The first thing to point out is that this is one of those trickiest of releases: a live album (for further discussion of the pros and cons of these, see our forum here.  So anyway, Jesse and chums hosted two nights in New York last Christmas as a festive celebration, and recorded them with a view to making this record at the same time, now duly edited into a cohesive whole and released in time for this Christmas.  Neat. Continue Reading

Oh Canada. How do we love thee here at The Line of Best Fit? (This Much apparently). And it isn’t just because I’m trying to move there. Honest.

This weeks devotional goes to Land Of Talk. When the Montreal based trio released their 7 track EP a couple of years back the blogosphere went into overdrive for their hook ridden grunge-lite sound. The fuzzy guitars, powerful drums and behind the bridge playing that sets off all kinds of chemicals in the brains of music fans of a certain age, and has them heading back to the cupboard to seek out the plaid shirt left there years before. Continue Reading

Shelleyan Orphan have been around for a good few years now. Formed in the 1980’s by Caroline Crawley and Jamaur Tayle, they released three albums before disbanding in 1992. But as this is the time for reunions, why not. Not that they’ll be embarking on an international money making tour or anything. Continue Reading

We caught up with Raphael and JB from London based trio Underground Railroad whose new album Sticks and Stones was released this week via One Little Indian. What did we discover? Well, they have a thirst for Guiness (good boys), think Bullseye is one of the greatest TV shows ever (amen to that) and they enjoy the odd game of Scrabble (who doesnt?). Continue Reading

Imagine the disappointment when I learnt Rose was a lady, when I first spotted this release I thought ex-Eastender and supposed hard man Ross Kemp had gone off the rails and made a snarling hardcore punk record. However my disappoint, was abated when TLOBF’s Rich Thane admitted that Rose Kemp scared him more than a little bit. It was indisputably a reputation worth investigating further.

There is an eerie atmosphere that pervades this, before the music even starts. The artwork portrays a solitary Blackbird with blood dripping from its beak like a reject from Hitchcocks Birds. And Kemps slurring vocals flutter into Dirt Glow, before a cracked cackle brings crashing guitars to enliven the slumber. Nannys World is built around a foreboding single bar and a Jekyll and Hyde high/low vocal which is obliterated when the amps are turned up to bring some equilibrium to the dual personality. Continue Reading

Suppose I crept into your room while you were sleeping, all on my tippy-toes to stop you waking up and wondering what I’m doing in your bedroom. Approaching your bed, I lean over and whisper “Icelandic music” into your ear. Chances are, you are going to dream of the splendid drama of Sigur Ros or the off the wall musings of Bjork. You’re not likely to dream of melodic soft-rock, are you? Well, now you can, as the new album from Kalli is pretty much as smooth as you can get, a collection of songs with a light touch and the sonic punch of a meringue covered fist. Continue Reading

In what turned out to be the most entertaining 20 Questions we’ve done in a while, NYC punk outfit Stalkers took some time out of promoting their Ramones-esque single ‘In Your Street Today’ which was released via One Little Indian last week. We caught up with Raze Regal (guitar), Andy Animal (vocals), Danny Gold (bass), Lefty Flowers (guitar) and Josh Styles (drums) to see what they made of our infamous questions. As you’d expect, the answers read like a ‘How to be a Rock n Roll band 101′: Fucking, amyl nitrate, whiskey, beating eachother up, riding motorcycles into swimming pools and the most important one of all - using human tears as a lubricant during masturbation….
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