Rob Marshall, one time sonic backbone of the stupendous Exit Calm, has surfaced under the pseudonym Humanist. I could cut this review short by stating that the eponymous album is a belter, so buy it, turn up the volume and enjoy. Of course life is a bit more complicated than that and so is the […]
Morrissey – Low In High School LP

Some thirty years ago Morrissey famously sang about dead people who had “loves and hates, And passions just like mine”. These days even his most ardent fans seem to be questioning whether his current loves, hates, and passions belong six foot under, or if he has just appointed himself the agitator general; the embarrassing uncle […]
Glass Mountain – Glacial CDEP

2016 has been an exciting year for the band Glass Mountain. In February they were asked to do their first gig supporting MARSICANS in Leeds. Accepting that they would need a second guitarist they quickly found a fourth member in Lewis, who, turning up for an initial jam session, caused them to realise that they […]
Wolf Bites Boy – Family Isn’t Always Blood

Picking up this album by Wolf Bites Boy after their recent very well received performance on the ‘new’ band stage at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, I expected something good. Their live performance, so good as it was, meant that the merchandise stand outside the smallest of the festival stages struggled to keep up with demand. […]
Album Review – The Twilight Sad – Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave

Similar, but definitely not the same. That phrase can be applied to every performance by The Twilight Sad that I have had the pleasure to experience and on hearing this, their fourth album; I can confirm that it continues to apply to their recorded output as well. The “folk with layers of noise” description that […]
Elephant Stone – The Three Poisons – Album Review

For various reasons, Canadian bands including The Besnard Lakes and The High Dials have been very much in the eye line of Birmingham Live over the past few weeks. In late September we reviewed Elephant Stone supporting Sleepy Sun at the Oobleck. Elephant Stone is a Canadian indie rock band, fronted by Rishi Dhir (formerly […]
Album Review – High In The Lasers by Nightmare Air

It can be a tricky job to review the familiar, and anyone who has come into contact with Nightmare Air, guitarist Dave Dupuis, or his previous band Film School, over the past few years will know that a couple of the tunes on High In The Lasers have been around for a while. However, the […]