Louder Than War

The Wytches: Talking Machine (Alcopop) LP | DL Out now The Wytches return with an album that shifts through smoke, winding through ghostly garage-psych songs that reach out in search of intimacy. On their new album, The Wytches have taken their mix of gothic garage-psych and created an album that shifts shapes through smoke. It feels instantly intimate yet ethereal, as though we are privy to something that should stay hidden. The way they slowly build the songs,…

SUNN O))) sign to Sub Pop and announce new 12″ EP Legendary label Sub Pop have announced the signing of underground music powerhouse SUNN O))) for the ‘known universe’ – the first release is described as a maxi 12″ consists of three brand new tracks Eternity’s Pillars b/w Raise the Chalice & Reverential. The tracks were created by the iconic duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, and were recorded in 2025. These recordings are the first official…

Idlewild Wolverhampton Wulfrun HallSunday 12th October 2025 With a critically acclaimed new album behind them, the Edinburgh legends bring their jagged, uplifting anthems to Wolverhampton. When Sam Lambeth argues, he sees shapes. At the Wulfrun Hall, it’s a serene Sunday evening. In the bar, two middle-aged men swap running routes on Strava. Inside the hall itself, a seated punter passes the time by stressing over the day’s Wordle. Below in the standing area, a sea of flannel shirts and…

Album Review Hollie Cook Shy Girl Mr Bongo Vinyl / Digital Out now (4.5/5) Fifth album of faultless Lovers Rock and Tropical Pop from Hollie Cook. Ged Babey offers a viewpoint and stands corrected.  Almost fifteen years since the release of her self-titled debut LP on Mr Bongo, reggae’s orator of love Hollie Cook is returning to the label for Shy Girl, her fifth studio album and her most authentic yet. Woven with tight grooves, beautiful vocals and…

The Boomtown RatsBirmingham Symphony Hall11th October 2025  Saint Bob and his Irish upstarts strut back into Birmingham to celebrate 50 years of the good, the rat and the ugly. Sam Lambeth reviews. Even if you are familiar with Bob Geldof’s origins as a snotty-nosed frontman, it takes a little bit of time to adjust when seeing the mouthy Dubliner tonight. Over the past few decades, the chief Boomtown Rat’s forays into locking horns with presidents, chumming it up…

Breakup Haircut: I’m Okay (I Lied) (INH Records) DL/Streaming Out Now Breakup Haircut return with I’m Okay (I Lied), their second slice of new music since their acclaimed debut album, 2022’s Punk Dancing for Self Defence I was sure that I’d previously reviewed the album or one of Breakup Haircut’s excellent singles, Out Of My Way (I’m Not Getting On The Night Bus) or Why Can’t I Be Cool Enough To Move To Berlin? for LTW but looking…

The Wedding PresentManchester Ritz10th October 2025 Perhaps the classic indie band the Wedding Present still celebrate the thrill of the form with an emotional intelligence and guitars set to machine gun velocity in a set that traverses their back catalogue and underlines their innovative invention and songwriting nous with thrilling pop/noise adventures.  It’s packed in here.  Heaving.  Whatever The Wedding Present have got, it seems to be eternal with an audience that might be as dogged as the…

Various Artists: When The 2000s Clashed (Demon Music Group) Released 17 October 2025 CD | Vinyl 4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5 Electroclash rejuvenated synth-pop and dance culture at the turn of the century. Yet it’s never been given full credit for its achievements – until now, with the release of a five-CD box set (and a three-LP set of highlights). Robert Plummer gets down to the sound of the underground. Picture the scene: it’s the early 2000s and…

          The Wedding Present Manchester Ritz October 10th 2025 Live Review Perhaps the classic indie band the Wedding Present still celebrate the thrill of the form with an emotional intelligence and guitars set to machine gun velocity in a set that traverses their back catalogue and underlines their innovative invention and songwriting nous with thrilling pop/noise adventures.  It’s packed in here.  Heaving.  Whatever the Wedding Present have got, it seems to be eternal with…

New Conflict EP The Collusion Exclusion on 10″ vinyl featuring remixes by Youth (Killing Joke) and Sid Truelove (Rubella Ballet) June brought the very sad news that Conflict singer Colin Jerwood (pictured) had passed away and left punks across the globe shocked. This came hot on the heels of the release of their last album This Much Remains. Adding to a huge musical legacy, Cadiz Records are releasing a new single from that album, due out on 31…

Always breaking all the rules, Ted Milton’s Blurt have been existing on their own trajectory for decades. The band’s free form poetry and jazz blurts over post punk funk grooves was no wave before no wave existed, and jazz revival before any of that generation was born. It was free spirited, thrilling, and you could dance to, and somehow decades into their journey, they have come up with what is arguably their greatest single yet. There is a…

One of the most influential and creative bands in the post-punk period, Siouxsie and the Banshees were a unique force who made an asset out of their various shape-shifting line ups of great innovative players. Siouxsie may have been the icon with the vision but each unique line up of the band were game changers in their own right from the classic first album team of Siouxise, Severin, John McKay and Kenny Morris whose stark soundscapes were like…