Today, I’m doing something a bit different, putting together a playlist of music I’ve been loving recently. I like to try and make the page as accessible and entertaining for everyone, not just music nerds! I like to explain how I found the music I enjoy, and try to review current hits along with older legends.
However, I thought that if I made a playlist containing “Hey Jude,” “Mr Brightside” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – some of the most recognisable songs of all time – there wouldn’t be much point talking about that! Thus, this playlist features more obscure songs mostly. A lot of ’70s punk, ’60s pop, and some more modern offerings. A real simple rock n roll/mod feel to the playlist I think.
These choices will all be explained in a silly future article aswell… Thanks for reading.
Oasis – Lord Don’t Slow Me Down
Fountains Of Wayne – Denis
The Longshot – Love Is For Lovers
The Speedways – Kiss Me Goodbye
Sharp Class – Tales Of A Teenage Mind (both newer bands)
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers – Get Off The Phone
Stiv Bators – It’s Cold Outside
The Rolling Stones – Get Off Of My Cloud (Mono)
John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over
The Clash – Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)
Wreckless Eric – Whole Wide World
Tommy James & The Shondells – Crimson & Clover
Billy Idol, Generation X – Dancing With Myself
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Mind Games (John Lennon cover)
With the highly-anticipated Oasis documentary coming out soon, I wanted to do some more Oasis-related content. A lot of people say that the only good albums from Oasis are the first two from the ’90s. Yes, they tower over everything else they have released, but I still think there are gems later on, especially in their solo careers.
As You Were is the debut solo album by frontman Liam Gallagher, released in 2017. It came after a few years out of the limelight, due to the poor success and breakup of short-lived post-Oasis band Beady Eye. It was basically the final lineup of Oasis minus Noel!
However, Liam came roaring back into the spotlight with this brilliant rock n roll debut. Now, I’m not a massive fans of teams of songwriters in music, and would rather music was written solely by the singer or band. However, for Liam, the songwriters made the music a bit more grand and polished in my opinion, and are the reason I believe his solo career has had a lot more success than Beady Eye.
Highlights include rockers like lead single “Wall of Glass” and “Come Back To Me,” along with softer ballads like “Chinatown.” I also find the sequencing of the album interesting – tracks 4 to 6 are all slower songs but it manages to work as there is still rock n roll swagger in certain places of these tracks.
There is also a fair amount of solely Gallagher-penned songs – “Bold,” “Greedy Soul,” “You Better Run,” “I Get By,” “Universal Gleam” and “I’ve All I Need.” These are all very strong tracks in my opinion, along with the final two tracks on the deluxe version. The bonus track “Doesn’t Have to Be That Way” is also a more experimental Tame Impala style track which is interesting. I do think the last two tracks on the deluxe being acoustic is a poor sequencing choice though.
Overall, this is a very strong solo debut by Liam Gallagher. Even though it is very retro in composition, with Beatles and Stones references everywhere, the production and interesting sequencing make it feel fresh and modern to me. I also do wish Gallagher wrote more on his own on his subsequent solo albums – he has a very funny and surreal lyrical style seen in tracks like “All My People/All Mankind.”
A great debut before he released his second album, Why Me? Why Not. in 2019, where mowing the lawn on the weekend it came out bizarrely changed my opinion on it a lot! I will look at that album soon I’m sure. See you then.
Last post of the bank holiday weekend and before I go back to one a week! Bit of a longer one.
I have always been passionate about music from a young age. I was around 5/6 when I got into The Beatles, Oasis and The Ramones through my parents playing their music. With the internet, I’ve been able to deep-dive into discographies of bands and find out about their history. Yes, I guess you could say I’m a music nerd! An aspect of this interest has been watching interviews with singers and bands over the years. One of those is Dave Grohl, from Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, who I’ve watched a fair amount of interviews from.
