Soccer Mommy review – teenage torment set to bittersweet jangles
The Nashville songwriter has an easy, everyday charm – but her winning songs are full of venom and romantic angst
Anna Calvi: Hunter review – a filmic pop dreamscape
Compelling collection of heart-stopping songs offers new artistic depths to wallow in
Neil and Liam Finn: Lightsleeper review – father and son pour out the melodies
The ex-Crowded House man and his son are adept with the tunes, but sometimes this ends up being as frustrating as it is pleasurable
One to watch: Odetta Hartman
The American musician combines vintage vocals with field recordings and home-grown beats to compelling effect
Death Cab for Cutie: Thank You for Today review – comforting alt-rock melancholia
The band’s ninth album brings gorgeous melodies and mature lyrics – it’s MOR, in an appealing way
The Coral: Move Through the Dawn review – vintage songs of sad euphoria
Their ninth album sees the Coral break out some old friends - references to water, melancholy yearning and sublime choruses – it’s a lovely thing
Spider Bags: Someday Everything Will Be Fine review – fuzzy veterans ride an alt-rock ripple
They may have been going for 12 years, but Spider Bags’ latest seems to be finally on-trend
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club review – garage rockers stuck in third gear
The now-veteran band could do with truncating their setlist – there’s not enough rebellious spirit to power two hours of songs
Kendal Calling review – indie singalongs in a merry Cumbrian mudbath
Lowther Deer Park, CumbriaIn a part of the UK not best served for live music, the Libertines served up a double whammy and northern frontwomen showed the blokes on the main stage how it’s done
Portugal. The Man review – breakout alt-rockers lurk in the shadows
The US band deliver a sprawling set of synth jams, windswept covers and expansive freestyles
Body/Head: The Switch review – otherworldly Sturm und Drang
After 30 years and 15 albums of groundbreaking alt-rock, Sonic Youth split in 2011, in large part because of the acrimonious divorce of bassist Kim Gordon and guitarist Thurston Moore. Since then, while the solo careers of Moore and fellow … Continue reading
Ty Segall and White Fence: Joy review – kindred spirits on a white knuckle ride
From fuzz pedal anarchy to Beach Boys harmonies and a growling dog, the Californian indie pair serve up a frenetic selection of gleefully off-kilter tracks
Latitude festival – teenage fans bring energy to middle-class kingdom
Big names like the Killers, alt-J and a surprise Liam Gallagher flounder, but there’s buried treasure from Nao, IAMDDB and Octavian lower down the bill
Dirty Projectors: Lamp Lit Prose review – brighter, brassier, more free-flowing
Lamp Lit Prose arrives 17 months after Dirty Projectors’ eighth, eponymous album, which dwelt, via the medium of knotty R&B, on the breakup of former Projector Amber Coffman and linchpin David Longstreth. You deduce he’s over it. Brighter, brassier and … Continue reading