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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: MASSIVE WAGONS – SWG3, Glasgow, 27 November 2024
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Gig review: ANTHRAX – Hammersmith Apollo, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: BLACK STONE CHERRY – Wembley Arena, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: SQUEEZE – Roundhouse, London, 22 November 2024
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Album review: KISKE SOMERVILLE – City of Heroes
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Album review: DIAMOND HEAD – The Coffin Train
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Album review: THE DEAD DAISIES – The Dead Daisies
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Album review: CROBOT – Motherbrain
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Album review: THE BOOMTOWN RATS – Classic Album Selection 1977-1984
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Album review : NIGHTMARE – Waiting For The Power, The Early Years (3 CD Set)
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Features
Single & EP Reviews
DVD Reviews
Book Reviews
News
Tag Archives: New Wave
Single review: SPLEEN – Making Plans For Nigel
YouTube Spleen have been around since 2019 and now comprises Samuele Riccucci on guitar and vocals, Matteo Innocenti on drums and backing vocals, Olmo Fantini on guitar and backing vocals, and Alberto Sanna on bass. A brave move to cover … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Covers, Making Plans For Nigel, New Wave, pop, punk, punk pop, review, Robbie Williams, single, Spleen, XTC
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Gig review: NICK LOWE AND LOS STRAITJACKETS- London Palladium, 24 September 2024
Nick Lowe is one of rock’s most distinguished statesmen, with a history that includes his time in Brinsley Schwarz, seen as the original pub rockers, then a mainstay of the new wave as producer, songwriter and performer. Indeed there is … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Andy Fairweather Low, gig, Los Straitjackets, New Wave, NICK LOWE, Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets, pub rock
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Album review: HEALTHY JUNKIES – Listen To The Mad
Banana Castle Records [Release date 22.11.24] www.healthyjunkies.co.uk With the success of the 2024 Olympics the French must be feeling rather proud. A band with a French female singer might now have a distinct advantage. But Nina Courson is no Celine … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, grunge, Healthy Junkies, Listen To The Mad, New Wave, pop, post-punk, psych, Psychedelic Rock, punk, review
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Album review: SHADES OF PLATO – Blackout
Platonic Arrangements [Release date 20.06.24] shadesofplato1.bandcamp.com/ Any album with a song title ‘Bacteria With Shoes’ demands attention. And you’ll find it on the third album from gothic rockers Shades Of Plato. By their own admission this album predicts a post-pandemic apocalypse … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Blackout, hard rock, New Wave, prog, review, Shades Of Plato
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Album review: CLASSIX NOUVEAUX – Battle Cry
Cherry Red [Release date 17.11.23] And suddenly it’s the 1980’s and the New Romantics all over again, as Classix Nouveaux reform for the first album in 40 years. Except that it’s not. The world has mercifully moved on and the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Battle Cry, BP Hurding, Caravan, Classix Nouveaux, David Sylvain, Eno, Gary Steadman, Japan, Mik Sweeny, Morrisey, New Romantics, New Wave, review, Roger Chapman, Sal Solo, Steve Hillage, The Blue Nile, ULTRAVOX
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Album review : NITRATE – Feel The Heat
Frontiers [Release date : 23.09.23] Nitrate’s founding member and bassist, Nick Hogg has again opted for vocalist Alexander Strandell and the Martin (Vega) brothers (who also produce) to round out the band on his latest, (and fourth) album, Feel The … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Alexander Strandell, AOR, Danger Danger, Glen Frey, Heart, Issa, John Waite, Martin Brothers, New Wave, Nick Hogg, Nitrate, Paul Laine, review, Vega
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Album review : HOUSE OF SHAKIRA – XIT
Frontiers [Release date: 19.05.23] Those melodic rock fans who mainline the uncut version of the brand might not have time for artists who add their own distinctive musical seasoning. But they might just find that this shiny new album from … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Eagles, Frontiers, funk, Glenn Frey, House Of Shakira, melodic rock, New Wave, review, Valensia, Valentine, XIT