One of these was a silly 2022 interview of him on James Corden. The guest he was on with happened to be Hilary Duff. I had heard of her and the show Lizzie McGuire, and knew she had a music career like most other actresses, and was intrigued to see what it was like!
Surprisingly, I found that some of Hilary’s music was quite interesting and fairly acclaimed for a star of her ilk. Her early and most famous music is kinda like Avril Lavigne for 12 year olds. I enjoy the pop rock sound but the vocals and lyrics are a bit too immature for me, but it was written for a teen and tween audience. “Wake Up” has great melodies and harmonies though, and doesn’t sound too immature.
However, I think her 2007 album Dignity contains some absolutely brilliant tracks. It is the typical “Disney star grows up and dyes her hair” album but it is still pretty sweet and not tacky. It has a very quirky dance sound, similar to pop acts like Girls Aloud, with a large dose of rock influence once again.
Standouts for me include the title track, which sounds like Franz Ferdinand with New Order high bass, “Danger” and “Never Stop” which almost have a wacky Gorillaz electro sound, “No Work, All Play” with its reggae-inflections and “Between You and Me” and “Play With Fire,” which have a kooky ’80s new wave sound.
Finally, “Dreamer” sounds like a ’90s house remix of “Just Can’t Get Enough” by Depeche Mode and “I Wish” sounds like a ’90s house remix of AC/DC! I don’t like “Gypsy Woman,” “Happy,” “Burned” and “Outside of You.”
I do like “Stranger” and “With Love” out of context, but they sound a bit too generic pop compared to the other tracks I enjoy on the album. Thus, I would add the tracks “Chasing The Sun” (its folky dance/pop rock sound is like Dignity‘s brighter cousin) and her cover of Third Eye Blind’s “Never Let You Go.” It is a really cool indie dance rock interpretation of that track. They don’t sound like they’re from the same album, but all have a similar quirky sound.
I really enjoy her next album, 2015’s Breathe In. Breathe Out. too, but will talk about that another time (this review is getting quite long-winded)!
This leads us to her new album, this year’s Luck…Or Something.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when the first single “Mature” was announced. It really surprised me by being a throwback to the pop rock sound of Duff’s famous music, yet more “mature!.” It has organic production and drums, with thick electric guitar chords. It reminds me of “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry being played by Weezer or The Cars! Easily my favourite Hilary song.
The rest of the album isn’t as rock as I hoped it would be, but I still think it’s worth talking about with how impressive and cohesive the lyrics are to me. The vulnerable themes of her not speaking to her sister and father anymore, anxiety of her husband leaving her and reminiscing on your younger years would certainly challenge one’s preconceived notions of this former child star.
Thus, to make the album more rock/indie I would just pretend that the portions of chiming guitars on “Future Tripping” and “You, From The Honeymoon” are played by Johnny Marr – make them sound like a more pop Smiths! “Weather For Tennis” also has Weezer/The Cars style keyboards and handclaps in there and “Growing Up” samples Blink-182 (I was able to persuade my metalhead friend with that latter track). The indie/rock influences also make sense when you find out the album was co-written and co-produced by her husband Matthew Koma, frontman for Winnetka Bowling League who I just reviewed.
Finally, there are gorgeous chill tracks like “We Don’t Talk,” “Adult Size Medium” and the X-rated yet melancholy “Roommates.” I don’t like the disco pop of “Holiday Party” and “Tell Me That Won’t Happen” though – I can’t make them rock n roll!
So yeah, watching a random interview with Dave Grohl led me to finding this surprisingly interesting and rock influenced singing career of this famous actress (not that her music isn’t famous in its own right). The Walmart deluxe CD of the new album features remakes of her old songs and the rocking “Wake Up” is included. Thus, here’s my rock n roll version of Luck…Or Something. This review will also relate to a humorous article coming in the future, and you’ll see why I put it out at this time… Thanks for reading.
