Lower Third Vinyl & CDs

Review: Liverpool's Courting are a breath of fresh air, totally breaking from the received traditions of their home city with an overarchingly alt-rock album, New Last Name, with sounds distinctly informed by the emo and punk sounds known to have developed in the USA, though in reality it weaves between indie and dance-pop too. New Last Name is unabashed in its melodic sensibility and high-fantasmic references; unrestrained and chaotic, the album always meanders stylistically but always brings it together, largely by way of its notable use of autotune on every track on Sean Murphy O'Neill's vocals. An amazing sophomore record to complement 2022's Guitar Music.

Review: Maximo Park continue to pen their own chapter in the indie rock pantheons, now delivering album number eight and the latest instalment in a saga that began back in 2004. How far have they come in that time? How far did you want them to go in that time? It's impossible to answer the first without answering the second, first, and for many people one of the enduring qualities about the band is their familiarity and commitment to a sound that's been fine tuned and perfected, rather than altered and amended. On Stream of Life this is clear from the outset. As a record, it's pretty timeless in so far as the band's back catalogue goes, but that means there's actually quite a lot going on here. At times, it soars majestically. In other moments it lunges and stomps and jerks on its course to catchiness and sing-a-long longevity.