Reviews

Apparently, when Michigan native Leigh Kakaty formed POP EVIL in 2001, he chose the name for a reason: He loved hard rock, played with a good melody but he also loved propulsive rhythms. For Kakaty, these were natural elements found in the songs he grew up with: the groovy soul of Motown, the grand funk of the railroad, the proto ...

Venue: Riverside, Newcastle. Date: 23/01/18. Special Guests: Cane Hill, Ice Nine Kills. Every movement in rock has that one band. That one band that all the youngsters love, but their parents HATE. The kind of band they plaster their walls with magazine cuttings of, and they constantly watch YouTube videos of (the latter is more recent of course).  In the ...

There is a clue on the cover of this album, it is a fist with the wrist showing a leather cuff. The fingernails are painted, the line-up is all female, the music is rock all of the way. Welcome to the world of Thundermother, a Swedish band that has gone through some lineup changes and is reborn with their self-titled new ...

Grace Basement, the rock-and-roll side project of St. Louis folk musician, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kevin Buckley, has released their fourth full-length album, Mississippi Nights. The last album, Wheel Within a Wheel (2013), was a folk-based sound, the new one, Mississippi Nights, is supposedly more blues based – apparently inspired by the performances of his long-time rhythm section, drummer Jill Aboussie ...

Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard returns with his honest brand of acoustic led rock on new album Between Two Shores.  For those unfamiliar with Hansard think Frank Turner meets Idlewild vocalist Roddy Woomble’s solo work. A blend of folk, rock and alternative rock, a slight break in pace for us here at RAMzine, but certainly a welcome one. There is a ...

For the second time in a week, ex-Misfits frontman Michale Graves decided to play Cardiff’s legendary Fuel Rock Bar. The highly anticipated punk legend certainly made an impression after selling out four nights previously, but returns to an oversold crowd of 30 people or so. Though not the biggest of venues, this difference turns Fuel into a condensed powder keg ...

I’m sure there are many words German post-rockers Long Distance Calling would hope to have their album described as, ‘pleasant’, I imagine was not one of them. Yet that is the best word to describe Boundless. It in no way challenges the boundaries of musical achievement. It just trundles along at a steady, if unremarkable pace, never really gathering enough ...

A returning guitarist, a new record label and the intent to make an album with a new creative spirit expanding upon the melodic rock template that’s served these young Swedes well is what led to creating H.E.A.T ’s latest album. And is it different? Yes, and no. Dave Malone (or Sky Davis to give him a nom de plume) on ...

Former guitarist/vocalist of The Gaslight Anthem, Brian Fallon, returns with his second solo album; a stunning collection of blues, rock and punk that flow in a beautiful narrative that is impossible not to be caught up in. It could be argued that there is perhaps little by way of growth from the days of The Gaslight Anthem, but this is ...

Why is it that so many of the modern generation of the punk-rock/emo vocalists sound like they’re in dire need of a throat lozenge? No, this is not a criticism of the genres or any acts that fall under that banner, merely a casual observation. Right, now that we’ve got that moment of pondering out of the way, it’s time ...