New releases last eight weeks: Rock (All)

Review: Already on their seventh studio album, synth-pop kings Everything Everything return to the fore with Mountainhead, a concept album critiquing modern-day zealotry, economic warfare, and narcissism, centring on the idea of mirrors at the top and snakes at the bottom. A primeval analogy for the modern psychic climate in fourteen-track form, the topic at hand certainly sounds ominous; but the music is nonetheless always as enjoyable as EE's music usually permits. In contrast to prior albums Man Alive and Raw Data Feel, both of which made rigorous use of Artificial Intelligence to generate and effect sound, Mountainhead is deliberately processing-shy, with the band publicly avowing their not using any plugins and effects. Whether this represents an appeal by the band for their audience to downshift and embrace a less future-obsessive life, you be the judge. A powerful metaphor for the economic warfare of everyday life, Mountainhead is an urgent message wrapped in a chart-topper.

Review: A triumphant return for modern synth-pop chart-toppers Everything Everything, Mountainhead is an album-length analogy for our present condition, and an oozing forth of slick, joyous music at that. "Making a mountain out of a molehill" is certainly lent a positive spin when considered in light of "starting from nothing", i.e. music career-making; Everything Everything did just that in the mid 2010s when they charmed their burgeoning audience with their sophisti-synth prowess, and this is a sophistication that can only be continually reinforced hereon. For their latest concept album Mountainhead, all of society is imagined as working towards the creation of a manmade mountain; at the top is rumoured to be a huge mirror that reflects endlessly recurring images of the self, and at the bottom of the pit is a giant golden snake; the primal fear of all believers. Everything Everything make joyous work of the dreaded maxim, "the taller the mountain, the deeper the hole", delivering glitzing, falsetto'ing gems in the form of 'Cold Reactor' and 'R U Happy?', both of which transcend their initial synthpop reveries to become more than their constituent sum.

Review: Bleed Like Me was the hugely successful and critically acclaimed fourth studio album from Garbage. Originally released in 2005, the recording of the album had some ups and downs that included the band disbanding during recording and eventually cutting the subsequent tour short as well. Through all of that, the album reached number four on the top 200 Billboard chart which was higher than any of the previous more commercially successful albums. Although none of the songs were hits, the album sits very well with fans of the band. Nearly 20 years later, we finally get a vinyl version of the album! Spread across two lovely transparent red vinyl we get the Deluxe Version. Listen and enjoy one of the best rock bands of the past 30 years.

Review: Alternative, goth and pop rock band HIM are one of the most creative and strongest bands to come out of Finland. Tears On Tape was their eighth and final album from the band whose career covered nearly 25 years. Originally released in 2013, this is the first reissue and fans of the band are celebrating that this will also be its' very first time on vinyl. Green vinyl that matches the artwork as well is a nice touch. Experience some of the last key tracks from this ground breaking band like 'All Lips Go Blue', 'Into the Night' and the title song 'Tears On Tape. Come experience a celebration of the band's final full length.

Review: Dark Horse Records unveils Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros' legendary Live at Acton Town Hall concert, meticulously remastered by Grammy Award Winner Paul Hicks. Available here on double vinyl, the November 15, 2002, performance, a benefit for striking firefighters, stands as one of Strummer's final shows before his passing. A poignant highlight includes a three-song reunion with Clash bandmate Mick Jones, their first in two decades. The gatefold sleeve showcases unseen concert photos, accompanied by liner notes from Fire Brigade Union Secretary Andy Gilchrist. This release marks the first comprehensive vinyl and CD availability of this historic concert.

Review: The Virgin Prunes were masters of the uncanny, juxtaposing nightmares with lullabies, beauty with cruelty; combining gentle vocals and the spoken word with anguished wailing from purgatory itself. Their first album, A New Form Of Beauty (1981), powerfully laid out this terrain. Its themes ranged from mournful tales of unrequited love, frustrated sexuality, morbid eroticism and wasted youth, to yearnings for distant dreamlands, all of which were juxtaposed with macabre visions of dystopian societies, overpowered by dark forces and where demons run amok. Guggi's art work for A New Form of Beauty, which intimates a heartless transaction within a domestic setting, is in keeping with this sensibility. Now reissued by BMG, this 2024 deluxe edition features all four parts of the album remastered from the original tape, plus a trifold reverse board sleeve and a 16-page, 11-inch artbook with brand new sleevenotes.