The Answer - Into The Gutter (Albert) Reviewed By Steve Rudd Release Date: 24th April 2006

On the back of an appetite-whetting EP release, and in front of their eagerly awaited 12-track debut album that is set to land in Summer '06, this single is surely destined to help in making this young quartet something of a household name. Already they have enjoyed fabled support slots with titans of hard rock Deep Purple, and the sound of The Answer owes a lot to the heady style of Classic Rock music. The guitar riffs are huge, while the vocals are hyperactively impassioned. Into The Gutter is a head-banger's paradise, with the frontman demanding attention largely through sounding like a heavenly cross between Robert Plant and Justin Hawkins once he opens his mouth to let loose.

Far from falling into the proverbial gutter, these guys are set to fly out of the frying pan and into the fire of fame and fortune should they continue to produce rock music of this calibre. Check them out on tour if you can in a spread of small venues through the back-end of March and April. They're from Northern Ireland, don't you know, and they sure do love their rock music loud and proud. Any questions?... Email dani.rutherford@presscounsel.com for more info.

Album Reviews - Ellenby - All You Need To Know (Level Sound) Release Date: 10th April 2006 Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	And all you need to know is that this album is a sheer pleasure to listen to, as this duo delivers stunning song after song. There are ten tracks in all that all mix and mash together beguiling Folk, Pop and Rock elements to intoxicating effect, with Liz Young the singer of the duo, leaving multi-instrumentalist Ben Goddard to create the wondrous and consistently Read more...

Album Reviews - Hi Flyer - Here Comes The Sunshine (Reiker) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Having been masterfully engineered by Portishead bassist Jim Barr, this melodic Pop-Rock album comes from a young band from Bristol, with two of the members being brother and sister Henry and Elle Williams, who are backed up by Mike Edwards and Tom Raiff. All of the songs are easy listening mid-paced anthems, and any one of them could quite easily get Read more...

Single Reviews - Rob McCulloch - Planet Of My Own (Gladrag) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Following-up his fantastic Thoughts Alone album, this fresh-faced and hugely talented singer-songwriter from Bolton releases his debut single, Planet Of My Own - an awesomely catchy slab of chart-hungry indie-rock for the masses. I can't sleep, confides Rob - This world won't turn with me. His gruffly soulful voice is a Godsend, and is perhaps heard best on b-side Read more...

Single Reviews - Archie Bronson Outfit - Dart For My Sweetheart (Domino) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	This single from the somewhat mysterious ABO entity is deliciously dark and menacing and will surely appeal to any fans of Nick Cave's musings. The guitar melodies are charged with intriguing malice, and yet the b-side in Fire Horse is still exhilarating in its own unique right, buoyed by a striking intensity in the face of such compelling darkness. This Outfit has been Read more...

Album Reviews - Japan - The Very Best of ... (Virgin) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	As the old saying goes, you can never have too many compilation albums to chart a band's career. So, with this in mind, here's yet another Japan Best of to add to the long list of previous compilations that highlight all the classic tunes that the Brit group pumped out. Fronted by David Sylvian (who went on to have a successful solo career following the band's break-up), Read more...

Music News - Monday 27th March 06 - Bestfrontseat.com and Raw-UK - One small step in a Welly, one giant leap... 'Give It Some Welly' By Isabelle Tracy
	Putting aside tribal and territorial differences, most of the local promoters, musicians and media people in Hull came to The Welly to support this event - or just to have a nosey - or maybe even to see if it was going to fall on its arse. Well, it didn't. After 3 songs from the first band to test the signals, there was a delay of 10 minutes to the gig going live over the internet - due to one of Read more...

Single Reviews - Engerica - The Smell (Sanctuary) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	This madcap trio has to be witnessed, whether via record or in a live situation. Truth is, they are awesome, if a tad eccentric and zany in their frantic rock 'n' roll ways. Fronted by David Gardner, these three guys were going great guns a couple of years ago, but then they seemed to disappear without a trace for a while before re-launching themselves back into the Read more...

Album Reviews - The Bonnitts - Soldier (Demo) By Joe Hakim Photos by Darren Rogers - The Bonnitts at The Sesh 13th December 2005
	Well, thank fuck for The Bonnitts. Just when I was starting to think that the Hull music scene was in danger of disappearing up its own arse, along comes this blinder of an EP to totally change my mind. I'm going to rattle on about Soldier for a while, because it is, quite simply, the best thing I've heard in a long time. It kicks off with a sublime guitar-line, coupled with singer Mike Wright Read more...

Single Reviews - Lovemat - Between The Lines (Disturbia) Release date: April 3rd 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	A racy anthem to get your rocks off to, the heady music of Lovemat is primarily propelled by mesmerising guitar riffage that thunders into the mix beside delectable harmonies and strong vocals from Paul Kell. They are an old-skool hard rock band and hail from Newcastle, with this being their debut single. If I were you, I'd buy up a few copies of this release, Read more...

Single Reviews - The Voom Blooms - Politics And Cigarettes (Fiction) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Here we have some truly beautiful music, from a band that only got together early in 2005, and that is based in Loughborough. This, their debut single, is a classic and builds on the star-gazing sounds that were unleashed via their much-sought-after London Heads demo. A quartet fronted by George Guildford, The Voom Blooms are masters of melody creation, Read more...

