Punk
The disturbing ambient music of William Tyler
One could argue that all musical forms are essentially incomplete until the listener joins the party, but ambient music seems…
A treat for nostalgic wrinklies: Punk Off!, at the Dominion Theatre, reviewed
Punk rock, packaged, parcelled, and boxed up as a treat for nostalgic wrinklies. That’s the deal with Punk Off!, a…
Goodbye to MC5, the holiest of rock’s holy cows
Grade: D+ Ah, the original Linkin Park, except even more spavined. MC5 came outta Detroit in the mid 1960s and…
Chrissie Hynde remains outstanding: the Pretenders, at Usher Hall, reviewed
A few hours before the doors opened for the Pretenders’ Edinburgh concert, Chrissie Hynde posted a message on her social…
Back to black
Michael Hann on the most enduring of pop subcultures
Avril Lavigne: Love Sux
Grade: B Yay, life just gets better and better. World War Three and now this. More petulant popcorn pre-school punk…
Hardcore thrills
Even leaving aside its origins as prison slang, punk has always meant different things on either side of the Atlantic.…
Spirit of place
In a 1923 book called Echo de Paris, the writer Laurence Houseman attempted to conjure up in a very slim,…
Women’s troubles
It has never been easy for women in the music industry. Once upon a time the evidence was largely anecdotal.…
‘We knew there was greatness in these songs’
Graeme Thomson talks to Steve Diggle, front man of Buzzcocks, about orgasms, boredom and Pete Shelley
Yes man
Rod Liddle talks to Rick Wakeman about lockdown, the Sex Pistols, and how you can’t have opinions any more
Dysfunctional music by dysfunctional people
A star is born, but instead of emerging into the world beaming for the cameras, he spits and snarls and…
Did everyone in punk sell out?
For many people of a certain age (full disclosure: mine), punk has been a weirdly persistent presence. These days, we…
The open-hearted loveliness of Hot Chip
Squeeze and Hot Chip are both great British pop groups. But they never defined a scene. Their ambitions extended further…
Enveloping and gorgeous: Cate Le Bon reviewed
The last time Bikini Kill played in London was in a room that now serves as the restaurant of a…
Deeply unpleasant and thrilling: Viagra Boys make Primal Scream look antiseptic
May was a cruel month for those middle-aged liberals who treasure their old alternative rock heroes. There was Morrissey, appearing…
Convoluted, woeful mishmash with no central story: How to Talk to Girls at Parties reviewed
How to Talk to Girls at Parties is set in the 1970s and has punk as the backdrop and an…
Viv Albertine of the Slits on anger, honesty and being an arsey feminist
Viv Albertine, by her own admission, hurls stuff at misbehaving audiences. Specifically, when the rage descends, any nearby full cup…
Beauty and the beast
I was going to start with a little moan. About the shouty marketing, the digital diarrhoea, the sycophantic drivel, which,…
LCD Soundsystem: American Dream
Grade: B+ Number one. Everywhere, just about. You have to say that the man has a certain sureness of touch.…
A genuine oddity
The most compelling pop singers in music right now — at least in the branch where pop singers still play…
Punk turns 40
There have been many punk exhibitions over the years so I can’t help but chuckle at the ‘experts’ who are…
Anarchy in the EU
Paul Cook, the Sex Pistols’ drummer, on fame, notoriety and why Brexit wouldn’t be punk
Music for the masses
As pop music drifts away from many people’s lives, so its literature grows ever more serious and weighty, as though…
Punk in a funk
Look up Tracey Thorn’s live performances with Everything But The Girl or Massive Attack on You Tube and you’ll find…