Weather for Tennis
Roommates
Wake Up (Mine)
We Don’t Talk
Growing Up
Future Tripping
The Optimist
Mature
You, from the Honeymoon
Adult Size Medium
*to also give more of a rock angle to this article, The Colour and the Shape is another great Foo Fighters album, having just reviewed There Is Nothing Left To Lose. Now, I don’t like the screaming in “Monkey Wrench” and “Wind Up” (I do my usual volume tricks). I would also skip “Enough Space” and controversially “Everlong” – I much prefer the acoustic version! I would put “February Stars” as track 4 too. Apart from that though, it is an incredibly energetic and melodic rock album.
Yes, I found I was able to condense this review down so much that I would just use Liam Gallagher’s favourite word really! With the high-drama Oasis reunion documentary coming out soon, I wanted to talk about how this band has been with me my whole life, and thought I’d start with an obvious classic. See you next time.
Continuing my bank holiday weekend of posts, today I’m doing a review of the Complete Greatest Hits album by famous new-wave band The Cars. I do know I’ve been putting out a lot of articles over the last four months maybe, compared to when I used to do one article a week. I think I was trying to do as many as I could to get articles on current music events out as quickly as possible.
However, this blog has really shown me that I have a real passion for music writing. I absolutely love doing this little page. Thus, I have been trying to find more ways to get my writing chops out there. I recently started writing for a local online publication, chordblossom, which focuses on local upcoming bands from Belfast and beyond. I already have a few album reviews out there under my name, go check them out!
Anyway, I found it interesting that a lot of the EPs and albums I’ve been asked to review are a few months to half a year old. I thought that there’s no ticking time bomb on getting articles out on the blog. Thus, I’m using this bank holiday weekend to get some reviews out before going back to the one a week system! I think that rota definitely works for the page.
Anyhow, onto this quick article on the greatest hits album by The Cars.
I wanted to do a look at the band, as I will be mentioning them in a new 2026 album review coming soon. I don’t have much to say about it other than it features classic songs! I would skip “Dangerous Type,” “Why Can’t I Have You” and controversially “Moving in Stereo.” They just don’t have those ’60s pop melodies I love from the band. I would also put “Drive” after “Magic” in the tracklist to have a few bangers after the ballad “I’m Not the One.” I can’t really remember how I discovered them, but I do remember hearing them on this classic rock playlist in a cafe in Liverpool many years ago so that might’ve been it!
They certainly sit at a nice intersection between classic rock, punk, new wave and synth pop and still sound futuristic in a way, with brilliant catchy melodies. Late frontman Ric Ocasek also went on to be a notable producer, working with Weezer on classic albums like The Blue Album and Everything Will Be Alright In The End. I will certainly look at them soon too! See you then.
Winnetka Bowling League are a band hailing from LA, fronted by notable songwriter/producer Matthew Koma. He has written hits such as “Clarity” by DJ Zedd and worked with artists like Bruce Springsteen and Britney Spears. I found out about them from a 2026 album by a different artist that I will be reviewing very soon…
Now I have quite interesting opinions on their music. Their EPs have quite a lot of enjoyable songs for me, even though I don’t think any of them are amazing in full. A lot of groovy/quirky indie rock and power pop songs with more rock n roll/Britpop swagger than some of the very light modern indie pop music I don’t really enjoy.
I found their only album so far, 2024’s Sha La La even more strange. The second half of the album has that melodic guitar-driven sound I enjoy. However, the first half has that very poppy light indie sound I don’t really like. I also do find Koma’s lyrical style a bit too wordy overall – I feel he tries to cram as many niche pop-culture references in to each song as he can.
*Koma seems to wear sunglasses at every opportunity – rock n roll!
However, I can make a brilliant rocky playlist out of their work so far that I enjoy. So rather than recommend the band based on albums, I decided to make the album I wish they had released! Thanks for reading.
