Recent reviews

Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Fontaines D.C.

Dopamine Chamber
XL Recordings (2026)

EP HIGHLIGHTS – “Tongue”, “Where Is Gone?”, “You Miss Me”, “Japan” If you’ve been here from the start, Fontaines D.C. will always conjure up gritty, political poetry and clashing, driving rhythms. Third album Skinty Fia, the defining breakthrough moment and fan favourite, gave them their first number one record in the UK and Ireland in 2022 – but can they improve on 2024’s commercially reaching pop masterpiece Romance? For the last two years, blunt spoken word and jagged guitars have taken a backseat to dreamy, 80s-style synths and pulsing, bass-heavy melodies. Released on 16th October, Dopamine Chamber takes this even further. It’s by far the most musically and lyrically experimental we’ve seen them, as themes explore digital addiction, anxiety, toxic coping mechanisms in dystopian societies, the rise of AI and the eventual end of it all. Frontman Grian Chatten recalled band discussions after the last LP: “Do we reinvent ourselves? Do a rootsy album, take another left turn, or continue to pursue whatever this was with Romance? It felt like we had more to say in that area.” Even the artwork shows a clear evolution from the mutation pictured on Romance’s cover. But, where Romance comforted us, Dopamine Chamber forces … Read more

DeeCracks

True Nothing
Pirates Press (2026)

Let’s get crazy and out of control! That’s what the opening line of the album instructs us to do and … Read more

Massive Nightmares

Ain't My World
Black Numbers (2026)

Massive Nighmares debuted in 2024 with a short EP. Now they return with a full-length. The band plays a somewhat … Read more

Contention

Nuclear Summer
Daze (2026)

Contention, I would argue, has spent the last few years at or near the top of the heap of the … Read more

A Secret Revealed

The Ruin I Summoned Forth
Lifeforce (2026)

There are albums that use heaviness as an assault and others that use it to create an atmosphere. On The … Read more

Time Spent Driving

Lost Leaves
Thirty Something Records (2026)

There's a particular challenge facing bands that came out of the late '90s and early '00s emo scene. You can … Read more

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One from the archives

The Sainte Catherines

Dancing for Decadence
Fat Wreck Chords (2006)

D-Beat hardcore is becoming a quite liked genre even outside of the shower-once-a-month hardcore cretins. Hell even one those little pukes in From First to Last was recently seen in a Tragedy shirt in a promo photo for their latest album entitled I Killed my Girlfriend with my Spiky $500 Dollar Haircut and then Pouted about it. D-Beat hardcore, for those out of the loop, stands for downbeat hardcore where the guitar and bass are tuned down to lowest possible tuning without hitting that note that makes you shit yourself. The drumming in d-beat type hardcore is an all out assault on the skins and usually as fast as possible unless a gut slamming slow part that makes one feel like being pulled through a vat of Elmer's glue and … Read more

More album reviews

Alien Chicks

Toys Taken at Birth
Alcopop! Records (2026)

EP HIGHLIGHTS – “5/4” & “I Killed Uncle Ben” Those who haven’t heard of Alien Chicks by now are sorely missing out. The Brixton trio have been consistently dropping singles and EPs since at least 2022, with funky frenetic energy and a sonic nebula of art punk, jazz, math rock, rap and a whole lotta noise. Released on 2nd October … Read more

Drink Deep

In Reverse EP
Thirty Something Records (2026)

Upon first listen, those close to my age and who may share similar musical tastes may suspect that Drink Deep might be a band from Washington, D.C. For starters, the band takes its name from a Rites of Spring song, wears its influences on its literal sleeves (a brief glance at their social media presence will reveal members wearing official … Read more

Uncle Acid and the DeadBeats

Shapes of Midnight
Killer Candy Records (2026)

Stoner rock is one of the most astounding and incredible genres emerging in the rock scene today. It's a global phenomenon with countless bands across the world, plus various subgenres such as desert rock, stoner doom and psychedelic (heavily influenced by the original psychedelic bands of the '60s and '70s). At the forefront of this genre and in the vanguard … Read more

Various Artists

Tightwire / Canadian Rifle - Nietzsche
Red Scare Industries (2026)

