Read Poets Society

   Vince Staples is a very similar artist to Kendrick Lamar in a lot of ways; both out of California, both have found great success by going against the grain musically, both perform politically charged and dense lyrics and both are astonishingly gifted at their craft. Kendrick seems to claim all of the spotlight, though, whether that be due to endorsement from President Obama himself or widespread "album of the year" accolades. As such, I couldn't help comparing this record (which is incredible, to be frank) to Kendrick's album from earlier this year, DAMN. For me Big Fish Theory betters DAMN. I'm not going to say it's Staples' TPAB , but it's clearly strides ahead of the simplistic sing-song decadence of the Lil Yachtys, Rae Sremmurds and Migos of today. Playing part world weary philosopher and part street kid, Vince Staples delivers what will be one of the best hip hop albums of this year.    Favourite Songs: Big Fish, Love Can Be..., Yeah Righ

    Murder of the Universe  is one of the weirdest King Gizzard releases so far, and they have released some weird shit. Split into three parts over 21 tracks, they manage to tackle speed metal, psych, grunge and even glam, never once feeling like a gimmick or cheap trick but rather an extension of their music evolution over the course of 10 albums and 5 years. There's a surprisingly large number of weird voice-overs, too, which is relatively fresh for the band and adds a new element to the head-spinning madness they continue to bring to the table. Notably there is no microtonal instrumentation to be found on Murder of the Universe , separating it from Flying Microtonal Banana in that sense. Other than that, there isn't really much to differentiate musically from their previous effort; they're both balls to the walls insane and headache inducing in the best possible way and a hell of a lot of fun. I personally enjoy this release a little more, simply because of the lack o

   Post-hardcore is a strange genre; so many bands and records in the genre are so inherently of its time and quickly become indicative of that particular period, and then those tropes quickly become "cliche", whatever the hell that means in this genre. There are so many mid-2000s post-hardcore records that sound almost exactly the same, and equally as many later records that sound equally as similar, that I'm generally pretty hesitant going into a new post-hardcore record. That's not to say post-hardcore is inherently bad - just listen to any Underoath record after 2004 or the new Norma Jean record - but I do think that more often than not a post-hardcore record written to specifically be a post-hardcore record is immediately hampered by the restrictions and inherent missteps everyone's already heard a thousand times. It's when these elements are brought together with something more honest and genuine outside of genre conventions that something special can ha

    Melodrama is a staggering pop album that manages to sound thick with grief without getting weighed down in self-pity, an achievement in itself. Not having really listened to Lorde's debut album Pure Heroine  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but Melodrama took me by complete surprise and really got to me if I'm completely honest; topics of loss, love and grief are rarely treated with such authenticity and honesty. It's immediately evident how much work and craft has gone into every corner of this record, and it's really satisfying listening to something that bleeds with care and obsession the way Melodrama does. The most impressive thing I found in this album was the way it progresses and shifts while maintaining a focus on the overall theme and direction it establishes; something I was hoping the new London Grammar record would have done better than it did. Production wise it sounds fantastic, the electronic-tinged soundscapes never overpowering the voice as

  This is a great little EP from Bukowski (fronted by the bass player of Between You & Me, I believe) which shows promise without reinventing the wheel. I love emo, and while there is the occasional complete slide into generic pop punk, there's a big enough splash of emo in Bukowski's pop-punk sound to keep me interested for the most part. They have a keen sense of melody that is this EP's biggest strength, and paired with a solid vocal performance the hooks land for the most part. An entire album would definitely get boring without any variation, but a tight 13 minute EP works really well in this case. It's a lot of fun and well put together but might well fade into the over-crowded scene over time.    Favourite Songs: Twothousandseven and Brood     Least Favourite Song: You're probably gonna hate this     Rating: B-

   Fleet Foxes' third album manages to sound just as grandiose and expansive as their previous work even when it is more concerned with looking inwards than outwards and upwards, and will be a very strong contender for my album of the year. The gorgeous vocal harmonies are still very much present throughout the album, as are the swelling walls of sound - kind of like a warmer sounding, folkier Sigur Rós. What separates this album from the rest of their back catalogue, and in my opinion stands it slightly above their previous work, is the willingness to looks inwards both musically and lyrically. Crack-Up is by far the band's most intimate record, which is no mean feat, but they manage the balancing act of hushed whispers (literally, on the beautiful opening track) and cathedral sized folk jams. There wasn't a moment I wasn't complete drawn in on first listen, which I suspect is partly due to the band's knack for winding and unpredictable but still accessible songwri