Feeling California
Kombucha
Kangaroo
The Romantic Way
Come To The Beach
Dandelion
Diane
Handsome (the video is a nice Elvis Costello reference, I can hear a Costello/Pulp vibe in their music)
I did a quick article the other day on the sad passing of country and overall music legend, Dolly Parton. I already looked at Johnny Cash and want to continue exploring this genre that is having such a moment right now.
One of Dolly’s most famous collaborations was the trio she was in with the other country stars, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. I was checking out the work of Harris and found that her ’90s album Wrecking Ball was highly acclaimed. So I took a listen…
What I did not expect to hear was U2? The opener “Where Will I Be” is a beautiful atmospheric ballad with the signature echoing Edge guitar style and unorthodox U2 drum pattern. I really wouldn’t call it country at all – the heavily atmospheric production pushes it into dream pop territory. I would honestly call it cosmic country!
It does make sense when you read the credits though. The album was produced by Daniel Lanois, producer on some of the most famous U2 work and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. plays on much of the album. Even though I found the style of the album incredibly ethereal and transcendent, it is just a bit too relentlessly downbeat for me.
I’m not keen on her traditional country material either – she has a beautiful voice but I prefer the more galloping rhythm of Jolene by Dolly and Johnny Cash – it’s closer to early rock n roll that I like.
However, the sound of Wrecking Ball was so unique that I had to talk about it somehow. I started thinking about U2’s discography – I do like most of their albums. However, I did think about an album like 1993’s Zooropa – every song is brilliant apart from “Babyface” that ruins it for me with its discordant keyboard.
Thus, I had the crazy idea to make a joint album out of Wrecking Ball and Zooropa! It works surprisingly well as they both sit in a similarly strange sonic world. Zooropa certainly would challenge someone’s preconceived notions of U2.
The title track is a multi-part adventure, “Numb” features The Edge rapping over a weird electronic beat, “Lemon” is a house track with Bono singing in falsetto and “Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car” is a funky industrial breakbeat track. The closer “The Wanderer,” which I haven’t included here, isn’t even sung by Bono – it’s sung by Johnny Cash! However, it’s still catchy and manages to make recognisable songs out all of the weird sound effects in there which I appreciate.
Thus, here’s my combined album. More of a U2 album with a few Harris songs but I feel it gets the otherworldly sound of the Wrecking Ball album across. That latter album does have better sound quality than Zooropa but it works well enough. See you next time.
Yesterday, the world lost a true legend of music – the “Queen of Country,” Dolly Parton. With more than 100 million records sold, she is amongst the best-selling music artists of all time.
I think a definitive album to represent her is 1974’s Jolene. Featuring two of her most famous songs, the title track and “I Will Always Love You.” Of course, the more famous version of the latter song is by Whitney Houston. However, I think the purity and simplicity of the Parton-sung original is staggering. Such a crystalline voice, and very moving to hear now. Her songwriting is just as impressive, having written both songs herself, alongside countless other songs recorded by artists around the world.
The album is flawless to me. It has a great flow and easygoing feel and is very short. An essential document of one of the greatest stars the music world has ever seen, particularly through her philanthropy and cultural influence. Rest in peace Dolly.
I recently looked at a hip-hop classic, Illmatic by Nas, and of course I managed to relate it to some indie and dance music. An obvious reference would be Gorillaz, with its genre-bending collaborations from rappers to Syrian orchestras, and I thought I would look at them for this reason. However, before that I thought I would go back to the rock roots of Damon Albarn (the mastermind behind Gorillaz and Blur) with two Blur albums.
Blur’s third album, 1994’s Parklife, features the most famous Britpop era sound of the band. Extremely British and catchy, but with biting cynicism underneath and the crunchy, angular guitars of Graham Coxon. I would put “To The End” after “London Loves,” but apart from that it’s pretty perfect to me. Special shoutout to “Trouble in the Message Centre” and “Clover Over Dover” – the guitar in the latter is sublime.
