The Orielles, G2, Glasgow review - shoegaze trio keeping their eyes on the future

★★★ THE ORIELLES, G2, GLASGOW Shoegaze trio keeping their eyes on the future

A muted atmosphere greeted the group's new material

It is temping to wonder what path the Orielles would have gone down in a world where the coronavirus never occurred. The Halifax trio had just released their second album, Disco Volador when the pandemic struck, and wiped out any hope of touring the record. Instead they reworked material from the record for use scoring a film, and have now returned with last year’s Tableau album as a significantly different beast.

Album: boygenius - The Record

Boygenius’ debut takes three generation-defining songwriters and forges an almighty collective

Maybe you’ve heard the Native American parable about the two wolves. An old Cherokee’s grandson is grappling with internal tensions; self-hatred and self-aggrandising. For Phoebe Bridgers, one-third of indie supergroup boygenius (usually styled with no initial capital letter), this analogy sits at the heart of album standout ‘Not Strong Enough’.

Nick Mulvey, Chalk, Brighton review - cult star shines bright

★★★★ NICK MULVEY, CHALK, BRIGHTON Cult star shines bright

Singer-songwriter whips up ecstatic fervour with just a few guitars and a belief in better

Welcome to the church of Mulvey. The sold-out venue is packed with a svelte crowd, mostly ranging in age between about 30 and 45. Nick Mulvey is playing a new number which has an air of lockdown-inspiration about it, with its lines about “missing every one of you” and “feeling grace in solitude”. The audience may not know the song, but they’re still in thrall, transported, a good few with eyes closed, hands reaching upwards as in evangelical service, swaying from side-to-side.

Kreator, Chalk, Brighton review - an invigoratingly relentless assault

★★★★★ KREATOR, CHALK, BRIGHTON An invigoratingly relentless assault

German thrash titans give Brighton a rare lesson in extreme metal

Mille Petrozza is roaring into the mic, teeth gritted, black hair flailing. Behind his growl-screeching a triumphant martial riff is holding the “tune” and behind that, never-ceasing drum beats, an exercise in pure velocity.

Album: Måneskin - Rush!

Raucous, gritty Roman rockers release their third album

Rock'n'roll rejuvenators, Eurovision winners with more of their songs streamed online than there are people in the world, the glammy young Roman rockers have opened for The Stones in Las Vegas, delivered a city-stopping sold-out show at Rome’s historic Circus Maximus and been hailed as “America’s New Favorite Rock Band,” in the Los Angeles Times.

Album: Iggy Pop - Every Loser

★★★★ IGGY POP - EVERY LOSER A short, catchy album of California-touched, punk-tinted rock

The Ig returns with a short, catchy album of California-touched, punk-tinted rock

Iggy Pop is one of rock’s great survivors but his fans are divided into two categories; those who claim he hasn’t done anything worthwhile since the late-Seventies and those, like this writer, who find much to enjoy, right up to the present.

Album: CVC - Get Real

★★★ CVC - GET REAL Rising Welsh live phenomenon are catchy but cutesy on record

Rising Welsh live phenomenon are catchy but cutesy on record

CVC stands for Church Village Collective, a six-piece who hail from the countryside near Cardiff. They were the best live act I saw last year (of a long list which includes Melt Yourself Down, Paul McCartney, The Prodigy and Wet Leg). It was a joyously raucous and contagious gig, front-loaded with Seventies rock vibes and a sense of fun, so I’m intrigued to hear if their debut album can live up to it.

Album: White Lung - Premonition

★★★ WHITE LUNG - PREMONITION White Lung honour their circle pit pulsing punk anthems

White Lung honour their circle pit pulsing punk anthems with a fifth and final release

In 2016’s abrasive album opener, "Dead Weight", frontwoman Mish Barber-Way laments over multiple miscarriages as her biological clock ticks away like a malevolent metronome.

Wet Leg, O2 Forum Kentish Town review - eclectic glee from an emerging band

★★★★ WET LEG, 02 FORUM KENTISH TOWN Eclectic glee from an emerging band

Madness and mop men abound

Arriving to the second night of two shows in the same venue, you would expect it to be a little quieter. But Wet Leg’s second outing at the O2 in Kentish Town was anything but – their burgeoning reputation (they are supporting Harry Styles next year) ensuring an excellent and enthusiastic turnout.

Wilko Johnson (1947-2022): The Bard of Canvey Island

RIP WILKO JOHNSON (1947-2022) Snug-bar confessions in an epic encounter with the Bard of Canvey Island

Snug-bar confessions in an epic Canvey Island encounter with the late Essex great

Wilko Johnson, who has died aged 75, enjoyed an astonishing afterlife while he was still alive. After Julien Temple’s Dr. Feelgood film Oil City Confidential (2009) restored his crucial former band's profile, a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2013 perversely flooded Wilko with the wonder of life, leaving this melancholy soul content for perhaps the first time.