Timing, as they say, is everything. And, arriving almost 10 years since they first formed in Brighton, and more than four since their 2022 debut EP ‘’Til The Stream Runs Dry’ tipped them for intriguingly grubby, underground success, jazz-punk band Opus Kink have taken the road to their debut album at a glacial pace.
The reasons for The Sweet Goodbye’s lengthy gestation are standard issue for a relatively small band: a classic mathematical problem of too many day jobs plus not enough time or money. But the musical landscape slows for no band, and the alternative world that Opus Kink find themselves returning to is a markedly different one to that in which they cut their teeth.
Back in the earlier part of the decade, NME…
Category: post-punk
There’s a moment on ‘Cruise Ship Designer’, one of the more playful tracks on Dry Cleaning’s third album, where it seems like singer Florence Shaw is finally getting something off her chest, something that might be deeply relevant to the band’s creative process. It’s a declaration that she makes just as the song clangs to a standstill, almost obscured by the grinding guitars: “I make sure there are hidden messages in my work,” she states boldly.
Ever since the London four-piece released their debut EP Sweet Princess in 2019, there has been a temptation to approach Dry Cleaning’s records as a puzzling cryptic crossword or surreal Wordle cut-up, turning each song into a breadcrumb trail (as their distant spoken-word ancestors Slint might have it). “It’s a Tokyo bouncy…
There was a fusty, claustrophobic aura surrounding Cardiacs’ 1988 debut album, A Little Man And A House And The Whole World Window. Released 14 months later, On Land And In The Sea captured them basking in psychedelic sunshine. Less a transformation than a giddy blossoming, it showcased their self-created world of imagination, wonder and squint-eyed eccentricity.
Leader and chief songwriter Tim Smith may or may not have been thrilled by an increasing amount of attention from the music mainstream, momentary approval from Steve Wright on Radio 1 included, but his music spoke only of feverish, mischievous delight. The primitive, angular clatter of Cardiacs’ earliest efforts had grown into something bigger and more ambitious.
True to its name, (the best & the rest of) New Order will include both the 1994 hits set (the best of) New Order and its 1995 follow-up (the rest of) New Order. The former featured their biggest hits up to 1993’s Republic and new mixes of songs like “Bizarre Love Triangle,” “True Faith” and ‘Round & Round,” while the latter collected 10 mostly recent remixes, including a handful of exclusive tracks. For this new package, those discs will be augmented by a further two CDs of remixes and bonus tracks, including the versions exclusive to U.S. and cassette pressings of (the best of) New Order and plenty more period remixes, including many which were only ever on vinyl and even a few unreleased cuts, including the first focus track: a vintage mix of Republic track…
Those who have been following Shane Embury’s career closely since the days of Unseen Terror’s Human Error back in 1987 may be less surprised by the largely accessible, melodic music of Bridge to Resolution than those who are aware of him only as Napalm Death’s bass player and a figurehead of the U.K. extreme music underground scene. There’s never been any shortage of diversity in Embury’s musical career, and it’s his work outside of metal, such as the shoegaze-ish indie noise rock of Little Giant Drug, his electronic dark ambient/drone project Dark Sky Burial and his association with art-rock veterans Cardiacs, that point most clearly in the direction he takes on the first album to be issued under his own name.
As the awkward phrasing above suggests,…
Few archival releases manage to function simultaneously as historical document, artistic statement, and visceral listening experience, yet Xmal Deutschland’s The Complete BBC Peel Sessions achieves precisely that. Recorded between 1982 and 1985 at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios under the auspices of John Peel’s famously adventurous programming, these sixteen tracks form a portrait not simply of change, but of concentration and refinement. What emerges is a band in motion, shaping and reshaping its internal logic with each successive session, guided by the commanding presence of Anja Huwe and the evolving interplay between Manuela Rickers, Rita Simon, Fiona Sangster, Manuela Zwingmann, Wolfgang Ellerbrock, and Carlo Karges.
With ‘Sowas von Egal 3’, the Hamburg-based Damaged Goods DJ team continues its compilation series on Bureau B, once again turning its attention to the underground scenes of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in the early 1980s.