Their fifth album, 1997’s Blur features a more experimental and raw sound compared to their Britpop era, inspired by American indie acts like Pavement. Features the massive single “Song 2,” Beatles-esque “Beetlebum,” proto-Gorillaz dance of “On Your Own,” quirky fun of “Movin’ On” and the eerie reggae of “Death of a Party.”
I do find the noisy guitar in the post-chorus of “M.O.R.” pretty annoying to my ears, and would turn the volume down during that part and fade out at the end. I also find the way Coxon sings “light” on the chorus of “You’re So Great” annoying and would turn up and down! Finally, not a fan of the overly grungy “I’m Just a Killer for Your Love” and the bizarre “Essex Dogs” does go on. Would play the punk stomper “Chinese Bombs” again too as it’s too short! Overall, a more experimental yet still energetic and catchy release.
Overall, that’s what I think Blur do so well. They can become quite Radiohead-esque yet never forget the ability to write a deliriously catchy pop tune. I also called the article Blackpool Pier Music as the Britpop era of the band with Parklife makes me think of a seaside town like that – amusements, ice cream, all of it. Mainly as an underrated Damon project I will look at in the future has that vibe, but in a much different way… See you then.
I am from a small town off the Antrim coast called Larne. A rather ridiculed place, often derided for not having much there and the best thing being the “road out of it.” However, I think there’s as much as you could ask for in a small town – McDonald’s, KFC, Asda (Walmart in America), a cinema and the beautiful Coast Road drive. Moreover, there’s a record shop – Number One Records.
A great record shop with good variety and prices, helmed by the legend that is John. Always up for a hilarious chat, he certainly has an eclectic taste. Ranging from James Brown to AC/DC to obscure female blues singers.
One of his interesting favourites is Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald. After seeing Biffy Clyro at Kendal Calling Festival, who sing with a thick Scottish accent, I was intrigued to see if I could find other artists that sing with this distinctive accent.
There are obvious picks like The Proclaimers and Gerry Cinnamon, but I do find their accents a bit distracting from the music, and am not particularly fussed on them. I did find that Amy’s accent really enhances her music.
Her music is quite different than what you would initially think, I believe. She is widely known for the song “This Is The Life” which is still absolutely ubiquitous. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a bar where it hasn’t been played or a busker hasn’t sung it. In the excellent Harbour Bar in Portrush recently the busker was singing it, mixed in with majority contemporary music like Zach Bryan. Even though it’s from 2007, it is absolutely a staple song that gets crowds of all ages going.
I do think it’s a good song, but the first album it’s from isn’t as enjoyable as her later work to me! That song and album have a very folky singer-songwriter feel, which I believe Amy is commonly seen as. I was surprised to find that the bulk of her later music sounds like Bruce Springsteen and The Killers type heartland/pop/indie rock. ’80s influenced with big synths and reverb-drenched electric guitars.
Her last album, 2025’s Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For?, is a particularly good example, produced by Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian producer Jim Abbiss. Songs like “Forward” and the title track are exactly that sound I love. It is a very consistent album, every song being toe-tapping and anthemic. It also features some folky “This Is The Life” style songs too which is nice. That’s why I love her natural Scottish accent – it has a folky, rustic feel that adds to the authenticity of the organic music. She makes the accent commonly associated with phrases like “give me the buckfast mate” sound warm and lovely!
*Macdonald is also a big petrolhead, professing her love on Top Gear!
So even though there are a lot of great Scottish artists, most of the ones who sing with the natural Scottish accent don’t really work for me. However, Macdonald’s accent really works with the rootsy music. An accent pretty similar to the Larne accent – if I sung Biffy Clyro in my own accent it would sound pretty much the same. So much so that my friend Lorcan, who I’ve mentioned a few times on the page, said he thought I was Scottish when he first met me!
Finally, an article about Scotland wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the new internet sensation, Tony. His surreal TikTok comedy skits and character “Cheesy Michael” are just fascinating.
