning now with their third effort, ‘Revelation’, it is no surprise that they have produced another superb compilation of catchy straight-laced rock music.

The album launches straight into business with pre-release singles ‘Black Sunrise’, ‘The Devil You Know’ and ‘Revelation’. From there onwards there is no ease on the throttle as the band stick with what works.

WATCH ‘THE DEVIL YOU KNOW’ ON YOUTUBE
Stone Broken – ‘The Devil You Know’

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I’ve often considered Stone Broken from a musical standpoint to be the British version of Nickelback, just without the undue hatred! One criticism of the Canadians has always been their formulated approach to writing big rock hits.

Listening to ‘Revelation’, I guess you could level that accusation here at Stone Broken. This isn’t a diverse record by any stretch of the imagination, but in fairness it doesn’t need to be. There is unlimited choice of music to listen to these days, and acts are often criticised for deviating from their path.

With that said, this is a safe album from Stone Broken. They clearly know what their fans want, they clearly now what they are good at, and, hell, it works! ‘Revelation’ is a very good record which is packed full of catchy rockers that get your head banging and your foot tapping.

As the album concludes with ‘So Damn Easy’ and ‘Gimme Some More’; Stone Broken can sign off from another excellently crafted collection of big time rockers with a sense of pride. They may not be breaking any boundaries but they continue to break down your door with the sound of huge rock hits.

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Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines D.C.

Skinty Fia

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FONTAINES D.C. – SKINTY FIA – ALBUM REVIEW

Fontaines D.C. are an interesting enigma in many ways. Bursting out from the blossoming post-punk revival in 2018, the band are often shoehorned in with the other phenomenal acts that have emerged from that scene in recent years. They have however always felt different, special if you will.

The complexities of their musical charm intertwine with the thronging noise of the genre to create a sound of their own that harnesses the poetic prowess of vocalist Grian Chatten.

Following the success of debut album ‘Dogrel’, the group, like many of others, had their momentum derailed by the pandemic. Releasing sophomore record ‘A Hero’s Death’ mid-lockdown it’s hard to truly gauge the impact of the record.

One thing for certain is that the band aren’t hanging around to see, as they now release their third album in three years, ‘Skinty Fia’.

The album is instantly enthralling and recaptures some of the raw grit of ‘Dogrel’ whilst maintaining the polish of ‘A Hero’s Death’ to great juxtaposition. ‘Skinty Fia’ literally does feel like the child of it’s predecessors and delivers everything you’d want from a Fontaines D.C. album.

WATCH ‘I LOVE YOU’ ON YOUTUBE
Fontaines D.C. – ‘I Love You’

Listen to ‘Jackie Down the Line’ from Fontaines D.C. on our Spotify Hot List!

The driving guitar work cohesively complements the powerful rhythm section to provide that trademark framework from which Chatten is able to deliver his charismatic lyricism. This is perhaps best demonstrated on the stunning ‘I Love You’.

It’s difficult though to really pick out the standout moments on the album due to the sheer quality of the compilation. All ten tracks warrant their inclusion and join together as a singular masterpiece.

‘Skinty Fia’ is exactly the album that Fontaines D.C. needed to release at this point in time and will only cement their reputation and position in the upper reaches of the industry.

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Read our review of Fontaines D.C. live in Cambridge

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Jack White

Jack White

Fear Of The Dawn

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JACK WHITE – FEAR OF THE DAWN – ALBUM REVIEW

It’s new Jack White album time. What do you expect from a new Jack White album? The unexpected perhaps? One thing is for certain with this uniquely talented musician and that is that nothing certain.

White is one of those marmite, love them or hate them artists and even within his fans, some material will go down better than some others. You certainly can’t say that White isn’t interesting!

Starting as you normally do with albums – at the start – single, ‘Taking Me Back’ and the title-track ‘Fear Of The Dawn’ provide a rocking start to an album that is about to take us on a wild ride.

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Jack White – ‘Taking Me Back’

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Very soon the quirkiness of White shines through and his distinctive ability to meld the weird and the wonderful into cohesive songwriting takes over.

To use a good old fashioned musical analogy, ‘Fear Of The Dawn’ takes the listener on a rollercoaster ride. This truly is the Jack White magical mystery theme park at its finest, and listeners need to strap in for the ride.