Album Reviews - Billy Bragg - Billy Bragg Volume 1 (Cooking Vinyl) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	An essential purchase for hardcore BB fans as well as those people who might have heard just a few of his songs but who dare to delve further into the life and times of Billy Bragg, this release is a box set comprising seven CDs and a couple of DVDs. In and amongst Billy Bragg Volume 1 there are four of Billy's earliest and greatest albums, which are Life's A Riot Read more...

Album Reviews - Graham Coxon - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds (EMI) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Since leaving Blur, Graham has proved himself to be one hell of a rock god, and right from the off with this mesmerising thirteen track album, the focus is on loud guitars and swaggering rock 'n' roll trials and tribulations. Fittingly, the album-opening tune is the hugely popular single release Standing On My Own Again - a bona-fide anthem in every respect. Read more...

Album Reviews - Energise by Shatner By David Thurlby
	Self-proclaimed common oiks Shatner are made up of four, thirty-something nearly men from Leeds who should really know better. Fortunately, for our listening delights, they don't. Numerous years on the local music scene have seen these blokes, notably singer-songwriter and chief oik Jim Bower, gain a respectful reputation. A hit among the younger and more media-savvy Leeds Read more...

Album Reviews, - Richard Ashcroft - Keys To The World (Parlophone) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Thank God for the songwriting talents of Richard Ashcroft. He is now some six years into his solo career since the nation's favourite band from Wigan - The Verve, that is - split. Luckily, the material that Richard has released as a solo artist has consistently been just as enticing, and this latest 10-track album of his will have surely to goodness attracted plenty more Read more...

Album Reviews, Music Videos - Torso Horse - Every Dog Has Its Day Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Calling all Torso Horse fans! Your favourite Goth-Metal maestros have recently reworked their classic Every Dog Has Its Day anthem, and shot a brand new promo video to boot, which - in a word - is stunning. The original version of this track was fantastic as it stood, but Adam and band have felt compelled to rework it a little, and have even added a short-but-sweet keyboard Read more...

Album Reviews - Faith No More - The Platinum Collection (Warner) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	A never-to-be-forgotten rock band for so many reasons, Faith No More hailed from California, and for fifteen years they produced some amazing rock music, a fact that is proven by this awesome collection of some of their best material. With fifteen of their own classic tunes being included, along with a live version of their old classic We Care A Lot, and their infamous cover Read more...

Music News - Shine On at Hull City Hall By Alex Firth
	I'm currently studying at Northumbria University in Newcastle though I shall be back home in Beverley on the 29th April. Why, you ask? I have a concert to go to at Hull City Hall ... Last year, I couldn't believe all the fuss that was being made about a local (to Newcastle) band doing their first show at the most famous venue in town - the City Hall. The band was called Shine On, and was a tribute Read more...

Single Reviews - The Waking Eyes - But I Already Have It (Coalition) Release date: March 20th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Probably the finest rock 'n' roll band to have busted out of Winnipeg, Canada, in recent years, the four guys that comprise The Waking Eyes clearly sound to have been born for this type of life in the limelight. This is the quartet's eagerly-awaited second single, and the follow-up to their awesome Watch Your Money debut. But I Already Have It comes packed Read more...

Album Reviews - Rising Sun - Dirty Daisy EP Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	An indie-gilded rock 'n' roll quartet with a difference, Rising Sun here present eight extraordinary tracks that prove to be sound testament to the band members' collective talents. The title track in Dirty Daisy is up first and is bolstered by guitarist Dan's heavyweight and swaggering riff. Nathan's raw, soul-inflamed vocals work a treat, while the music is both Read more...

Album Reviews - The Soledad Brothers - The Hardest Walk (Polydor) Release Date: March 6th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Potentially the perfect support band for any future Rolling Stones tour, these three lads that make up The Soledad Brothers are such a talented trio that they seem to be leaving most Blues-based rock 'n' roll bands in their wake right now, especially on the back of this astonishing twelve-track album that runs for almost an hour. Opening cut Truth Or Consequences is a riff-raring Read more...

Single Reviews - Yellowcard - Lights and Sounds (Parlophone) Release date: March 6th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	They're back! And they're sounding better than ever! These punk-loving Emo-rockers return with a new single and a new album (both entitled Lights And Sounds), ready and willing to follow-up the astounding success that was the band's globally popular Ocean Avenue album that has sold well in excess of two million copies worldwide. The lads have been Read more...

Single Reviews - The Marshals - Make Her Cry (Vertigo) Release date: March 6th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	What's in the stars is never meant to be, so croons Marshals band-leader Michael John. That might be the case, just like this song might literally Make Her Cry - whoever she might be, for this is an extraordinarily moving tune that is proving to be a wise choice for the band's debut single release, given the widespread acclaim that it's receiving. The Marshals is an Irish trio, Read more...

Album Reviews - B-Movie - The Platinum Collection (Warner) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Cast your hazy minds back to the glory days of the Eighties, and the Synth-Pop Brit bands that were scaling the charts, and does the band name B-Movie ring any bells? It might do for a few people, but this band isn't as much of a household name as it deserves to be, given the quality of the music. This 15-track retrospective is comprised of ten of the band's best tunes Read more...