   Rise Against's eighth album Wolves is as politically charged and fast paced as you could come to expect from them at this stage in their career, but unfortunately it does little to stand out from the rest of their discography. If you're a die hard Rise Against fan you'll like eat this up; everything they've done well over their lengthy career is here in equal measures, but for a casual at best fan like me it was kind of tiresome getting through Wolves . Not because there's anything particular bad on it, but simply because if you've heard the rest of their back catalogue you've heard this before. Lyrically the album is one of the band's strongest, but I do have to be in the right mood before a band starts getting as aggressively and directly political as they do on Wolves .    Favourite Songs: House On Fire, Far From Perfect and Miracle     Least Favourite Songs: Welcome To The Breakdown, Bullshit, Mourning In Amerika     Rating: D

   London Grammar return with their second full length Truth Is A Beautiful Thing , and fall victim to their own sound a little, becoming stuck in their melancholy. I've been a fan of London Grammar for a while, was really excited for this album, and the singles were just heightening my excitement. Of course, the album sounds absolutely stunning, the band working with Paul Epworth and Greg Kurstin of Adele fame. There is a glassy sheen to the production that wasn't there on If You Wait , which is the biggest improvement to be had here. Some of the tracks are absolutely stunning, in particular the opener Rooting For You , and the band consistently manage to manufacture incredible moments all across the album. The only problem for me, which turned out to be a kind of significant one, was similar to my problem with Asgeir's Afterglow ; it never goes anywhere beyond the sound they already established on If You Wait . This probably won't be a problem for a lot of people, a

   I've never been on the Volumes bandwagon necessarily, but I really liked their previous album No Sleep and what they were doing in general. Since then they have picked up a new singer (they still have the two frontmen) and switched labels, so I was very unsure of what to expect from their third full length, Different Animals . From the first track Waves Control  it's clear they're still dealing in Meshuggah-esque riffs and heaviness, and that track in particular hits incredibly hard, opening the album really strongly. From here they continue with typically catchy and heavy riffs with the occasional R&B influenced chorus, similar to what they have done before, but refined and sharper. New singer Myke Terry's screams are a little patchy in places, but it's his clean singing that is his real strength, really shining in particular on lead single Feels Good . Up until this stage the album is solid, if not entirely game changing for the band or the genre.    At

   This is probably one of the most surprising releases I've heard so far this year; I wasn't really expecting much of Halsey's second album, but I ended up being fascinated by a surprisingly complex, mature album. Coming back around for second and third listens weren't as rewarding for me, but there was enough there for me to be engaged in - if not flat out enjoy - most of this album. For starters, it opens with an excerpt from Shakespeare , almost the last thing I was expecting. This immediately shifted my expectations and I was kind of taken off guard, now not at all sure what I was about to hear. this was as far as the depth of interest went, though, and once I had gone through the album once it was clear to me that the experimentation went no deeper than the first listen. This was a disappointment to me, but at least the first time through was pretty exciting. Once that layer of experimentation had been shed hopeless fountain kingdom was a fairly pedestrian exerc

    RELAXER, the third full length from UK trio alt-J, is anything but relaxing, and a tight 40 minute exploration of sonic weirdness, catchy hooks and odd songwriting. It feels a lot more concise than 2014's This Is All Yours , which while being certainly ambitious was too long for it's own good, unnecessary weight washing out the great songs into an exhausting 55 minutes. RELAXER is a slim 8 songs at about 40 minutes, and benefits greatly from this extra layer of efficiency. The depths of the spiralling madness, sinister soundscapes and occasional menace are made more immediate and sharp simply by cutting the run-time; there doesn't seem to be a single second on RELAXER that could be cut. Despite this continuation and development of the more experimental side of alt-J's hard to pin down sound, they have retained a strong sense of melody across onto this new album, and it's this balancing act between the accessible and the weird that keeps the album always intere