Author Archives: Kevin Irwin

EP: Sweethead – ‘Mortal Panic’

Stomping along to dirty, sexy desert riffs and big, sparkly, glam hooks, Sweethead lurched forth from the Josh Homme-led LA rock crowd in 2009 with a self-titled debut album that pitched biker bar grime with decadent rawk-star pouting. Taking their…

ALBUM: Asian Dub Foundation ‘More Signal More Noise’

Rating: When they first emerged in the mid-’90s, Asian Dub Foundation’s collision of Bhangra music, hip-hop and drum ‘n’ bass was a really electrifying experience. Their gigs were a high-energy mix of political rally, warehouse rave and punk rock show,…

Ones To Watch: \\GT//

Packing a more rampant engine roar than most sludgy, psych-rock acts, \\GT// cut through the thick, sticky nights of Birmingham, Alabama with the frantic unhinged groove of their new single ‘Something’s Wrong With My Mind’. Bands like Hawkwind, No Age and…

Ones To Watch: White Reaper

A gang of school friends from Louisville, Kentucky, who grew up playing together in grizzly hardcore bands, the White Reaper lads attended college for three whole days before looking each other in the eye and asking “What the hell are…

ALBUM: Downtown Boys – ‘Full Communism’

I made a typo. I put Downton Boys into Google rather than Downtown. It came up with an article by Woman Magazine about the “dashing hunks of Downton Abbey”. It’s quite the read, but I could have done without seeing…

Ones To Watch: The Parrots

Spanish girl group Hinds (formerly Deers) stole the hearts of a million indie kids when they emerged in a haze of scruffy guitar-pop sass, red lippy and reverb-heavy, surf harmonies last year; now their close mates The Parrots have boarded…

ALBUM: Wire ‘Wire’

Rating: More than thirty five years on from their seminal debut album, Pink Flag, you’d think by now Wire might be content to put their feet up and wallow in a legacy that sees them revered as cult legends of Britain’s…

ALBUM: Alabama Shakes ‘Sound And Color’

Rating: With vintage twanging blues riffs and Brittany Howard’s big hearted wails, Alabama Shakes stood amongst the crowds of synthy shoegazers and indie posers and delivered a masterclass in rootsy Southern soul grooves when they broke in 2012. They went on to…

Ones To Watch: Service Bells

Dealing in booming rock monoliths and sprawling indie epics, Aussie lads Service Bells don’t just sound big and loud, they sound friggin’ colossal. The obvious comparison is with Queens of the Stone Age, but whereas Josh Homme’s boys chugged away…