A God-awful Small Affair

The TV quiz show Pointless had a long spell of offering the specialist round of 'Welsh Bands', which, quite rightly, thanks to the likes of the Stereophonics and the largely insufferable arseholes Manic Street Preachers (granted, they have good music, but Nicky Wire is Music Prick #1), went avoided for a long time. Although Super Furry Animals, Feeder and the occasional Catatonia pop song have done a little to reestablish Welsh rock music's image, it's only really gone to shit again thanks to that Lostprophets paedo bloke. In 2011, however, the Joy Formidable stepped forward and gave their home country a band both listenable and interesting. The Big Roar - their debut - although occasionally too eccentric for their own good, proved extremely appealing and energetic rock music was still being produced in the UK without the constant forcing of it down one's throat from the NME and their bloodlust for bitchy, tedious Oasis tributes. Yet, still, the band remain re

Until recently Tegan and Sara just screamed 'generic gay guy favourite'. Okay, so maybe they still do, but I don't know, I take some small victory in overcoming my own prejudices... it's all the 21st century 20-something has any more. So whilst I was wilfully ignoring the Calgary twins they managed to push six albums prior to this - although maybe their relative lack of UK success adds a smidgen of reason - and now, thanks to my unerring attention given to Popjustice and Pitchfork (and this is one of those rare, rare occasions where something is picked up by both), here we are. Why you would care whatever a newcomer to the band thinks of their seventh album is ultimately down to you, so away with your snooty comments. Enough brushing aside of imaginary criticism, though. The assimilation of Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Ke$ha, P!nk producer) into Heartthrob should immediately indicate a poppier inclination than their usual self-produced, occasional member of AFI sound.

It was with some supposition that Opposites would be Biffy Clyro's first proof of mainstream success: the album that launched them into a world of stadium tours, inescapable TV montages and the victims of thousands of "I prefer their early stuff"s and "they've sold out!"s. That their 2009 schmaltz-fest Many of Horror was chosen as the X Factor winner's single the very next year came as something of a surprise, and its renaming as Matt Cardle's When We Collide (for music fans so inattentive that they're only capable of buying songs whose choruses begin, rather than end, with the title) quite justifiably rubbed up their fans the wrong way. Alas, he's already a nobody now, and Biffy continue to grab #1s with this, their sixth studio album. Originally pitched back in 2011 as a pair of albums, Opposites is a double-LP with separate titles - The Land at the End of our Toes and The Sand at the Core of our Bones . It's not the first time

In case you hadn't noticed from the gap between this and my last album review - Ke$ha's, which, by January 22, was already very late. That it's taken this long for a new artist to come along and excite me with just the one song should really sum up my ambivalence towards new music right now, but lo and behold a whole train of new and returning acts have just rolled in (I plan to get around to reviewing John Grant, The Joy Formidable, Biffy Clyro, Justin Timberlake, Youth Lagoon, Rhye, Stornoway, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kate Nash, Laura Mvula, Bastille and... oh... just David Bowie). It seems fitting though that I delve back in with something new, and Nashville-raised 22-year old Mackenzie Scott is that catalyst. For someone who only created her Facebook account last October, it would seem odd that such a large listening base has formed over on websites like last.fm and Spotify. Maybe it was that first glimpse - the Pitchfork-touted Honey - that, like me, dema