Music, Records and Chris Cope

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Every Time I Die - Ex Lives

Intense and hugely rewarding album of post-hardcore brilliance

22 Feb 2012

(Epitaph) Every Time I Die just... don’t make bad records. Their last effort – the gregarious New Junk Aesthetic – was a blitzkrieg bombast of post-hardcore brilliance, and Ex Lives marks the next step in their evolutionary cycle. Opener ‘Underwater…

Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys

Where usually notoriously dour, there’s traces of sunshine here

24 May 2011

(Atlantic) There’s a tangible buzz for Codes and Keys, Death Cab for Cutie’s 7th studio album. It seems the cult US indie-ites are teetering on the edge of true mainstream triumph, and having hit No. 1 in their homeland in 2008, the time is nigh for…

Twin Atlantic - Free

Glasgow's indie-punk-rock upstarts continue their ascent with accomplished second album

25 Apr 2011

(Red Bull) With Biffy Clyro now zapped up into mainstream consciousness in a sort of twisted alien abduction, there’s a vacuous hole now open for Scotland’s next alt-rock band to stake their claim in. Twin Atlantic however have been ploughing their…

$Glasvegas: EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\$

Glasvegas: EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\

Below par return from the Glasgow miserabilists

24 Mar 2011

(Columbia) Funny that Glasvegas used ‘Euphoric’ in the title of their sophomore album. This is euphoria’s most definite of antonyms, but did anyone expect otherwise? Euphoric///Heartbreak\\\ is a Glaswegian dirge, muddled in lucid synth and languid…

Kassidy - Hope St.

Deep production and sublime hooks perfect for the radio, TV and elsewhere

1 Mar 2011

(Vertigo Records) Kassidy are an intriguing one, so they are. The blues-folk band are one of Scotland’s brightest prospects – spring-loaded by major label, ready to be launched – but their sound is a world away from their hometown Glasgow. The title…

Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age

Reissued 1998 self-titled debut album is doused in swagger

1 Mar 2011

(Rekords Rekords) Josh Homme is the king of cool. He has the rockstar wife (Brody Dalle, formerly of The Distillers), he makes smoking less fatality and more finesse, and, of course, he is the ginger Elvis. This reissue of Queens of the Stone Age’s…

DevilDriver - Beast

Enough gratifying moments here to see past the raw gristle of ‘rusty chainsaw’ music

11 Feb 2011

(Roadrunner Records) DevilDriver are, for lack of a better phrase, purveyors of what could be called ‘rusty chainsaw’ music. It grinds and grunts at frenzied pace, and when it’s on a bit of downtime, it’s still pretty lethal. Beast may be a cringing…

Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip

8 Feb 2011

(Club AC30) Place ‘death’ in your band name and you’ll always risk blood-stained metal connotations, but marry it with a dainty ‘ringo’ and you’ve immediately eschewed any notion of grinding guitars and guts. Ringo Deathstarr’s debut album Colour…

Emma’s Imagination - Stand Still

Dumfries singer and winner of Must Be The Music sets course for pop success

3 Jan 2011

(Polydor) Emma Gillespie has been on a journey fit for any Hollywood narrative, from busking on the Glasgow streets to TV talent show victory (she won Sky’s Must Be The Music) and subsequent major label deal. Her debut album, under the guise of…

The Damned Things - Ironiclast

Fall Out Boy’s Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman meet members of Anthrax

15 Dec 2010

(Mercury) Trapped in an emo-pop band that’s overrun with boyband looks and chirping teenage fans? Want something different? Why not join a metal band! That’s exactly what Fall Out Boy’s Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman have done. One thing – The Damned…

Ray Davies - See My Friends

15 Nov 2010

(Universal) Ray Davies must throw some pretty good parties, judging by the pretty esteemed list of friends he’s recruited to help out here. The latest endeavour from The Kinks mainman goes collaborative, revisiting his back catalogue with friends…

Kasper Rosa - EP2

7 Jul 2010

(Field Records) A cocktail of post-rock and prog rock is a deadly combination – not just for the ears, but for the mind too. Instrumental interludes conjoining with off-time deviances is tough stuff – but Kasper Rosa have got it right. ‘EP2’ opens…

We Are Scientists - Barbara

1 Jun 2010

(Masterswan) Scientists are often not the most exciting of people, and on this showing, We Are Scientists live up to their name. When not playing music however, they’re hugely entertaining and endearing, but ‘Barbara’ fails to find their much…

Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle

14 Apr 2010

American Recordings/ Columbia What an apt album title. This latest effort from gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello, Trans-Continental Hustle, takes us on a meandering trip through Eastern Europe and back — via South America too. With lead-man and…

Cobra Starship - Hot Mess

17 Feb 2010

(Atlantic) This latest offering from New York electro boppers Cobra Starship features some pretty disposable tracks, like the lacklustre ‘Fold Your Hands Child’ (a nod to the album of the same name by Scots twee-heroes, Belle & Sebastian) but when…

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue

17 Sep 2009

AC/DC aside, prematurely losing your lead singer is often fatal for bands. Grunge icons Alice in Chains of course lost Layne Staley in 2002 to years of well-documented drug (mis)use, but Black Gives Way to Blue will give them belief that they made the…

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

16 Sep 2009

(Epitaph) Every Time I Die’s last two albums were aptly entitled Gutter Phenomenon and The Big Dirty, showcasing the American noiseniks’ gruff and salacious sound. Their latest effort is little different. An unpredictable smorgasbord of neck-whipping…

Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage

25 Jun 2009

(Roadrunner) It seems that for today’s metal bands to achieve success, they’ve got to be able to mix the traditional guttural distortion with clean melody and soaring choruses – and Killswitch Engage are premier purveyors of this dichotomy. This…

Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West