If 2004 was the year of Franz Ferdinand for the NME crowd, then 2005 was all about Bloc Party. With razor sharp guitarwork, disco beats and Kele Okereke’s anguished yelp, they brought the indie set heartache you could dance to. In spite of studio issues, Gang of Four comparisons and […]
In November 1989, two bands from Manchester appeared together on Top of the Pops and it changed indie music forever. The Madchester sound was the unity of jangly guitars and thumping dance music: big, psychedelic, even funky and a perfect companion to taking Ecstasy. Artists like The Stone Roses, Happy […]
Though it had been bubbling under for 18 months, the end of 1976 was when UK punk got its first seven inches. The Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the UK” may have generated the most outrage, but The Damned’s “New Rose” got there first. While they may have fired the first […]
The 1970s was a significant decade for Christmas songs. There’s the glam rock monoliths, the novelty songs, songs by singer-songwriters and prog rock artists, disco songs, and even two songs from former Beatles of drastically varying quality. But one 70s associated genre that didn’t make many Christmas songs is punk. […]
Few modern rock bands have had the near immediate success of Wet Leg. Earning ungainly comparisons to Pavement, Liz Phair and The B-52s thanks to their deadpan talk-singing, Wet Leg’s musical formula was simple: loud guitars, fun times and not taking yourself too seriously. A welcome change of pace from […]
Pixies started out as a joke. More specifically, a want-ad referencing the post-hardcore Hüsker Dü and light-weight 60s folk three-piece, Peter, Paul and Mary, with the additional condition that applicants have “no chops”. No musical experience required. Bassist Kim Deal took the bait, and unknowingly became essential to one of […]
If you’ve heard of the KLF, you probably know them as a band that burnt a million pounds. But that is only the conclusion to their story. The journey that led them to the Isle of Jura on that fateful August morning in 1994 is even more fascinating. A journey […]
What is Industrial? In its original form it was an aggressively mechanistic and uncompromising sound formed of tape-loops, samples, often self-made synths and electronics. Bands like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Nurse With Wound and Einstürzende Neubauten produced avant garde noise that thumbed its nose at pop music as a production […]
1993 was quite the year for Alternative Rock. Still in the afterglow of Nevermind changing everything, weird and wonderful music that only a couple of years prior would’ve gone unheard, then a product of the underground, now controlling the airwaves and taking over MTV. [“Start Choppin’,” “Today,” “Creep,” “No Rain,” […]
The early 90s was a boom time for getting rich off Alternative Rock. Due to the breakout commercial success of REM, Nirvana and Green Day, major labels grabbed any band that could approximate their sounds in the hopes of them becoming the next big thing. If there was one band […]