There are parts that are pure joy, parts that you’ll grow to enjoy and other parts that you’ll accept as part of the ride, but wouldn’t miss if that weren’t there. To this extent this is a rather typical album from White; after all if you expect the unexpected then the unexpected naturally becomes the expected.

Next up, White is set to release a folk album, ‘Entering Heaven Alive’, on July 22nd. What can we expect from that release? Well, if it’s anything like ‘Fear Of The Dawn’, another piece of the incredible puzzle that is one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.

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Papa Roach

Papa Roach

Ego Trip

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PAPA ROACH – EGO TRIP – ALBUM REVIEW

Papa Roach have done a truly marvellous job over the years at staying relevant and not fading into nostalgic obscurity. Their sound always was adaptive and they have moved with the times over the thirty years since their initial inception. Wow now I feel old…

…But that’s actually the point here. As we listen to their latest (and eleventh!!) studio album, they don’t sound or feel “old”. You don’t simply sit and drift your mind back to those hedonistic days of Nu-Metal, although there is a plenty of that energy here.

As the album progresses you get big rock anthems, modern pop rock hits, rap metal and elements of all sorts of genres. It really is a smorgasbord of all the things that has fed into the Papa Roach machine over the years.

WATCH ‘STAND UP’ FROM PAPA ROACH ON YOUTUBE
Papa Roach – ‘Stand Up’

Realistically the band could rest on their laurels and milk their early albums for all they are worth. In the age of streaming figures the likes of ‘Last Resort’ and a handful of others are more than capable sustaining the band on the circuit.

It’s admirable then that the band has always pushed ahead, pushed boundaries and pushed themselves to further their legacy. ‘Ego Trip’ continues to do just that. Whereas some bands from the early 2000’s from all genres are doing themselves a disservice with their new outputs, this album only adds to what Papa Roach have achieved.

The album is easily as good as any of their albums from the past decade. The likes of singles ‘Kill The Noise’, ‘Swerve’, ‘Dying To Believe’ and ‘Cut The Line’ help to set a very high standard for an album that doesn’t have a bad track on it.

Listen to ‘Cut The Line’ on our ‘Hard & Heavy’ Playlist

This really is a band at the top of their game still, despite being nearly thirty years down the line. Relevance may be a debatable point, but the quality is there for all to see on ‘Ego Trip’.

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Read our review of ‘Unlimited Love’ from Red Hot Chili Peppers

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Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Unlimited Love

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RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – UNLIMITED LOVE – ALBUM REVIEW

Whilst many members have graced the Red Hot Chili Peppers over the past 40 years, there is no doubting the iconic line-up is Kiedis, Flea, Smith and Frusciante. So, the news that Frusciante was returning to the fold in 2019 was greeted with music excitement from their fanbase.

Sadly a pandemic related lack of touring and new music stifled some of that initial joy. There is no real wave of momentum now as the classic line-up release their first album together in 16 years.

Realistically the writing and release of ‘Unlimited Love’ is a thankless task for the band. Try to recapture their glory days and they are simply rehashing old ground, but try something different and rile fans excited by this reunion!

Listen to ‘Black Summer’ on our Spotify Hot List!

Pre-release singles ‘Black Summer’ and ‘Poster Child’ particularly showed that perhaps the band had shot for some middle ground in an attempt to please everybody. The obvious problem being that you can’t ever please everybody.

WATCH ‘POSTER CHILD’ ON YOUTUBE
Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Poster Child’

Clearly their creative juices have flown again with word of some 50 tracks being recorded during these sessions. 17 have made it on to this album, which makes for a runtime of nearly an hour and fifteen minutes.

Of course the band, and this line-up in particular have history of lengthy releases, but I can’t help but feel a shorter punchier release may have done them more favours; especially in todays age of short attention spans.

This kind of brings us back to the point of who the band are trying to please on ‘Unlimited Love’. Realistically and perhaps rightly it’s not a new audience, nor really any lapsed early fans! The answer instead may lie internally, as this feels like four old friends reconnecting and testing the waters.

As we stated at the start, this release would always be a thankless task, so perhaps it’s only right the band get to take the time to feel each other out again. Let’s face it for a group on the level of Red Hot Chili Peppers, anything they release will be a commercial success.

Artistically they’ve not rested on any laurels, or simply played it safe, but for a band famous for their experimentation, you have to hope they will stretch their legs a little further on their next release!

