ALBUM REVIEWS
Green Day – Saviors
The soundtrack to the lives of an army of fans, there is no sign of Green Day slowing down even 30 years on from their classic album Dookie. Billie Joe Armstrong and co have long since left their doofus reputation behind – opener The American Dream Is Killing Me is a truer representation of their ability to marry lyrics of substance to catchy pop-punk hooks. Dilemma addresses addiction, with a Macy’s Day Parade-esque acoustic opening giving way to a battering punk chorus, and the album overall finds the trio on ferocious form, with the metal snarl on the chorus of Bobby Sox and the breakneck riffs of 1981 ramping things up – the latter uses “Ain’t that a kick in the head” as the last line of its chorus but is decidedly not drawn from the Dean Martin classic.
Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore Review by Andrew Steel
Cult heroes still readily associated with their ferocious live persona decades after a defining late-night-show performance in their native America, Baltimore synthpop veterans Future Islands return with their seventh record ahead of a stop in West Yorkshire for Live at Leeds in the Park this spring. Those looking for dramatic departures are likely to walk away disappointed; those already converted though will find plenty to salivate over. Opener King of Sweden locks into that familiar relentless dance floor groove and sets the tone for a record that barely lets up, with the sophist-pop swing of Say Goodbye and The Thief's indie-rock diversionary offering up neat variations. Closer The Garden Wheel seals the deal with nostalgic genteelness; it is a winter treat.
Black Grape – Orange Head Review by Andrew Steel
For a brief shining moment in the thick of the mid-Nineties, amid the golden era of Britpop, Black Grape presented an unusual sonic contrast, constructed from the ashes of Madchester’s baggy heroes Happy Mondays. Their popfunk bona-fides remain intact – if stubbornly unyielding – on their fourth album and second since their 2015 reunion. While there’s nothing here that looks set to displace the legacy of Reverend Black Grape or Fat Neck, the brassy shuffle and yelps of Button Eyes remain unmistakable in their familiarity. Milk twists a thick dancefloor groove into a call-and-response beat that swaggers with low-key infectiousness, though closer Sex On the Beach threatens to ruin the spell with its dub-reggae psychedelica and smothered bursts of reverb.
Sleater-Kinney – Little Rope Review by Alexander Hoggard
Sleater-Kinney’s latest album was born from grief. In the autumn of 2022, Carrie Brownstein received a call to inform her that her mother and stepfather had been killed in a car accident in Italy. With Brownstein taking comfort in playing guitar, she and bandmate Corin Tucker navigated the aftermath of tragedy by forming the backbone of what was to become Little Rope. The result of their grieving process is one of the band’s most delicately layered records in years, a defiantly focused exploration of the uncertainties of life. As one of the great success stories from the Riot grrrl movement that began in the Pacific north-west, the band have always displayed an exuberant defiance. On Little Rope, they powerfully showcase raw emotion through rock anthems to aid with their grief.