A baptism in the key of E.

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By all rights, I really shouldn’t be here. The New York Dolls without Johnny Thunders (or Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane or Jerry Nolan for that matter - all three are deceased) should be as big a turn-off to the purist in me as the likes of Queen without Freddie Mercury. It’s an act of musical heresy akin to the Rolling Stones without Keith Richards. And I’ve already satisfied my curiousity as to the worth of this line-up once, when I caught the 21st century New York Dolls at Leeds festival a few years ago, playing to a depressingly uninterested outdoor crowd in the afternoon mere weeks after Arthur Kane's death. Hearing the Dolls stellar 70's songbook (the holy text of rock and roll from an alternate universe where sleaze rock reigns supreme) live was great fun, sure, but all far too polite and neutered to ever convince that this was really the Dolls. Yet something tells me I shouldn't miss this, and so I force myself to get dressed despite the heavy toll taken by last night's drinking...

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Since being declared one-hit wonders with their single Creep in 1992, Radiohead has proven to be anything but, rising to become one of the biggest British rock bands around and releasing several Grammy-winning albums. The band has spanned genres, from lightweight pop-rock and simple riffs to complex guitar-driven anthems, jazz-influenced songs and bizarre electronic dance-trance melodies. This experimentation is fuelled by the highly creative natures of the members; lead singer Thom Yorke released his solo electronic album ‘The Eraser’ in 2006 whilst Johnny Greenwood is a resident composer for the BBC and, in addition to being the band’s lead guitarist, can also play several other instruments including the viola and organ. His brother Colin Greenwood mans the bass and synthesizers, and the remaining two members are Ed O’Brien on guitar and backing vocals and Phil Selway dealing with percussion. Their newest album ‘In Rainbows’ hit no. 1 in both the UK and US charts and has been...

Ex-Darkness boys bring ye olde rock and roll to Glasgow.

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Not an easy band to sell to prospective new listeners, are Stone Gods. Such are the fickle vagaries of fashion and taste that the phrase 'featuring ex-members of The Darkness' is probably far more likely to elicit laughter than excite interest these days. The band themselves seem to be aware of this, and have continually stressed the fundamental differences between their old outfit and this one. For one, no Justin Hawkins, and with him goes the inimitable screech and camp sensibilities that first gained that band attention yet probably most doomed them to novelty status. In his place is a much-heavier musical direction captained by Richie Edwards (not that one, obviously), the bassist who replaced Frankie Poullain (he of the infamous handlebar and pirate gear look) for the latter half of the band's career, now firmly embedded in the guitar-slingin' frontman role and taking to it with a quite remarkable level of enthusiasm and ability, exhorting the crowd to go mental and...

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For anyone not familiar with her work, Stockholm-born Lykke Li is probably best classified as a pop singer, although only in the same way that Kate Bush or Prince are best classified as pop singers. Her debut album, 'Youth Novels', produced mainly by Bjorn from Peter, Bjorn and John, is a damn fine listen, somehow positively rammed with catchy hooks while still sounding strange and mysterious. Live, she's a little less ethereal and more just straight-up funky, with a percussion-heavy, brutally minimal sound that often forgoes bass altogether a la prime period Prince. It would be ridiculously sexy even if she wasn't a 22 year old Swedish lass. Interestingly, she's a much braver and ballsier singer live than on record, equally at home with dark folk-tinged epics and quirky dance-pop numbers. In particular, first single 'Little Bit', already a favourite of mine on record, proves emotionally devastating in the live arena. Great moves too, made even more adorable by her...

