(((O))) Tag: Gareth O’Malley
It’s just you, Mat Sweet, and a set of beautiful yet heart-crushing songs on which every syllable can be heard; heard and felt. – By Gareth O’Malley
Not only have they made it to their third album, a feat many of their contemporaries couldn’t achieve, but they’ve delivered something that is leagues ahead of their previous output, both recognisable as Hawk Eyes and a clear evolution. Everything is Fine? That’s putting it mildly. By Gareth O’Malley
Xibalba have delivered on their early promise and made an album that’s as thrilling as it is heavy – and who knows, there may be even better to come. – By Gareth O’Malley
Every track makes its mark, and there are some stellar highs to be found throughout, so don’t be surprised if you’re going in for another listen as soon as it’s over. If you like death metal with plenty of replay value, this is the album for you. – By Gareth O’Malley
Gareth O’Malley celebrated his birthday by seeing Conan and Bast at Fibber Magees in Dublin.
‘Halls In Hospitals’ is a frequently impressive debut from a band who can surely establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the UK post-rock scene. By Gareth O’Malley
On ‘PromisesPromises’, Kill Chaos prove that they know exactly what they’re doing. By Gareth O’Malley
With ‘Free Your Mind’, Cut Copy have cemented their position as one of the most reliable bands on the circuit. By Gareth O’Malley
‘Julia With Blue Jeans On’ is the best thing Spencer Krug’s ever been involved with. By Gareth O’Malley
18 months, in the world of music, really isn’t that long. One criticism that can immediately be levelled at the new Yellowcard record – their second in that space of time, following on from last year’s ‘When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes’ – is that …
For The Cast of Cheers, the importance of this album cannot be understated. It’s the album on which they start really taking this whole ‘band’ thing seriously – they weren’t expecting the avalanche of word-of-mouth success that ‘Chariot’ brought them t …
In some respects, the new material from Meursault is clearly different to what’s gone before; in others, it’s an evolution of their previous work. Up til now, Meursault’s recorded output has essentially been a four-man band trading in sparse but brilli …
For every recent post-punk band who have gone on to bigger and better things (e.g. Editors and Franz Ferdinand) with the release of their second album, there have been countless others who have made a mess of things (e.g. White Lies, who crashed and bu …
There are some who say that pop’s obsession with its past will seriously hamper its future. Indeed, the amount of revivalist acts who have been around in the previous few years is nothing short of staggering, especially so in the world of pop music. Ho …
Imagine, for a second, that you are standing at the top of the skyscraper that’s depicted on the new of the new A Place to Bury Strangers album, so high up that you can’t see the ground. Should you lose your balance and fall, you know it’s over, but it …
It’s amazing what a bit of polish can do for a band. Up until now, Crocodiles have revelled in a lo-fi approach to making music, music that was once heavily indebted to the Jesus & Mary Chain but has managed to escape its influences. 2010’s ‘Sleep …
If, upon hearing this album, it proves difficult for you to get past the fact that Gaggle are a 21-member all-female choir, I won’t be too surprised. After all, some have marked that out as Gaggle’s ‘thing’. They’re far more than that, though: ‘From th …
It says a lot about a band’s longevity when it’s painfully obvious that their debut album gets better with age; in the 14 months that have elapsed since The Chapman Family released their explosive first outing, ‘Burn Your Town’, their stock has risen c …
Making a record for the first time in eight years is always a difficult task. In the case of Hot Water Music, the question ‘would they ever make a record together again?’ was never really on the cards, at least in hindsight. It was always a question of …
Ever have one of those moments where you feel a string of songs on a certain album is so good that you don’t think you’ll ever be able to get past them and on to the rest of the record? I must confess that this has been happening to me quite regularly …
