THE FRONT ROW

Category: Music

  • Single Review: CEDAR – Nightshift.

    The main raison d’etre of Halfway 2 Nowhere is to bring to your attention new and interesting music that may have slipped the attention of the mainstream media. With Nightshift, the intriguing debut release from Cedar, I think we are hitting our mark. Formed in 2022 Cedar are Patrick Murphy…

  • Live Review: BIRKENHEAD LIVE – Skinny Living, Murmurs, Jamie Wooding, and LASS. Future Yard, Birkenhead, 29/7/2023.

    This Saturday saw the first leg of a triple-header of events coming under the banner of ‘Birkenhead Live‘. If this was a taste of things to come then the good citizens of Wirral are in for a treat. Held on the sunny, newly refurbished outdoor stage at Future Yard the…

  • Single Review: Apollo Junction – Mil1ion.

    Yorkshire band Apollo Junction are big football fans (well they support Leeds United anyway). I know this from seeing their delight on social media when their music has been used on football related TV shows such as The Disney Channel’s ‘Welcome To Wrexham‘. The lyrics of their latest single Mil1ion…

  • Live Review: THE HEAVY NORTH, Cedar – The Arena, Gibraltar – 30/6/2023.

    It was a big weekend for Merseyside artists. But while the likes of Jamie Webster, The Coral and Red Rum Club were playing to excited crowds in front of a damp Liver Building, some of Liverpool’s other favourite son’s were causing a fuss 1,700 miles away in a slightly warmer…

  • Live Review: THE CORAL, Roy – Future Yard, Birkenhead – 8/5/2023.

    I’d normally start a review with a little bio of the band. But to be honest if you aren’t aware of The Coral, then I’m not entirely sure this is the blog for you. Formed in 1996, for many music fans The Coral helped to fill the chasm left by…

  • Live Review: Sound City 2023 – New Music Friday.

    Just like the ‘Glorious 12th’ is a landmark for those ‘huntin’ and fishin’ types, so the first Bank Holiday of May is a significant date in the gig-goers calendar. For many it represents the start of the Festival Season, and for some that means a trip to Liverpool for Sound…

  • Single Review: Apollo Junction – ‘History’.

    Hot on the heels of recent release By The River, Leeds Indie quintet Apollo Junction are back with a new song History. Despite the evidence in the above photo these boys certainly don’t let the grass grow beneath their feet. Apollo Junction are becoming known for their up-beat, anthemic, feel…

  • Album Review: First Class and Coach – ‘Neon Hip’.

    Before we get going I want to thank Cork band First Class and Coach for two things. Firstly for producing a rather excellent, darkly atmospheric alt-rock album in Neon Hip. Secondly for giving me the opportunity to highlight the work of one of my current favourite record labels – FIFA…

  • Single Review: Sleaze – ‘Daffodils’.

    South-East London Indie-pop quintet Sleaze describe their music as ‘Post pub kebab shop Glam-Rock’. If that description doesn’t pique your musical curiosity then I’m afraid there’s nothing down for you. Daffodils is the band’s second release and it’s a delicious slice of Indie-pop telling the tale of a boyfriend’s half-arsed…

  • Live Review: THE DREAM MACHINE, Bright Town, Idyllic – Jimmy’s Liverpool, 23/3/23.

    In preparation for the release of their eagerly anticipated debut album Thank God! It’s The Dream Machine, Wirral band The Dream Machine are embarking on a short three date residency at Liverpool venue Jimmy’s. On Thursday I went along to the middle episode of the trilogy to see what all…

  • Live Review: Rianne Downey. Oporto, Leeds. 19th March 2023.

    There are some points in an artist’s career when, if you’re lucky enough, you can look back upon and say ‘I was part of that’. I’ve got a feeling that this tour, and Sunday night in Leeds, will be one of those.  I’ve seen Rianne Downey live twice before; once with just…

  • Live Review: THE CLAUSE, FEVER, Wull – Jimmy’s, Liverpool -17/3/2023.

    If you’d entered a packed Jimmy’s just before The Clause came on stage you may have felt a mild sense of dislocation. Witnessing the plethora of Tricolour flags and Guinness top hats, and hearing the occasional shouts of ‘Yam Yam Army’ you’d have been forgiven for thinking that you’d stepped…

  • Live Review: PANIC SHACK, Shelf Lives – Jimmy’s, Liverpool, 8.2.2023.

    This was definitely an early contender for ‘Gig of the Year 2023’ as Welsh pop-punks Panic Shack combined with electronic rap-grunge duo Shelf Lives to systematically take apart a packed Jimmy’s basement. Respect to the organisers who limited the support to a singular act allowing Toronto/Northampton duo Sabrina and Jonny…

  • Single Review: Apollo Junction – ‘By The River’.

    Perhaps less dramatic than recent releases, but just as impactful and equally strong, the new song By The River from Leeds favourites Apollo Junction does not disappoint. Jamie Williamson’s vocals very much continue in a similar vein to previous releases – drawing you in through a clever, singular lilt before…

  • Live Review: JOE ASTLEY, Flechettes, The Facades – The Cavern, Liverpool – 22.1.2023.

    Such was the show of support for Joe Astley at The Cavern that it seemed like Liverpool’s famous Mathew Street had turned into Wigan’s King Street. The good townsfolk of Wigan had travelled en masse down the East Lancs Road to attend the launch event for Astley’s debut album Twenty-First…

  • TRACK REVIEW: AZILELI – ‘IN THIS HOUSE’

    Azileli; an emerging South London artist hoping to make her mark in 2023 has released her latest single ‘In This House’.Azileli’s previous releases have been electronic muses that have a burgeoning industrial experimentalism to them. With a new year emerging Azileli has shown maturity and vulnerability in equal measure with…

  • IGGY POP – EVERY LOSER ALBUM REVIEW

    Iggy Pop is 19 albums deep into his illustrious career and his passion for impassioned chaos refuses to be quelled. If you needed any confirmation as to Iggy Pop’s attitude and demeanour going into this record look no further than the opening lines of first track ‘Frenzy’. “I’ve got a…

  • Book Review: Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? An Indie Odyssey – Nige Tassell.

    Like all the best ideas the premise of Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? An Indie Odyssey is a simple one. Thirty-five years on from the release of C86 ‘a cassette that would shape music for years to come’ and ‘…was arguably the point at which indie was born’ Nige…

  • Live Review: Tom A. Smith, Megan Wyn, Ruby J, Fiona Lennon – Jimmy’s, Liverpool, 8/12/2022.

    Jimmy’s Liverpool wasn’t packed to the gills, but that was probably just as well as the burgeoning talents of Sunderland’s Tom A. Smith and a supporting cast of supremely talented, young artists needed a bit of elbow room to showcase their prodigious gifts. First up to impress was local singer…

  • LIVE REVIEW: PLACEBO @ MOTORPOINT ARENA, CARDIFF 24/11/2022

    Placebo have been in the game 26 years and that was telling for numerous reasons tonight. The stage lighting and the overall performance was was honed and perfected but the handbrake was firmly on. The androgynous and ineffable group made the conscious decision to not play the hits much to…