Another week, and some more awesome rock, metal and country release for us to check out!

Buzzcocks: Attitude Adjustment

The punk rock royalty returned with their 11th album this last Friday, their first in four years. It’s fine. For a band that formed a whopping half a century ago now, I at least have a lot of respect and admiration for Steve Diggle for what he’s done for the scene and who he and the rest of the band have influenced over the years. But this was honestly a tough listen. It feels and sounds incredibly outdated, showing that Steve hasn’t evolved at all as a songwriter after all these decades. It’s the same early-punk/power-pop as they were writing in the 70s. I know that will certainly appeal to some people out there, but the rest of the music world has very much left the band behind at this point. There are modern bands writing better stuff in this style, while punk got a lot more interesting after the bands heyday, in this writers humble opinion.

The closest to a highlight track I had was ‘Seeing Daylight’, but honestly I struggled to get hugely further through the release without losing interest. There are certainly going to be fans of this out there, the band are still sat on 600k+ monthly listeners, but I am sadly not one of them outside of a couple of older hits. This did nothing for me, and I can’t give it any more than a 3.5/10. Technically fine, but painfully dull.

Softcult: When a Flower Doesn’t Grow

The debut album from the self-professed riotgaze band is certainly interesting. Once again it’s not my sort of thing, I don’t ‘get’ any shoegaze at all really, but I at least see the appeal of it a bit. It’s not something I’d go out of my way to listen to, but if it came on in the background I’d probably have a good time listening. The band are clearly talented, and there’s some good drumming and riffs at times throughout. I think the vocals are my main issue; having them in that droning style throughout didn’t pull me in, despite some good lyrics. The run of ‘Naive’ through to ‘She Said, He Said’ was the best part of the album for me, but the whole thing is pretty solid overall, an easy 30-minute listen. If you are into a punkier, indie edge to shoegaze, this is definitely a release for you. A solid 6.5/10 from us, and it may grow on me more with more listens.

Francis Rossi: The Accidental

The new solo album from the Quo legend is a fun, if long, release! Opener ‘Much Better’ sets the tone perfectly, and songs like ‘Back on Our Home Ground’, ‘Going Home’, and ‘Beautiful World’ are all big highlights too. However, 14 tracks across nearly an hour, especially when all are a similar vibe and pace, is a lot. I love Quo as much as the next guy and it’s always great to have more songs that so distinctly like them. And when we aren’t getting new Quo any more, I’ll happily take Rossi doing the exact same sound for his solo ventures. So yeah, it’s a damn good rock album, and is a lot of fun to listen to. Very simple and to the point. But it does get a touch repetitive around the halfway mark, let alone by the end. I’d definitely recommend checking this out if you’re a fan of the band, or just into old-school rock music in general. It’s a solid 7.5/10 from us!

Kanonenfieber: Soldatenschicksale

We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read our full review here.

HANABIE.: HOT TOPIC

The highly anticipated new EP from the Japanese metalcore band combines together a few of their latest amazing singles, alongside two new tracks, to create an awesome 15-minutes of heaviness! ‘ICONIC’ dropped recently and has been a mainstay on my rotation, while ‘Spicy Queen’ has been stuck in my head the last eight months since its release. And older track ‘GIRL’S TALK’ is of course a banger. Then you have ‘…About you’ and the closing track that are every bit as good as the others. The video-game-esque latter is honestly a big highlight of the whole thing from how utterly left field it is. The bands chaotic energy and heaviness is off the charts, yet they still have plenty of melody and catchiness to boot. There is no one out there like HANABIE., and they always make for a fun listen. They clearly don’t take themselves too seriously, which is refreshing these days. If you’re into the wilder side of metalcore, I’d definitely recommend checking this out! 8/10

Emily Scott Robinson: Appalachia

The folk/Americana singer-songwriter returns with her first studio album in nearly five years, and has produced something just as beautiful as ever. It’s 40 minutes of chilled-out, emotion-filled acoustic music, and I loved just getting totally lost and eveloped in it. It’s not tyically my sort of thing, at least not to enjoy this much, but something about Emily’s incredible vocals and lyric writing had me hooked. It’s almost impossible to pick highlights, though all three duet tracks are utterly phenomenal, giving even more depth to her sound. If you are into relaxed Americana-folk, this is certainly a release for you. Not one I’d revisit often, but certainly one I’d happily listen to again! 7.5/10

The Chuck Norris Experiment: Hot Stuff 3

Another in the Swedish punk-infused hard rock band’s collection of b-sides and it goes far harder than it needed to! Their ‘Stairway to the Stars’ cover opens the release perfectly, setting a great tone moving forward. That’s swiftly followed by album highlight ‘Hammersmith Palais’, with other album highlights like ‘The End of the Great Credibility Race’, ‘Habit to Support’ and ‘Electrify Me’ being spread through the album. However, the whole album is a great, fun release, and begs the question how a lot of these tracks haven’t made it onto full releases in the past. It’s impossible not to have a good time listening to this, and the band are so very underrated! If you are at all into the band or just the wider heavy punk genre in general, I’d definitely suggest giving this a listen! I can’t give it any less than 8.5/10. I wish more bands still did this style, and I’m so excited for them coming back to the UK this year!