Still, ‘Unlimited Love’ likely does what it needs to do. It doesn’t recapture past glories, but it may well lay the groundwork for the band to do so.

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Fatherson

Fatherson

Normal Fears

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FATHERSON – NORMAL FEARS – ALBUM REVIEW

There are some bands that just capture you entirely when you first hear them. Fatherson were able to accomplish that with me in 2014 when I first saw them as a support act. Some 8 years and 3 albums later, the band has since established themselves in the alternative rock world, and now they are set to release their fourth album, ‘Normal Fears’.

Preceding the album have been a whopping five tracks. With the album comprising thirteen songs, I already had a good idea of what to expect from the album. That was something new and different, yet something extremely familiar.

Listen to ‘End Of The World’ on our Spotify Hot List!

From the opening salvo of ‘End Of The World’, ‘Love For Air’ and ‘Normal People’ the bands new expansive sound is clear for all to hear. Their evolution towards a poppier direction then continues to be documented with ‘Everything’, ‘Do It For Yourself’ and ‘Honest To God’.

WATCH ‘DIVE’ ON YOUTUBE
Fatherson – ‘Dive’

Singer Ross Leighton’s distinctive vocals still take centre stage, whether during tender moments such as ‘All The Time’ or more vibrant moments like ‘Dive’. Musically this album is a slight change of pace but it’s not a sprint to the finish. The band has done well to stay true to their sound whilst also embracing new ideas and reaching for new heights.

Fans both old and new will find pleasure with ‘Normal Fears’ capturing the sound of a band unshackled and just letting go. It has been a tough few years, with the world breaking more every day. We need music to keep us sane, and with ‘Normal Fears’ being thematically relatable and sonically aspiring, there is perhaps no better album to do that right now.

It’s always great to find a new act, but it’s even better to watch them grow.

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Placebo

Placebo

Never Let Me Go

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PLACEBO – NEVER LET ME GO – ALBUM REVIEW

It’s been over eight long years since the last Placebo album, but they are finally back with their eighth studio album, ‘Never Let Me Go’. The band has always been a law upon themselves and operated on their own terms, and that’s a right that they’ve well and truly earned. But after such a long break, can ‘Never Let Me Go’ do their legacy justice?

Pre-release singles such as ‘Beautiful James’ and ‘Surrounded By Spies’ were promising, and as the album starts with ‘Forever Chemicals’ you already sense that this is definitely the Placebo that we know and love.

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Placebo – ‘Surrounded By Spies’

We aren’t that far from then bands 30th anniversary, and over that lengthy career they’ve mastered their own iconic sound. Able to effortlessly switch from melancholy to inspiring, from mellow to rampant, Placebo have become an influence to many that followed in their footsteps.

The first thing to note is that ‘Never Let Me Go’ is that sound at its truest. Close your eyes, listen, and you’re back in time to when you first fell in love with the band. For me that’s the hedonistic days of high school, which then makes me feel rather old!

Secondly, it’s clear that during their time away, Placebo have lost none of their quality. Whilst it’s somewhat easy for a band to rinse and repeat their sound, ‘Never Let Me Go’ is that classic sound in the modern era. As the album progresses there are many highlights that emphasise these points such as ‘Hugz’, ‘Try Better Next Time’ and ‘Sad White Reggae’.

Listen to ‘Try Better Next Time’ on our Spotify Hot List!

After such a long period away, the transition to a duo and just the general mystique around the band, there was a worry that this album could fail to live up to expectations. Thankfully those worries were completely misguided and Placebo in 2022 remain an extremely prosperous proposition.

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Read our review of ‘Torpedo’ from Feeder

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THUMPER

THUMPER

Delusions of Grandeur

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THUMPER – DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR – ALBUM REVIEW

If there is a rule book for the music industry to follow then THUMPER took one look and threw it out the window! The band has slowly been gaining traction over the past couple of years with a string of complex yet catchy singles and chaotic live shows.

Ironically titled debut album ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ arrives as a statement of intent from a band determined to do things their way. The norms of simple three minute radio friendly songs is brazenly ignored, the idea that one drummer is enough is laughed at and any road map for success is torn up. Yet, the outcome is a stunning record that should propel the band to much bigger things.

Another industry standard these days is a genre. Everything needs to have a label on it. Well, good luck choosing what you want to plug THUMPER as. There are touches and glimpses of everything here from punk to psych to pop and so much more.

