Mick Birchall Reviews

I seem to have a hot and cold relationship with Skindred . Whereby, I’ll completely forget about them for a while only to be suddenly reminded of their existence as they put out another banger of a record. Well, their new album Smile , it seems to be that time again. A fiery, intensive album that hits the mark right on the bullseye. In fact, in the time it's taken for me to do this review, this album has already skyrocketed up the charts and won the hearts of many rock fans out there. I, personally, found out about them with their 2011 album, Union Black I have tried to keep up to date with their music. However, I always seem to need to catch up to the fandom. So, will this album keep me around, well only time will tell at this point. For now, I can only tell you how I feel about this album after two weeks of playing it on and off. I think Smile is a solid record bearing all of Skindred’s usual hallmarks. Funky reggae, check; hard-hitting riffs, check; ridiculously catchy chorus’ ...

Sometimes an album comes out into the world and it takes you on a ride! For me this year that would be the latest record from Greek headbangers, Project Renegade . Their latest album, Ultra Terra is a whirlwind of heavy riffs and bombastic hook lines that just captivate the listener. With the release of this album, I got to sit down with vocalist Marianna to discuss the new album, the challenges of producing an album during the COVID pandemic, memories of touring and a few other fun stories. With the new album released, what's your personal favourite song on the album? That is a very difficult question because there are a lot of songs that are very dear to my heart. I love the latest single “Token” because it’s the most recent single. The album closer “No Country For White Flags” is special as it’s the first ballad we’ve done as a band and the first time I was so exposed, vocally. It was a totally different approach from all of our other songs. I also really love the composition ...

Let’s rewind, not too far, but just a little to the end of 2022. In November, I went to see one of the Young Guns reunion shows in Manchester. It was an absolutely belting night, filled with passion and fun. The main support act for the night was the Nottingham-based rock band, Lacey . What a flashback that was! Holy cow, I hadn’t had a chance to listen to them in so long, I think the last time was in 2013. It was a memory unlocked. That night, Lacey played a few newer songs and I really loved the sound. After their set, I went to their merch table and got a CD mix of the newer tracks. So, you better believe that the new album was on my *look out for this one* list in 2023. Well, look what rolled into my inbox, the new album, This Is All We Are . I’ve been listening to it for a bit now and I have to say some of these songs have been stuck in my head since I forest listened to them. From a production standpoint, I’m in two minds about it. It’s very electronic, there are a lot of vocal ...

  OK, I swear I don’t plan these, sometimes things come into my inbox and I feel the need to write about them. Recently, I came across the UK-based garage rock band, Loud George and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. It’s been a while since I’ve dipped my toes into the DIY-filled world of underground garage rock. Of course, there are always bands that self-produce their music, but I’m talking about something entirely different. I’m talking about that raw, unfiltered power of just some friends that crash their instruments and shape the sound into a wall of sonic energy. That’s what I get from this album. The latest self-titled effort from Loud George hits with the weight of a thousand amplifiers. The influence of bands like Dead Boys , The Meat Puppets and Butthole Surfers lives on in bands like this. This album is best described as controlled and chaotic. On first listen you might feel that it’s just erratic for the sake of being loud. However, on repeat listens you find a particu...