Two Motörhead releases this year for Record Store Day (April 18). Steven Wilson will surely have done a fine job when he remixed the band's earliest recordings, which were released on the On Parole album in 1979.
February 05, 2026
The Would-Be-Goods: Tears for Leda
English indie pop band The Would-Be-Goods took a bit of Greek mythology wherein Zeus has his way with a Spartan queen in the guise of swan and turned it into an upbeat song, Tears for Leda. Of course it does not end well. Gods are never trustworthy: "We took it hard and fast // We took it nice and slow // And then he pecked me on the cheek and said // Time for me to go".
Fischer-Z: on tour in Australia
New Wave band Fischer-Z have announced their first ever shows in Australia as part of their 50th anniversary tour:
Some of you have been with these songs since So Long, The Perfect Day and beyond — and despite never having toured your country, Australia has always been one of our strongest and most passionate listeners. That connection has never gone unnoticed.
February 04, 2026
Thistle Sifter: Forever The Optimist
photo: CamilleM
English musician Pete Barnes released two introspective albums with his instrumental project Thistle Sifter, as he was trying to deal with the after effects of a nasty bike accident, but on Forever The Optimist he comes out of shell, only to find out that the outside world has become a dangerous place, where rampant capitalism is depleting all the natural resources. People don't seem to realise that agriculture as one of the main culprits (Ghost Acres). He has been reading a lot and the works of Jay Griffiths, George Monbiot, Omar El Akkad and Siddharth Kara found their way into his compositions, not so much with the actual words, but more like mood boards that were translated into music.
He has a knack for creating soundscapes that are wrapped in neo-classical textures, some of them quite abstract (Weightless), but also going into Depeche Mode meets Mogwai (One Fleeting Glance). The softly tinkling Endling is covered in hiss, from which the choice synth notes can escape to a supposedly better place. Barnes has plenty of reason to be seriously worried, but all is not lost as he wraps up his statement with the soft-spoken title track. It would help if people stopped being so greedy and stupid though. Only then the Anthropocene can become an era that does not end in destruction.
The Darts: Apocalypse
Seattle based garage-rockers The Darts embrace the darkness on their new single Apocalypse, a fast-paced and sometimes chaotic song that was inspired by the medieval Apocalypse Tapestry, which is on display in Angers, France. The song basically wrote itself, according to singer Nicole Laurenne, whose cheesy Farfisa organ offers a bit of relief in the midst of the mayhem. And yes, the current clusterfuck in her country helped too, hence the line "no future, no kings" as a rallying cry throughout the track.
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