Danny Dela Cruz: So Long As There Are Stars

The debut solo release of the former Inglorious/Thrxnes guitarist is a real showcase of his sheer phenomenal talent. Five amazing instrumental tracks that show the breadth of his playing skills, and all excellent in their own right. Instrumental stuff is certainly not for everyone, but this is definitely worth checking out if you are even a little bit curious. Clearly inspired by greats like Vai, Sambora and Malmsteen, he firmly plants himself up alongside all of them with this release. ‘Life’ and ‘As the Pages Turn’ are personal highlights, but the whole release is amazing from start to finish. I’ll definitely be throwing this on again in the coming weeks and months, and it gets a very solid 7.5/10 from me. And to put that into perspective, that’s high from me for both an instrumental release and an EP!

Tinsley Ellis: Labor of Love

The blues guitarist followed up 2024’s Naked Truth excellently with this stripped-back release. The vast majority of it just Tinsley’s guitar and low, powerful vocals, but he packs so much punch and emotion behind it all that I was hooked throughout. From ‘Long Time’ to ‘The Trouble with Love’, ‘Sweet Ice Tea’ to ‘Too Broke’, there is plenty to love here. However, there isn’t a bad song throughout. Once again, it isn’t a release for everyone, and it does get a touch samey by the end, but Tinsley is such a good songwriter that it’s hard not to still have a good time listening. If you’re an old-school blues fan, check this out ASAP! I’d love to hear him with a bit more of a band behind him at some point, but this is also still great regardless! 7/10

TarLung: Axis Mundi

The Austrian sludge doom trio released their first new album in nearly five years last Friday, and go just as hard as ever with it! This thing is packed full of incredible riffs, solid drumming, heaviness and some amazing growled vocals. And they give everything plenty of room to breathe too, just eight songs spread across the 38-minute runtime. ‘The Valley of Nowhere’, ‘Sea of Drowned Souls’ and the title track are all huge highlights, but every song in this fits and runs together perfectly. The band are so insanely talented, and it’s criminal that they aren’t bigger than they are at this point! If you like your music heavy and sludgy, this is certainly an album you need to be listening to! They have a big new fan in me, and I will certainly be spinning it plenty in the weeks and months to come. A solid 8/10 from us!

Gitika Partington: Twelvefold Number 1-13

Yep, a whopping 13 full-length albums, all in the same day! We had the privilege of chatting to Gitika about the feat last week, and it makes me appreciate these even more than I already do. Each has a slightly different feel to it, though all keep within her vague folk/easy-listening style, and each certainly have highlight tracks. ‘They Dance an Eleven’, ‘Virginia Wolfe’, ‘Own My Shit’ and ‘I’m the Only One Who Knows’ are a handful of the songs that stood out to me. It’s an insane achievement to release this massive a volume of work anyway, but for a good portion of it to be high quality and enjoyable is even better. It’s certainly not my sort of thing normally, but I’m so glad I was sent through the presser for it as I did have a good time listening. If anyone’s at all interested, it’s worth a listen. And, while I probably won’t revisit the project outside of the odd song here and there, I didn’t hate it at all. Gitika should be hugely proud of what she has managed to accomplish here, and in terms of the music itself, I happily give it a solid 6/10, though it would be higher for the sheer balls and confidence in the work she has!

Contrasts: False Idol

The debut EP from the modern alt/metalcore Welsh collective dropped on Friday, and honestly blew me away! It perfectly walks the line between brutal heaviness and huge, arena-filling melodies that few bands can truly pull off well. And, because of that, all four of these tracks are amazing! It’s impossible to pick highlights as all are as good as the last. Even the slower ballad ‘Armageddon’ is awesome, and fits the tone of the release excellently still. These guys already did some great stuff in Upon Those Dying and Giving in to Ghosts, and they are very much continuing that trend here! I can see big things ahead in the bands’ future, and this is a fantastic jumping off point for all of that. I can’t give it any less than 8/10, great stuff!