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Album review: L.A. EDWARDS – Out Of The Heart Of Darkness
Bitchin’ Music Group [Release date 06.01.23] Everything about L.A. (aka Luke Andrew) Edwards from his initials and his West Coast tinged Americana, to his use of jangly pop and the fact his PR references the cultural sway of Laurel Canyon, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Americana, Dawes, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Jerry Edwards, Jesse Daniel Edwards, L.A. Edwards, Laurel Canyon, Luke Andrew Edwards, Michael Stipe, New Wave, Out Of The Heart Of Darkness, pop, REM, review, singer, songwriter
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Gig review: LUST FOR LIFE – The Lexington, London, 12 March 2023
This was a proper throwback gig melding pioneering punk, art rock, new wave and all points in-between, battered out by a scratch band pulled together specifically to celebrate the forty-fifth anniversary of Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust For Life’ album. Tony Fox … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged art rock, Blondie, Clem Burke, David Bowie, gig, Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop, Katie Puckrik, live, Lust For Life, New Wave, punk, review, The Stooges
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Gig review: SQUEEZE- Hammersmith Apollo, London, 19 November 2022
Squeeze’s hit making days may be long behind them but the band have a remarkable longevity: as Chris Difford mentioned from the stage, he and Glenn Tilbrook have now been writing together for 50 years. However rather than being reduced … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 19 November 2022-, Chris Difford, gig, Glenn Tilbrook, Hammersmith Apollo, London, Melvin Duffy, New Wave, pop rock, Squeeze, Stephen Large
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Album review: KIDS ON THE STREET, UK POWER POP AND NEW WAVE 1977-81 (3 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [release date: 25.11.22] Kids On The Street is a great title for this 3 CD, 77 track compilation, emphasising the uncomplicated vitality of that era’s popular music. The better informed will know it’s from The Stiffs’ song of … Continue reading
EP review: CUSTARD DREAM – Blue Wave
3MS [release date: 17.12.21] Custard Dream is Ryan Davies, a young man who’s written, produced and performed everything you hear on this 6 track EP, Blue Wave. The label, 3MS, could be stylised as the gambler who likes to take … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Custard Dream, EP, Hall&Oates, Led Zeppelin, New Wave, review, Ryan Davies, Synth poprock, WANG CHUNG
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Book review: Please Please Tell Me Now – The Duran Duran Story by Stephen Davis
Hachette Books [Publication date 15.07.21] Renowned American music biographer Stephen Davis is probably best known for the excellent “Hammer of The Gods” Led Zeppelin biography, but he has also written outstanding books on the likes of Aerosmith, Guns n Roses … Continue reading
Album review: THE MOTELS – All Four One, Little Robbers
BGO Records [Release date 03.09.21] The Motels are an American new wave band fronted by Martha Davis. This Motels double CD re-issue features the band’s two US Top 30 albums from the early 1980s. ‘All Four One’ (1982) features the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged 80's pop, album, All Four One, BGO Records, Little Robbers, New Wave, reissue, review, synth pop, The Motels
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Album review: THE VAPORS – Waiting For The Weekend (The United Artists & Liberty Records Recordings)
Cherry Red Records The original recordings by The Vapors have been largely unavailable on CD for many years. Cherry Red / RT Industries address this perfectly with a comprehensive 4CD set, which not only rounds up both albums and all … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Interviews/Rock Stars, Reissues
Tagged box set, Bruce Foxton, Cherry Red Records, Howard Smith, New Wave, pop, pop rock, review, The Jam, The United Artists & Liberty Records Recordings, The Vapors, Waiting For The Weekend
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Album review: BLACK ROSE – S/T
Rock Candy [Release date 09.10.20] 1980: on the surface, Black Rose had little going for it. And yet Cher, guitarist Les Dudek’s part time girlfriend, fronted the band. Strangely, it played down Cher’s involvement. To its cost. The band’s one … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, Bernie Taupin, BLACK ROSE, Cher, David Paich, melodic rock, New Wave, review, Rock Candy
