As ambitious and unique as it is earthy and unkempt, Repeat Offenders is a soundtrack to barroom brawls and morning-after despair…perfect for this festive season. By Aidan Hehir

Both bands have albums in the pipeline and on this evidence they are going to be shit-hot. You’d be hard-pressed to find two bands of such quality joining forces in this way anywhere across this green and pleasant land; listening now may spare you divine wraith in years to come… By Aidan Hehir

Bear vs Manero have managed to achieve the enviable feat of triggering memories of all that’s good about music without being derivative; it’s fabulously original and a very modern take on the perennial need to howl against orthodoxy. By Aidan Hehir

Bear vs Manero are one of the many unheralded gems in contemporary British music. Combining lyrical finesse and thunderous riffs, they are an intoxicating blast of raw power. I interviewed the band following the recording of their first full-length album; if there’s any justice it will propel them into fame-and-excess-induced-rehab upon its release in May. By Aidan Hehir

This is a band with a very definite musical style and political vision who are in complete control of their work; there is no trace of compromise, equivocation or self-doubt. By Aidan Hehir

On the 3rd of October, at the Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park, Yokozuna played their last ever gig. It was not headline news; Yokozuna, I’ve never met anyone outside of the DIY circuit who’s heard of them, yet, for those who knew the band, Yokozuna’s end was mourned as a profound loss. Before the show, Aidan Hehir grabbed a few last words from the trio.

Parerga is certainly loud and aggressive but more than just power and velocity; the songs are carefully crafted and executed, and often insidiously melodic. By Aidan Hehir

Without pretension or conceit, Punching Swans have cut mercilessly through the post-modern existential crisis with all the precision and sonic fury of a surgeon wielding a chainsaw. By Aidan Hehir

It is at times brilliant, always harrowing and occasionally painful. By Aidan Hehir

This album bristles with a unique fury that manages to be witheringly heavy without ever becoming formulaic or neanderthal. BY Aidan Hehir

With savage editing there is a decent four song EP buried here. By Aidan Hehir

Three inspiring bands playing music devoid of pretension and anything approximating compromise. – By Aidan Hehir

‘Operetta’ is well worth a listen; the first four tracks are great in themselves, promise much and they’re definitely a band I’d like to see live. By Aidan Hehir

This is an utterly brilliant EP, equally inspirational and thunderous and free from any sense of contrivance or quest for mainstream acceptance; this honesty imbues Bear vs Manero with an energy and a sound that defies classification but epitomises all that is good about music. By Aidan Hehir

“This is multi-faceted, sophisticated discordance which bristles with angst, contempt and flashes of aberrant beauty…” – by Aidan Hehir

This is an album that should be listened to at full volume from start to finish – ideally somewhere you can shout, dance and shoot BB guns at cops eating doughnuts. By Aidan Hehir

An impressive debut; it improves which each listen and is definitely more engaging and honest than most “alternative” music currently polluting the airwaves/gig circuit. By Aidan Hehir

On planning my journey to the gig I discover that the Northern Line is closed; the nearest Tube Station is not accessible. Maybe I should leave it? Its gonna cost £22.50 to get in from Rochester, now involves transport complications…But I go; in the train on the way back I feel like I’ve been electrocuted, enlivened and inspired. It was more than worth it. By Aidan Hehir