The Reverse - My Lifelong Psychological Experiment (Run Out Records) 28/01/2008

T: Clever without being overbearing, The Reverse make music that could be compared to the makers of our favourite 2006 album, Being 747, as well as Jarvis Cocker, as my colleague pointed out earlier. It's easy to warm to, even the bit that sounds like the theme tune to the old kids tv programme "You And Me".

N: You and Me? I hae no idea what you're talking about. Now, if you were to say we had lots of things to make and do, I might have had an undertanding, but that doesn't detract the fact that I like The Reverse's simplicity in songwriting and arrangements, which screams "Hear Me!" 8/10

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Laboratory Noise - Hope Is A Waking Dream

T: If anybody has grieved for the corpse of shoegazing more than the editor of this website, I'll be very surprised. Therefore I imagine the resurrection of his own personal holy ghost is sure to send shivers down his spine and traces of incontinence dribbling down his trousers. To be fair, it's a magnificently faithful update of a genre long gone but not forgotten, and Laboratory Noise pull it off with seemingly little or no effort. Greeting you upfront with both swirling and jangly guitars, "Hope Is A Waking Dream" is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, perhaps rediscovering all the jittys, footpaths and secret alleyways that we'd long since forgotten. This EP is quite majestic in its beauty and is difficult to fault.

N: It might be more flattering to file this under the sub-category "retro" than what this might otherwise be categorised as. Shoegazing was fifteen or so years ago, and this is a dead ringer. That's not to say I'm criticising this EP; to say it's "fringe sweeping" would also be a misrepresentation; this is bang right in the centre of this movement. Laboratory Noise are doing a better Chapterhouse or Slowdive than any other pretender has achieved since. These sounds are indeed ethereal, and vocalist Paul McNulty puts himself in the centre of any of the first three Ride EPs, as echoes of Mark Gardener bombard the senses. I love this band; more like this please. 10/10

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Alfie Knigston - Creatures & People's Ways

N: An artist we are familiar with here at Atomicduster, having first been introduced to his single 'She's Scary' a year ago. Is it really that long? But in the twelve months that have elapsed Alfie's palette has broadened and whereas on last meeting his single bore echoes of 80's band Jazz Butcher, this time it's Stephen Duffy's Lilac Time that welcomes the listener on first pressing play, with a well structured and evidently well travelled number that throws off any former shakles that this artist may have attracted. Ok, so with influences of Lilac Time or Jazz Butcher, Alfie might be accused of being stuck in this era, but heck when he does this so well, I don't think that learning your craft is a crime.

Music that could be accused of having a C&W outlook follows on the number 'So Don't Disappear' and of course this is an area of the musical playground that Lilac Time were proficient with, so perhaps we haven't strayed too far from where we started. The following track, 'It's Easy' was a little too invisible for my liking, whereas the following number 'Miracle Man' had tones of Brian Molko, in Alfie's vocal presentation, the music with its orchestral backdrop, a cineramic panorama, where my mind drew images of a sports car driving through a dusky landscape, its driver trying to work out where it was a relationship had turned bad? Hey, I'm absorbing this album pretty much, but the core of his presentation, it should be remembered that Alfie Kingston is a songwriter and this element of his trade results in a solid performace. Songs that are engaging combine with very interesting musical arrangements. Well as we encounter the midpoint of this album, or track 6, 'She's Scary' was pretty much where we came in wasn't it, so Tone how about the remaining tracks?

T: Well "I Will Wait" is a dead ringer for an early Michael Stipe composition whereas "Regard Me 14 Days" begins like Snowy White's "Bird Of Paradise" before evolving into a mid-eighties AOR tune which, whilst listenable, is far from the cream of the crop. "The Distance" is a moody, folksy number which echoes Jimmy Page in its guitar led intro but ends up following the path of the majority of its predecessors on this album. Closing track "This I'll Shame" continues in this vain and sees out a very accomplished and enjoyable album from the young songwriter. 8/10

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Superkings - Come Off At The Roxy

T: They're always interesting, this band, and that is a major selling point. From the rather sombre latter day Johnny Cash style opener of "All Things Considered", we moved on to the almost rockabilly candour of "The Good Sense" and encompassed a spectrum of musical styles thereafter. Great band, great tunes.

N: This band are certainly songwriters at heart, but the vocals here are perhaps a little subdued and with lyrics of such a dark honesty, I might've liked to hear a more forthright production allowed. 8/10

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The Brent Flood - Autumn 2007 Demo

T: They're clearly very adept at playing their instruments, The Brent Flood, and have a knack for wriiting catchy pop songs. Sometimes though, you can't help feeling that these tunes would fare better over the pond in the States.

N: So what you're saying, in essence, is that The Brent Flood could well be described as a "Gin Blossoms playing at Kaiser Chiefs". The song writing is certainly well honed and for such a young band (none of their members exceed 24) this is astounding. But to say this band might fare better in the States in this day and age may be misleading, but is there room in this already cramped genre for another? Have I made it clear that that I do I fact find their sound most compelling? Damn younsters. 8/10

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