Centro-Matic were a rock band formed in Denton Texas in 1995 who continued with the same four members, releasing 11 LPs and numerous singles & EPs until they disbanded in 2014. Seeing them was like hanging out with your older brother’s cool mates on a dreich school night. Continue reading “AmericanA to Z – Centro-matic”
It’s a pretty safe bet that no band whose early work has been compared to Mission of Burma, The Pop Group and The Minutemen has previously been reviewed on AUK. This is also likely the case for any band whose main songwriter cites nomeansno, Fugazi and Sonic Youth as key early influences. However, that has just changed with the release of this vinyl-only third LP from Ireland’s Glimmermen on Greyslate Records. Continue reading “Glimmermen “Here I Stand” (Greyslate Records, 2019)”
In introducing ‘LAHS’, their fourth LP, the Allah Las are very keen to emphasise their move away from the sound of their Los Angeles roots. The travel metaphors sprinkled liberally across the record (‘Holding Pattern’, ‘In the Air’ ‘On Our Way’), the singing in Portuguese (‘Prazer em te Conhecer’) and the postcard related artwork are all presented as gauges of this shift. Continue reading “Allah Las “LAHS” (Mexican Summer, 2019)”
They seem like a particularly American thing, these ever-changing congregations of individuals; coalescing around an idea to make music together while at the same time performing in/with/for numerous other bands. Do these in fact represent ‘real’ bands or are they some kind of short-lived vanity project? One Eleven Heavy are one such congregation who are definitely a band, just not an ‘exclusive’ one. Continue reading “One Eleven Heavy “Desire Path” (Beyond Beyond is Beyond, 2019)”
Brothers in bands huh? Often fraught, sometimes fragile and rarely friendly. It can end badly but there is also the potential for genuine magic, which can seem harder for sibling-free groups to reach. The Blue Highways have three of them: Lurys in the name of Callum (Vocals & rhythm guitar), Theo (drums) and Jack (lead guitar). It’s not possible to vouch for their relationship or how it will develop in the band but, together with bassist Pete Dixon, they are currently looking set for a measure of success with the release of their rootsy yet soulful debut EP.
Continue reading “The Blue Highways “He Worked EP” (Independent, 2019)”
Fourteen years and 6 albums into a career that has seen them firmly established as home-town-heroes in Bradenton Florida, Have Gun Will Travel have decided that now is the time to embark on a quest for the great American rock record. In doing so they have studied at the fretboards of the masters: CCR, Springsteen and Tom Petty, but these are big shoes to fill and that they don’t quite fit is perhaps no surprise. Continue reading “Have Gun Will Travel “Strange Chemistry” (Mile Wide Records, 2019)”