The spiky drive and romantic melodies of early-mid ’80s Mittel European dancefloors is fully embraced on Sowas von Egal 3 (German Synth Wave Underground 1981-86) with some 16 nuggets sifted from tape compilations and hard-to-find pressings. Prevailing streams of US & UK new wave, disco and punk are puckered with a Teutonic efficiency and wizzed-up sexiness on all counts from the bubbling hook of ‘He Sabine’ by Guyer’s Connection’ thru the DAF-esque swag of an EBM pioneer Tommi Stumpf in…
…The live release all hardcore Devo fans have been waiting for, Nitrous Nightmare demonstrates a band harnessing their artistic greatness in the purest of forms. This mythic performance captures Devo perfecting some of their most iconic concepts in the raw. Expertly restored, this live recording makes for a thrilling experience, it also captures Devo as a lightening rod for hostility.
On Halloween 1975, Devo took the stage at the WHK Auditorium in Cleveland, in a supporting capacity for jazz legend Sun Ra, to perform for a raucous crowd dressed in the finest of Halloween cliché. Already riding high on Nitrous Oxide and booze supplied by the sponsoring radio station, this unaware horde was expecting to see a slick cover band churning out renditions of…
Arguably the worst fallout of the American Democratic Party’s decade of humiliation and ineptitude was the 2016 release of Le Tigre’s “I’m With Her”. To fashion the aesthetic and soul of art-punk into an establishment worshipping, pro-Hillary Clinton ‘anthem’ has banished the genre into the deepest reaches of musical hell since; every set and record must now begin with an apology and a land acknowledgment. Like a trip to KFC after eating rotten chicken, even the sound of a punk timbre over a synth has given me nausea to this day. 2026 may be a year of rekindling, as La Sécurité joins Mandy, Indiana in going ornate and reckless with the genre.
Whereas the latter’s Urgh is a masterpiece of industrial sound design and ultra-propulsive…
Thirst, originally released in 1981 is a stone-cold post-punk classic. While still retaining the sharp experimental edge of their debut, White Souls in Black Suits, Thirst stretches out and offers up some cleaner and more hooky moments as it moves away from pure improvisation. “Between White Souls and Thirst, the guitarist changed from David Hammond to Paul Widger,” explains Newton. “David introduced the perfect guitar sound for DVA, whereas Paul brought in a more rhythmic style more towards early Ry Cooder. The material we were developing was a more defined series of pieces, more structured and exact than the improvised works on White Souls.”
45 years on from its original release (on Fetish), it’s a record from the era that sounds like no other.
Following the success of 2025’s first Singles Live compilation, Popstock Records present The Fall: Singles Live Vol. Two 1980-83 in association with Bella Union. Commenting on the release Paul Hanley says: “In marked contrast to Singles Vol. One this compilation showcases an altogether more stable line-up – the one that recorded Hex Enduction Hour to be precise, notwithstanding some to-ing and fro-ing on the kit between me and Karl. As with previous releases, there are some revelatory versions here, and the mastering is a wonder to behold, or whatever the aural equivalent of ‘behold’ is. The earliest, ‘Putta Block’, from May 1980 was recorded at the Beach Club, a short-lived Manchester venue that also saw New Order’s debut gig. The latest, ‘Ludd Gang’, comes…
Since leaving Public Image Ltd, Jah Wobble has been a remarkably prolific artist. He has recently teamed up with Jon Klein, former Siouxsie and The Banshees and Specimen guitarist, for their second collaborative effort. This album is more post-punk than dub. In fact, although Jah Wobble is famous for his dub records, with Automated Paradise, he is returning to his punk roots for a brilliant album.
The title track is the closest thing to dub on the album, and it is a nice short reminder of what Wobble does and does extremely well. But with Klein in the picture, he, for the first time in years, returns to post-punk and punk. He does it with ease, with the perfect vocals and lyrics. Klein provides him the musical support, and it is full steam ahead.
Green World Image is the second album and Sub Pop debut of spirited post-punk revivalists Telehealth, a group that build on both the sound and subversion of acts like Devo and the B-52s while updating subject matter for the 2020s. Launched from the Seattle music scene by married couple Alexander Attitude and Kendra Cox, Telehealth are fleshed out by members of Slowdive, Tomten, and other indie projects. Attitude and Cox particularly evoke the B-52s at times thanks to the couple’s dual and rotating lead vocals and accented enunciation. The album begins, however, with the soothing voiceover track “[user onboarding sequence],” which asks, “What if there was a model for living that connects people, finances, nature, and technology into one seamless…
Pigeon have recorded their debut album Outtanational in Margate of all places – the once-dying seaside town that has become, in recent years, a retreat for artists like Tracey Emin and The Libertines. The choice of location means something here. Like Margate, Outtanational announces itself as something genuinely hard to pin down.
