Tag Archives: New Wave

Gig review: NICK LOWE AND LOS STRAITJACKETS- London Palladium, 24 September 2024

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

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Album review: HEALTHY JUNKIES – Listen To The Mad

hjunkies_lttm1a

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

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Album review: SHADES OF PLATO – Blackout

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

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Album review: CLASSIX NOUVEAUX – Battle Cry

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

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Album review : NITRATE – Feel The Heat

nitrate feel the heat 150

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

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Album review : HOUSE OF SHAKIRA – XIT

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

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Album review: L.A. EDWARDS – Out Of The Heart Of Darkness

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

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Gig review: LUST FOR LIFE – The Lexington, London, 12 March 2023

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

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Gig review: SQUEEZE- Hammersmith Apollo, London, 19 November 2022

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

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Album review: KIDS ON THE STREET, UK POWER POP AND NEW WAVE 1977-81 (3 CD Boxset)

KIDS-ON-THE-STREET-PACKSHOT-min

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

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EP review: CUSTARD DREAM – Blue Wave

custard dream

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

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Book review: Please Please Tell Me Now – The Duran Duran Story by Stephen Davis

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

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Album review: THE MOTELS – All Four One, Little Robbers

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

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Album review: THE VAPORS – Waiting For The Weekend (The United Artists & Liberty Records Recordings)

vapors 2

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

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Album review: BLACK ROSE – S/T

BLACK ROSE - ST

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

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Album review: PARA LIA – Gone With The Flow

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

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CHESTER KAMEN AND THE LOVES – Americanized

CHESTER KAMEN & 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

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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

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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

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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

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Album review: SPARKS – Hippopotamus

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

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Album review: THE MUTANTS – Your Desert My Mind

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

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Quick plays: THE CARS, JENNY GILLESPIE

THE CARS Moving In Stereo: The Best Of

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

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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

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DVD review: GRAHAM PARKER – This Is Live

The Store For Music [Release date 18.11.13] Graham Parker & The Rumour are back! In fact GP hasn’t really been away. Yes he’s been absent from the UK for years, but across the pond he’s been studiously working on his … Continue reading

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