WATCH ‘FEAR OF ART’ ON YOUTUBE
THUMPER – ‘Fear of Art’

Opening with latest single ‘Fear of Art’, and early release ‘Ad Nauseuem’ the album is hypnotising from the very start. You’ll find yourself getting lost in the sound of a band stretching their musical legs, and then lose your inhibitions completely as they hit their stride with the likes of ‘The Loser’ and ‘Topher Grace’.

Listen to ‘The Loser’ on our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist

Perhaps the most ambitious moment however comes at the end of the album with a trilogy of tracks written and recorded as one long piece. ‘Overbite’, ‘The Ghost’ and ‘Down in Heaven’ provide a stunning finale to a masterpiece of a debut album.

Yes, it’s worth remembering that this is the first album from THUMPER. There is no playing it safe, no parking the bus; this is a remarkable magnum opus which leaves you wondering where the band will go next!

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Feeder

Feeder

Torpedo

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FEEDER – TORPEDO – ALBUM REVIEW

Feeder are a band who have experienced most of what the music industry has to offer; the highest highs and the lowest lows. Their endurance has to be admired and here they are with their eleventh studio album, ‘Torpedo’!

Part of their staying power has been fuelled by a proficiency of stability. They’ve never really attempted to break the mould or reinvent the wheel. But, and it’s an important but, they’ve also shown enough evolution to avoid becoming stale.

So, they’ve never put out a dance album and they’ve avoided a paint by numbers formula! What does that mean for ‘Torpedo’? Well, you guessed it more of the same!

WATCH ‘TORPEDO’ ON YOUTUBE
Feeder – ‘Torpedo’

Yes, ‘Torpedo’ is instantly recognisable as a Feeder album, but this time around there are darker, murkier undertones both thematically and sonically. The band have proven their ability to play heavier styles in the past and this record certainly leans in that direction frequently.

The title track together with ‘Magpie’ and ‘Decompress’ exude this whilst there are more standard Feeder offerings in ‘When It All Breaks Down’ and ‘Hide and Seek’. There are ambitious moments such as album opener ‘The Healing’, and there are classic single compositions like ‘Wall of Silence’.

Listen to ‘Wall of Silence’ on our Spotify Hot List!

If you are already a fan of the band, then this album is a fantastic addition to your collection. If you are somebody just discovering the band then ‘Torpedo’ is a nice little sampler, but you’ll need to further explore for the bands highest moments.

At the point in their career, ‘Torpedo’, does exactly what Feeder needs it to do and it will ensure that their endurance levels are well maintained.

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Von Hertzen Brothers

Von Hertzen Brothers

Red Alert In The Blue Forest

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VON HERTZEN BROTHERS – RED ALERT IN THE BLUE FOREST – ALBUM REVIEW

Finnish rockers Von Hertzen Brothers have always been progressive in nature, but new album ‘Red Alert In The Blue Forest’ is surely their most ambitious work to date.

I’ll admit that seeing a runtime of well over an hour appeared daunting at first, but as the album progresses any fears prove unwarranted. There is plenty of experimentation, lots of expansive musical exploration and countless grandiose rock moments, but at no point does the album drag or lull.

WATCH ‘ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU’RE GONE’ ON YOUTUBE
Von Hertzen Brothers – ‘All of a Sudden, You’re Gone’

Listen to ‘All of a Sudden, You’re Gone’ on our ‘Hard & Heavy’ Spotify Playlist!

In fact, the reverse is true and time actually flies by whilst listening to the bands epic creation. From the towering opener ‘Day Of Reckoning’ through to tender finale ‘Disappear There’, the album is packed full of mesmerising melodies, stunning solos and valiant vocals.

All the aspects and genres that make up the traditional Von Hertzen Brothers sound are here at various points, with folk and prog moments intertwined with classic and modern rock. On ‘Red Alert In The Blue Forest’, the band take us on a musical journey, but as mentioned not a trek!

This is a very digestible effort from a band potentially reaching the peak of their powers. This perhaps is summed up best on the remarkable ‘Northern Lights’ which incredibly features samples of sounds of the actual Aurora Borealis.

Yes, there is certainly a lot packed in the 11 tracks that comprise the album. ‘Red Alert In The Blue Forest’ therefore deserves your full undivided attention, you won’t regret it.

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