The Daily Growl

In the couple of months since I last blogged Oh Minnows, Chris Steel-Nicholson has released his debut album For Shadows. It’s an impressive calling card, full of the synth-led psych-pop I was expecting, but also a few suprises, such as noisy shoegazy guitar, and an inclination to veer from the experimental to the anthemic.
It’s been [...]

Here’s the second Seven Songs with a Leeds-based band in a couple of days. Mind you, this one should have been here months ago, so apologies to Sky Larkin, particularly since they had the decency to all pitch in and give me seven songs each. Their second album Kaleide, released back in the summer, is [...]

It’s been a long time since Vessels were on this blog. Too long really, so by way of redress, here’s a Seven Songs I did recently with the Leeds-based post rock quintet. They’ve got a new single out; ‘Meatman, Piano Tuner, Prostitute’ which continues the band’s tradition of creating songs with an impressive sense of [...]

It’s not long since Let’s Wrestle were on here, but since they’re awesome, here they are again. They are the late-night kebab of bands - low budget, a bit messy and quite possibly bad for you. But in the right place and time, just perfect; exactly what you want. Actually, forget that. They’re perfect pretty [...]

It’s freezing outside, so here’s something to warm you up, because it’s pretty hard to listen to Bellowhead’s big band folk and not try to shake a bit of leg. I did earlier, and though the results weren’t pretty, I do feel warmer now. They may play songs that are centuries old, but these are [...]

I find it hard to believe that Micah P Hinson has released his fifth album. It feels like no time ago since I first saw him, alone and a little nervous onstage at the 12 Bar Club back in 2004, just before the release of his amazing debut The Gospel of Progress. The last time [...]

For ageing indie kids like myself, Yuck are a glimpse back to formative times. Back in the early 90s, I was all about shoegaze, American indie rock like Dinosaur Jr and the classic West-coast inclined jangly guitar pop coming out of my native Glasgow. The remarkable thing about Yuck is not only that they manage [...]

I’ve taken a long time to arrive at Timber Timbre. The self-titled album first came out in January 2009, but has only now got a proper UK release, so well done to Full Time Hobby for picking up such an special record. It’s one to give some time to, because repeated listening is well rewarded. [...]

Last year, Bear Driver did well for a band with only one single under their belts, playing both Reading and End of the Road festivals. I missed them at the latter of course, and as has been the case every year of the festival now, bands I missed have a habit of cropping up the [...]

It’s always nice when people give me more than just song titles for Seven Songs. I appreciate everyone who does it of course, and I know artists are busy and all that. But extra effort is always pleasing. If I were to measure bands by this criteria, Wilder would be top of the charts. Three [...]