Charlie Gardner
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“We could have been a really good stadium band. It would have not been any good for the personalities in the band – it would have driven us all absolutely insane I would have thought. Any level of success would have made us worse people in my opinion. We could have been really good at it though. It didn’t happen and that’s that – it is what it is. It’s not a good or bad thing, just a thing. I would have liked to have made that second record though. There’s nothing wrong with being unknown, with being anonymous, it’s what almost everyone is – but try telling that to an arrogant idiot in his early twenties. . .”
Michael J Hall, Nebraska
Articles by Charlie Gardner
Formed in 2016 in the aftermath of a fire-damaged practice space, Newcastle-based Dutch Elm have steadily honed a distinctive sonic identity, one that balances the expansive dynamics of post-rock with the precision and complexity of math-rock.
Born in Namibia, Emmaleen Tangleweed is a dark folk musician and songwriter whose work blends gothic Americana, traditional folk influences, blues balladry, and dreamlike storytelling. Her music explores themes of memory, displacement, folklore, grief, and human fragility through sparse arrangements and emotionally resonant songwriting.
Haggard Cat are a critically acclaimed British post hardcore/alt-rock duo composed of drummer/backing vocalist Tom Marsh and vocalist/guitarist Matt Reynolds. We thought it about time we got a “feline” for what makes Haggard Cat purr, so we asked Matt and Tom to share four records that have been huge influences on their song writing.
Harboured return with their sophomore album entitled We’re Only The Love That We Lead. Growing as a band in every way imaginable, the trio power through styles and genres with a confident and aggressive stance that declares them as one of the most original acts in the metal scene today.
American Sharks is a three-piece band hailing from Austin, TX. Their punk-metal hybrid sound blends pop hooks with blasting in-yer-face riffs resulting in something akin to if Weezer went Stoner Rock. Coupled with hook-laden singalong lyrics, American Sharks’ forthcoming 2026 album Not Dead Yet is, well, a breath-taking return.
Deploying a double hit of heavy riffs and soaring vocals, OKAY YOU WIN have quickly built a solid reputation in the UK underground, bringing their blend of driving rock with stoned psychedelics and doomy breakdowns to a string of shows and festivals across England and further afield.
Trip-tastic Radio-length single from the loudest space-rockers in the universe and some intergalactic cephalopods. Taken from forthcoming LP Beyond The Beyond via Heavy Psych Sounds.
Built upon looping, intertwining rhythms and heavily processed instruments and samples, ‘Luxury’ distils the band’s unmistakable sonic identity into one focused strike. It’s a precise yet overwhelming construction – mechanical, hypnotic, and abrasive – and a perfect example of what we’ve come to expect from the proprietors of the “total harmful sound.”
After so many iterations of heavy, desert-inspired doom rock over past decades, it seems the essence of purely driving riffs, earworm harmonies and strong songwriting that defined a genre has been forsaken. Bronco Forte are a return to the stark blast that made bands like Kyuss, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden legends.
Bursting onto the European scene with their debut Panorama EP in 2022, French instrumental quintet Hanry quickly established themselves as something altogether different; fusing soaring post-rock with acoustic warmth and the fragile intimacy of ambient electronica.
Haunted Lives provides the first retrospective for enigmatic Scottish artist Grey Malkin – a “gathering of works” from 2009–2025.
A slow, surreal descent through emptiness and decay. Built on suffocating tension and bleak atmospheres, the song evokes a world where life has become mechanical – a theatre of dead marionettes staring with hollow eyes. . . a reflection on numbness, loss, and the quiet horror of simply existing.
This Lonesome Paradise Unveils Death Motels: A Gothic Desert Odyssey of music and cinema.
Fresh from their successful vinyl release, Hollow Cells, in the summer, February sees Belonging teaming up with fellow Portlanders, Inny, for a split EP entitled The Dog. Today we premiere the title track.
At last, a brand new album from the legendary The Heads. yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell is their first new material for 20 years. It will be released almost 30 years on from their seminal debut Relaxing With, this will be their fifth studio album proper.
Based in Brighton, Songe is a British/French ambient duo formed in 2023 upon stumbling on a lonely church piano. The band’s songs weave through ambient soundscapes, touches of darker noise and haunting folk.
Formed in 2015 in the Baltics, avant-blues duo Ringhold consists of Estonian guitarist Kalle Tikas and Latvian vocalist Eleonora Kampe. Single Takes is a live studio album capturing five distinct tracks recorded in the summer of 2025.
The mystical day 60s rock met neo-psychedelic rock mixing up to the point of losing consciousness of their own essence, that’s when Giöbia’s acid psychedelic rock was born, in an overwhelming and incessant soundtrack with an unmistakable Italian taste. …
With the aptly named single ‘Distant Ghosts’ out for Halloween, we thought it was about time we found out more about what makes Oh Doom! tick to such an irresistibly slow pulse, so we asked them to pick the three albums that have proved major influences on their music.
Vexations create frenetic and off-kilter post-psych, with dissonant layered guitars, unorthodox song structures, and vocals that oscillate between spoken word and emphatic screams, to give a punchy yet unearthly sonic experience.