Across 10 tracks, there are elements of afro-disco, krautrock, punk-funk and post-punk. Opener “NRG” sets the tone immediately as lead vocalist and percussionist Falle Nioke sings of smoke magic and energy vampires over a groove that is fresh, fluid, and plain unpredictable. It’s an intriguing sonic stew that certainly grabs the attention.
Nioke is the heart of the record. Hailing from Guinea-Conakry, he is a member…
Cola always felt like a comedown. By the time Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy’s previous band, Ought, came to an end in 2021, the Montreal group had morphed from nervy, scrappy post-punk to grandiose art rock. Cola, formed with drummer Evan Cartwright, shifted to something stark and simple with the terse indie rock of their debut, 2022’s Deep in View and its slightly lusher follow-up, 2024’s The Gloss. On their third album, Cost of Living Adjustment, Cola have embraced, if not maximalism, then at least letting go of restraint.
The trio is still enthralled by the pointed edges of post-punk that serve as the skeleton of most of their tracks. Yet, from the moment that opener “Forced Position” kicks in, you can tell something has changed. Cartwright’s anxious…
…includes the entirety of their ‘Moderate Air Quality’ EP as bonus tracks.
The British-American poet W. H. Auden, in his poem “The Age of Anxiety” (1947), highlights humanity’s isolation in an increasingly industrialized and failing world.
Nearly 80 years later, The Sick Man of Europe is picking up the threads of the same discussion: how to navigate in a world that is diametrically opposed to our needs? How not to lose your ipseity in a data-driven culture vying for your attention? Sick Man of Europe’s eponymous debut album is an exploration of these existential matters — and more.
Yeah, the Sick Man of Europe does not shy away from fundamental issues — does he?
The third solo album by New Orleans D.I.Y. musician Urq (Spllit, W-9), This Dismal Village marks his Exploding in Sound label debut.
It’s his first to be recorded entirely on a four-track cassette Portastudio, almost ditching any digital elements in the process (although some chords from a phone app were looped into “Kings in Bed,” for instance). A dingy, lo-fi blend of playful prog-pop, druggy psychedelia, angular punk, and alternate tunings, it’s a dystopia-themed concept album that travels through time with stops in the Dark Ages, the 1950s, and the present, and each track represents a location in the village. While not recommended for those in a dour or earnest mood, cynicism is welcome.
Inspired by Shirley Jackson’s novel We Have…
Liberation Hall delivers a compelling archival release with Live ’81–’85, a double LP celebrating the legacy of Romeo Void for Record Store Day. The collection presents the band in its natural habitat on stage capturing performances across Ann Arbor, Albany, London, and Berlin.
The album functions as both a time capsule and a reaffirmation of Romeo Void’s distinct place in early 1980s new wave. Across its 17 tracks, Live ’81–’85 draws material from all phases of the band’s short but influential career, including It’s a Condition (1981), Nvr Say Nvr (1981), Benefactor (1982), and Instincts (1984). The performances feel immediate and unpolished in the best sense—raw, urgent, and driven by the band’s signature fusion of post-punk tension, saxophone accents…
Released at the end of the initial period of Wire’s 3rd Act – after Aend and before the band’s post-Bruce Gilbert re-invention – Read & Burn 03 never quite got the attention it deserved. However the opening track 23 years too late, with its tour narrative text and motorik rhythm stands as one of the band’s finest achievements of any era in the view of both core fans & the band. The original ep, 3rd in the read & burn series and the one not compiled on to the send album, was the last non-historic release by the original wire line up of colin newman, graham lewis, bruce gilbert & robert grey and has never been properly released on vinyl. The 2026 version brings the original 4 tracks and adds 3 more. While some of the tracks originated as part of the 2021-2022 sessions…
“Learn to hate in the light of day,” is the refrain from the first track of Station Model Violence’s totemic, self-titled punk record. Right off the bat, the band parlays the stakes and tone of their work, grinning their teeth through a quarter smile, but not the gums; not all of their fleshy parts displayed at once.
Whether a subconscious or overt homage to the patriarchs of post-punk, a twelve string guitar intones unceasingly, familiarly, on “Learn to Hate.” Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” — with its clanging opening 12-string and prophetic ’80s punk production — lures the listener for only so long before the synth hook snags on. The twelve string and driving beat on “Learn to Hate,” by contrast, announces that the melodic shifts…