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Album review: PARA LIA – Gone With The Flow
Independent [Release date 02.10.20] German husband and wife team, Rene and Cindy Methner are Para Lia, now on their second album. Pop, Electronica, Indie Rock, alt.rock, alt.pop, Dark Wave, New Wave, Old Wave? In fact, it’s all of the above. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, alt pop, alt rock, Dark Wave, electronica, Gone With The Flow, indie rock, New Wave, Para Lia, pop, review
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CHESTER KAMEN AND THE LOVES – Americanized
Stoney Records [Release date 03.07.20] In another era Chester Kamen and the Loves might have shifted a ton of copies. They somehow evoke the days of New Wave/Punk, coming across like early Talking Heads, like the Buzzcocks, Eddie and the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Americanized, Buzzcocks, Chester Kamen and the Loves, melodic, New Wave, Paul McArtney, punk pop, review, rock, Roger Waters
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Gig review: SQUEEZE – New Theatre, Oxford, 25 October 2019
A packed out New Theatre were eagerly awaiting Squeeze, however before the main event we had Heaven 17, a band who had plenty of chart success in the early-mid 80’s. Still featuring two thirds of the original line-up in vocalist … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Chris Difford, classic pop, concert, gig, Glenn Gregory, Glenn Tilbrook, Heaven 17, New Wave, Oxford, pop, pop rock, review, singer songwriter, Squeeze, synth pop
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Album review: ADRIAN BELEW – Mr Music Head/Inner Revolution
BGO Records [Release date 26.10.18] Adrian Belew is a well respected guitarists having worked with the likes of Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, King Crimson and David Bowie amongst others. Even today he is forging ahead in music with his FLUX … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged Adrian Belew, album, art rock, David Bowie, electronic, Frank Zappa, guitarist, Inner Revolution, King Crimson, melodic, Mr Music Head, New Wave, re-issue, review
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Album review: THE PEAWEES – Moving Target
Rum Bar Records [Release date 14.09.18] The Peawees hail from Italy and have been playing their infectious brand of rock ‘n’ roll meets garage rock & power pop for over twenty years. They have toured with the likes of the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, garage rock, Moving Target, New Wave, power pop, review, rock, rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, the Peawees
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Album review: SPARKS – Hippopotamus
BMG [Release date 08.09.17] ‘Hippopotamus’ is a triumph of pop’s true potential over the usual clichéd familiar fare. It’s a cross genre album bursting with creativity, humour and stylistic diversity. The lyrical word plays, eclectic themes and nuanced melodies are … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, The Best of 2017
Tagged album, art rock, chamber pop, disco, glam, Hippopotamus, lounge, New Wave, pop, pop art, Rebecca Sjöwall, review, rock, Ron Mael, Russell Mael, SPARKS, spoken word
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Album review: THE MUTANTS – Your Desert My Mind
Killer Tracks [Release date 23.09.16] Fortified by a mission statement that reads: “The Mutants take to the underworld to plot and scheme with their network of punks, hippies, dandies, rude boys, lowlifes and degenerates to hatch a diabolical plan to … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Bingo Richey, Brent DeBoer, Chris Constantinou, Chris Goss, David Catching, Dead Can Dance, desert rock, Eagles of Death Metal, Hawkwind, Iggy Pop, New Wave, Peter Holmstrom, Primal Scream, psychedelia, punk, Queens of The Stoneage, Rat Scabies, review, Sean Wheeler, Space, stoner rock, The Dandy Warhols, The Mutants, The Psychedelic Furs, Victoria Williams, Wild Man Fischer, Your Desert My Mind, Zia McCabe
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Quick plays: THE CARS, JENNY GILLESPIE
THE CARS Moving In Stereo: The Best Of Rhino [Release date 06.05.16] This best of is released after a recent box set, ‘The Elektra Years 1978-87′ and covers the same period, with one song – ‘Sad Song’ – from the … Continue reading
Gig review: THE CRUNCH & JOE STRUMMER TRIBUTE BAND – KOKO, London, 25 March 2015
This was part of Koko’s occasional Rock ‘n’ Roll Cinema series, tonight featuring the biopic of Joe Strummer’s Spanish sojourn in the mid-80’s: ‘I Need a Dodge – Joe Strummer on the Run’. And all the stops had been pulled … Continue reading