Available in a black and white print gatefold sleeve, this is a 2-band, 6-song split 7". The gate fold is a nice touch to a classic split 7", complete with full lyric sheets. When the needle hits it's cleanly produced pop-punk in the vein of Lookout Records, built on crisp melodies and harmonies. While it's bright and sunny in sound, … Read more

Sweeping Promises

You Say I Romanticize
Sub Pop (2026)

What strikes me foremost about this record are the vocals. As the father of a 13 y.o. daughter I feel qualified to say that this person could be a pop singer. I mean I don’t really know what it takes to be one, although I’m sure that it’s more than a voice good enough to win a game show, I’ve … Read more

Moonraker

Me and the Bells
Punkerton Records (2026)

I have probably talked about this before, I knew of Moonraker through split EPs and things like that, but they didn't fully pop into my consciousness until The Forest. Me and the Bells, four years later, is their follow-up full-length and it continues the trajectory from that record while still capturing its own distinct vibe. Musically the band is heavily … Read more

Dreamwell

Hymns for the Denial of God
Prosthetic (2026)

Some records make their intentions obvious from the very beginning. They use the same structure that countless bands have for decades: verse, chorus, breakdown, payoff, and the blunt force of explaining what you are supposed to feel. Hymns for the Denial of God does something much more complex. It’s a series of difficult questions no one wants to answer, proposed … Read more

Wine Lips

TV Dinner
Stomp Records (2026)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Leech”, “Semi Detached Furnished Home”, “Strip Club DJ”, “Static On The Radio” Toronto’s garage-psych punks Wine Lips bring us album number five. Aside from the awesomely colourful, off-the-wall humanoid artwork, TV Dinner takes a sharp turn from the sonically trippy toppings of previous entries – particularly 2024’s Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party. Tracks are punchy fuzz-bombs, as … Read more

Psycho Beets

Horrendum
Trash Wax, White Riot Records (2026)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Mam w sobie diabła”, “Zombie”, “Listopadowa noc”, “Porque te vas” Fancy some Polish psychobilly punk? Well, you’re in luck. This is for anyone who takes their classic rock ’n’ roll swing with a heavy dose of horror and dark Western twang, blending rockabilly elements with Slavic folk and chaotic yet mysterious post punk -– all as the … Read more

Manicdotes

Eight Lives Down
Independent (2026)

The chemicals are rushing right out of the gate on this one. You start with a cigarette and dive straight into Diphenhydramine (Benadryl, to the lay person) to calm your nerves from that nicotine rush. This album starts off with a raucous acoustic punk number that will leave you craving more. So, it’s a good thing it’s only the first … Read more

Maruja

Pain to Power
Music For Nations (2025)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Look Down on Us”, “Born to Die”, “Break the Tension”, “Trenches” Ahead of their 100 Club appearance this September, Maruja’s latest release, 2025’s debut album Pain to Power – following a slew of six EPs, reveals awe-inspiring experimental rock clashed with muddy yet always melodious free jazz. Eclectic would be putting it mildly. In amongst all that, … Read more

Onelinedrawing

RAINBOWMACHINE
Iodine (2026)

I grew up listening to the acoustic side of onelinedrawing. Those stripped-down Jonah Matranga songs had a way of making everything else disappear, often needing little more than a guitar, a voice, and an honest melody to completely pull you in. That's still the version of onelinedrawing that immediately comes to mind for me, so with Matranga having been relatively … Read more

Professor and the Madman

Dreamworld
FullerTone Records (2026)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Brand New World”, “12 Strings and Tambourines”, “Adams Street”, “Temple of Madness” It’s rare to find these days. A band (or maybe supergroup, in this case) that defies all genre boundaries and just…creates. Alfie Agnew (Adolescents, D.I.) and Sean Elliott (D.I., Mind Over Four) are familiar names from Orange County’s early 80s hardcore and psych-punk scenes, but … Read more

Chat Pile

Who Loves The Sun
Flenser (2026)

If Chat Pile were a film, they would be a dark thriller. The kind that builds tension until the end and, once we reach the third act, still might not ever show the killer. It's plodding and intense and, while I just pulled out a genre reference, the best thing about the band is how much they defy conventional musical … Read more

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)