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Isobel Campbell used to play in Belle and Sebastian, but don’t hold that against her. Despite having released a few acclaimed EPs under the Gentle Waves banner and signed a five-album deal with V2 records, her initial solo recordings failed to make much of an impression on the public at large. This changed when she hooked up with Mark Lanegan, grunge survivor, ex-Screaming Tree, on again off again heroin addict and latterly rock journeyman, for the wonderful ‘Ballad of the Broken Seas’, which turned her and her career from ‘nearly forgotten’ to ‘Mercury Music Prize nominated’. Lanegan, now deep into his hired gun phase after collaborations with Queens of the Stone Age, Soulsavers and Twilight Singers/Gutter Twins (it can only be matter of time before he ends up in Primal Scream, like everyone else), takes the lion’s share of the vocals, the Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra vibe of their first record largely abandoned in favour of an ‘I’ll write them, you scowl mournfully and croon...

The slut loved it

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Now at the risk of seeming a bit Daily Mail here...girls love it. They don‘t love being raped but most girls, generally, enjoy sex. Fair play to them; it's one of my favourite pastimes as well. Some girls likes their sex to be all candle-lit and like something from a soft-core porn film. Some guys like that too. Some people also like Michael Bolton. Let’s discount these people as they suck (and probably suck badly as tho’ your cock/clit was gonna jump out and bite them at any second). Most sensible people with a sex life like a bit of variation and, at some point, this will surely involve something a bit rougher. Of all the people reading this there will be some who enjoy being tied up/slapped/spat on/humiliated/choked and even tortured. If this is carried out between two consenting adults then fair play to all involved. Most sensible people fantasize. Some of these fantasies involve being completely in control and others involve completely losing control. Into this...

That tricky beast - British Americana.

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I had a feeling I would dig this two-track single from London's Hey Negrita, based upon nothing more than them being named after a Rolling Stones song. Marvelously, this childish assumption proved to be spot on. To be honest, I'm surprised this is the first we've crossed paths, as based on this single they're so up my alley they're practically giving me an enema. 'Rope' is a familiar-sounding slice of country-fried rock and roll. The superbly named Felix Bechtolsheimer, an Englishman who transplanted himself to the Deep South in search of a better way and songwriting inspiration, has a vocal style resembling late-period Joe Strummer (a true compliment) while the band conjure up a spirited gallop that reminds one of Wilco and proves a perfect compliment to the dark and detailed lyrics. The b-side, a remix of 'Rope' by the mighty Alabama 3, is perhaps even better. Outfitting the lonesome harmonica riff with oh-so-90's beats and a deep and dirty dub bassline, it's a fantastic...

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The first track starts promisingly enough…then almost instantly takes a detour into pub rock territory. The singers voice is…well, lets just say, to call him a singer is a charitable act. I’m not entirely sure if he means it or if its all some kind of obscure parody. Second tracks almost exactly the same – as I write this I’m not sure if I’ll be able to listen to the whole album. Really this album sounds like its been produced by a band that wants to be anarchic and dangerous but at the same time doesn’t want to offend their mums. There are hints throughout that there’s something manic, untamed and perhaps (dare I say it) interesting behind them but it’s chained to bland convention. As Mr Miyagi once said “Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later” William need to decide which side of the road they’re walking on Its not bad, apart from the vocals, it’s by no means unrelentingly terrible but there’s not really much...

Interview with Heitham Al-Sayed about music, record labels and Victorian hip hop.

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Interview with Heitham Al-Sayed about music, record labels and Victorian hip hop.

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Album opener Lea Room has been playing for about thirty seconds and has already drawn me right in. It’s a nice little fuzzy indie guitar romp which probably manages to fit in nearly every indie rock convention going and still sound reasonably fresh. Some of the new tracks do make me wonder if they could be handed the label British Tokyo Police Club (if Tokyo Police Club ever become big enough to have regional variants that is) and others leave me fondly reminiscent of Urusei Yatsura. Cranes and Cranes and Cranes and Cranes is pure Yatsura-inspired brilliance catchy and anarchic and probably the highlight of the album. From here the album really takes off with manic The End and Everything After where the dual vocals fight for supremacy to delightfully schizophrenic effect before morphing into some kind of indie-pop monster intent on subjugating your ears. The only real criticism I have, if you can call it that, is that the album puts previous releases to shame. Which is no...