Trying to find the time to completely write, record and produce an album between large UK and European tours and festival appearances covering the continent can be a struggle for many bands; finding the time to do all of this whilst curating Firebug’s White Noise Festival and helping to record many of the up-and-coming bands Leicester is blessed with can be even more so…

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First thing’s first, Rival Consoles is something I wouldn’t usually listen to. Well, that’s a lie: it’s something I would’ve listened to when my jeans were neon and my shirt brandished a slogan like “Drop beats, not bombs’’ – something which, in hindsight, was one of those “What was I thinking?!” moments…

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Every single article I’ve seen regarding this, the sophomore full length from the newly stripped-back Battles, begins with a sentence bemoaning the departure of front-man-of-sorts Tyondai Braxton, so I’ll attempt to avoid such predictable reviewery here…

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Politics and music hey? Inexorably linked but so often poorly blended – revelling in inaccessibility or cliched and uncomfortable. It’s been a good few decades since an act has garnered much in the way of serious praise for standing up for what they believe in, and the mainstream is still seemingly allergic to anything with any serious heart and soul…

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I’ve been itching to get an album to review that I loathe. Writing negative reviews is easily 1000 times more fun than writing reviews of albums you don’t really have an opinion on, and a good few times more fun than writing about albums you love…

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Sounding like the bastard sons of Blood Brothers, The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower and Rolo Tomassi in places, but revealing an altogether more delicate side in others, this four track live taster from Leicester’s Some May Run shows promise in all the right places…

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It’s no secret that the Monograph are massive fans of By The Rivers, so when we heard about their new EP, we couldn’t wait to spread the news. From the first minute you start listening to this music, you can’t help but want to move to it…

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A rollocking rock and roll record that shows no sign of mercy… is a sentence you will probably never hear when referring to beautifully sincere folk duo The Daydream Club. Creating hauntingly melodic dreamscapes of reminiscent love and vintage vinyl, Adam Pickering and Paula Walker seduce and entrance with every strum and howl…

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Junior Fencing Club have been on the radar of the Monograph ever since we heard Bloemfontein on their, then sparse, Myspace page. Since then the band have done some serious writing and recording some great material, which they were kind enough to forward a copy onto Monotowers…

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Given the unorthodox approach used by Her Name Is Calla to write their debut full length album, The Quiet Lamb, I must confess that I approached the album with a certain degree of apprehension as to whether they could make all the different instruments used fully gel for an entire album. I am pleased to announce that my concerns could not have been more misplaced…

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Growing up just a stones skim from the Mississippi, her country roots have definitely had in impact on her music, but she is adamant not to be tarred with that brush: “I think that people often want to focus on that side of me,” Lissie explains, “But it wasn’t like we were all sitting on the porch having a hootenanny writing the album; I grew up listening to gangsta rap just like millions of other American teenagers. There are many sounds and experiences that have influenced and inspired my music…

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