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1 week ago | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
Divide and Dissolve are not your average doom metal band. Formed by the powerhouse composer and multi-instrumentalist Takiaya Reed, they have classical chops as well as face melting solos. Better yet, despite playing instrumentals, they also have something to say about the state of the world, railing against the neo-Nazi orange clown and his toxic toadies.
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3 weeks ago | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
Produced by guitarist Sam Grant, Pigs x 7’s follow-up to 2023’s Land Of Sleeper isn’t much of a sonic departure from the Newcastle behemoths, but still has some crispy little winners. From the early ’80s Motorhead-inspired ‘Blockage’ to the psychedelic, frazzled ‘Collider’ it is of course all underpinned by Matthew Baty’s relentless, snarling vocals and sardonic humour.
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1 month ago | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
It seems extremely apposite watching the pink blossom falling from trees whilst listening to the new album from Glasgow/London duo Sacred Paws: this album’s songs are all about transition, from the end of relationships, to the start of new life changes. So it feels apt that it’s getting an early spring release. This is not a wild jump into the unknown, more a measured, tentative one, before finding a safe place to land.
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1 month ago | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
Sometimes, a singer-songwriter is only as good as their famous fans. The likes of Ezra Furman and Marc Riley both adore scrappy U.S. folk indie hero and comic book guy Jeffrey Lewis, though Lewis has never quite scaled the heights of the former for me (or plumbed the ridiculous depths of The Creepers for the latter). Rather, his deadpan, man-out-of-time schtick recalls, variously, an American Art Brut, a lo-fi Lou Reed, and mid-era Jonathan Richman.
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1 month ago | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
The timeless goth band have come a long way from 2007 and the release of their spiky debut album, Strange House, which was a feral, garage-punk nightmare. Night Life, their fifth studio album, sees them refine the sound more, but still feels as crepuscular as the title would imply. Contrasts are why it works so well. It sets out its stall early with ‘Ariel’, a twinkly synth-pop song which mines the best parts of the eighties.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
There are few finer things in life than watching Pom Poko frontwoman Ragnhild Fankel unleash her inner Nigel Tufnel, conducting a squall of feedback with a manic grin. It’s this playfulness and lack of vanity that makes the Oslo band so endearing, and musically, they’re no slouches, either. Playing tracks from their glorious new third album, Champion, along with old favourites, they’re an infectious lot to witness. Breakout hit ‘My Blood’ from debut Birthday, is key to their sound.
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Oct 12, 2024 | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
The enigmatic Swedish band’s eponymous new album (their sixth) isn’t so much a change in genre, since they’ve always blurred genres, but rather, another chapter in their singular career. They refuse to kow-tow to prevailing trends. They’re often in masks, and taciturn in interviews. You won’t find autotune or super-producers here. The listener remains reassured by the signature sound: fuzzy, stoner rock, jazz flutes and locked grooves, but no further forward in unravelling who they really are.
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Sep 22, 2024 | 
theweereview.com | Lorna Irvine
Sonica’s remit to pair innovative sound and visual artists always brings together unique international talent. So it is with tonight’s decadent double bill. Essentially, it’s designed for the 6 Music crowd; too old to rave but too young for dad rock – a discerning bunch who are into genre-defying experimentation. Grand River, the project of Berlin based musician Aimee Portioli, sees her emerge from refracted smoke, created by her collaborator Marco Ciceri.
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Aug 3, 2024 | 
festmag.com | Lorna Irvine
By Lorna Irvine Published 03 Aug 2024 With a typically taboo-baiting Edinburgh Fringe title, Leah Shelton's one-woman show, directed by Ursula Martinez, could have been a clichéd romp through performance art tropes. But it's surprisingly thoughtful and tender, both as a study in the patriarchal pathologization of women in crisis, and a disarmingly beautiful tribute to Shelton's grandmother Gwen, who was (potentially mis)diagnosed in middle age with schizophrenia.
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Jul 5, 2024 | 
snackmag.co.uk | Lorna Irvine
The late Kay Mellor had a great ear for working class dialogue, as well as the nuances of everyday struggles. So the theatrical adaptation of her hit TV show could have been a triumph. It doesn’t hit these heights, falling in a rather unwieldy tangle between satire, soap and crime caper. But it’s still likeable enough, thanks to some sharp writing and fine performances.
