No Frills Reviews

Ahmed & The Romans Complicated Mathematics

The Manchester “weirdo-punks” return with their first new music since 2023 EP, Ahmed’s Planned Invasion of British Territories. Never easy to pin-down, they fuse jagged post-punk riffs with garage rock fuzz, a healthy dose of psychedelia, and the playful inanity of Ahmed’s vocals.

BigXthaPlug featuring Tommy Newport Comes & Goes

The Dallas rapper has just dropped a deluxe version of last year’s excellent Take Care (no.33 in our top albums of 2024). This is the standout of the three new tracks, and very much continues in the vein of that album; soulful southern hip-hop with the charismatic emcee reflecting on his newfound success, balancing self-aggrandising boasts with flashes of blunt vulnerability.

Brown Horse Corduroy Couch

Norwich’s premier purveyors of Americana have announced their upcoming second album, with this first single promising they’ll pick up the fine form of last year’s, Reservoir. A raggedy and upbeat, yet bittersweet ode to faded relationships, brought to life with vivid details. The chorus vocals of Phoebe Troup contrast Patrick Turner’s verses, but find common ground with a quavering fragility that suggests a soul-bearing starkness.

Campbell King Fade Away

This is an intriguing debut from Corby singer-songwriter and poet, Campbell King. Backed by hazy, minimalist electro ambience, King alternates between spoken word and beautifully haunting vocals, on a tale of betrayal, addiction, and not-quite-redemption.

Duke Deuce PRESSURE

Two weeks in a row in this column for the Memphis emcee, as he begins 2025 with an impressive singles run. Crunk never went out of style in Duke Deuce’s mind, and I can believe him on the strength of this pulsating banger.

Housewife Work Song

Ahead of the release of a new EP in March, the latest single from Toronto’s Housewife (aka singer-songwriter Brigid Fry) delivers infectiously catchy indie-pop filled with wry humour.

The Lathums Heartbreaker

The Wigan lads have a bit of an indie rock anthem on their hands with this one. A Stones-y glam blues stomper, with a hint of classic indie jangle, sing-song catchiness, and even an obnoxious “la, la, la, la” shout-along section.

Lisa O’Neill featuring Peter Doherty Homeless In The Thousands (Dublin In The Digital Age)

A stunning song from Irish folk singer, Lisa O’Neill. A starkly beautiful protest, shining a light on her country’s housing crisis and laying bare the human impact of those left behind. Peter Doherty’s appearance, delivering a West Country(?)-accented character monologue is a questionable choice. While his intentions may be pure, the affectation is jarring and risks tipping things into a kind of poverty cosplay. Nonetheless, O’Neill imbues so much pain and humanity into this, that you can’t help but be moved.

The Moonlandingz The Sign of A Man

The Moonlandingz – formed from members of Fat White Family and Eccentronic Research Council – return in style, 8 years on from their debut album. Sleazy debauchery collides with banal absurdity on a gloriously frenzied synth-pop banger.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Stitches

The Newcastle noise merchants preview upcoming fifth album, Death Hilarious, in signature style. They deliver monstrously crunching riffage that teases but never quite descends into full-blown psychedelic freakout, on a track that seems to teeter between mundanity, dread, and triumph.

Roc Marciano Vintage Limo

If jazz rap hadn’t already been invented, Roc Marciano may have just made the blueprint for it with Vintage Limo. The NY veteran offers up the kind of conversational street stories that he can do in his sleep at this point, but they’re given new life with an absolute toe-tapper of a beat, punctuated by ridiculously smooth blasts of horns.

sleepingdogs piece of mind

The lead single ahead of the upcoming third album from the underground duo comprised of rapper, Jesse the Tree, and rapper/producer, andrew. It’s laid-back while drowning in existentialism, full of intricate wordplay delivered with effortless nonchalance, and it’s sneakily addictive; a casual ear-worm.