Sonic Dice | Singles + EPs

Singles + EPs

RSS feed for this section

This category contains 55 posts

EP Review: Shy Of The Depth

By Rich E ⋅ October 10, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[EP: Shy Of The Depth]
[Label: Basick Records]

Although a relatively new band, Brighton based Shy Of The Depth have had a few breaks on the tour front, having supported titans Meshuggah and thrashers Malefice amongst notable others this year. And with such reputable headline bands, it seems that this influence has been put to good use. […]

EP Review: Deaf Havana

By Mike Copus ⋅ October 6, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[EP: It’s Called the Easy Life]
[Label: A Wolf at Your Door Records]

Do boring places encourage the enthusiasm of interesting bands? It’s widely recognised that Muse was born in Devon, the place that everyone’s parents think it would be nice to retire to. Mclusky hailed from Wales which (from my sketchy memory of a rather depressing […]

Single Review Shorts: 6-13 October

By Sonic Dice ⋅ October 6, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[Artist: Stephen Dale Petit]
[Single: A Better Answer]
[Label: 333 Records]

Alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness; Stephen Dale Petit has been through the mill. Busking on the London Underground and a sprinkling of media attention has enabled him to self-finance an album which has spawned this single. It’s a classic take on the blues chords, replete with harmonica, carousing […]

EP Review: Dolium

By Dave Jackson ⋅ October 1, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[Album: El Vampiro Attack!]
[Label: Parlour 9 / Cargo Records]

Is it just me or does the entity known as “punk” just not exist anymore? Yes, we know there are still scummy blokes with Mohawks blasting dog eared copies of ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ out of their 8-tracks, but where’s the music scene gone? One glance at […]

EP Review: Green Eyed Child

By John Skibeat ⋅ September 30, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[EP: Silence (Speak Your Mind)]
[Label: Unsigned]

If you read the mainstream influences that Green Eyed Child list on their MySpace (Foo Fighters, Stereophonics, Paul Weller, Manic Street Preachers) before listening to them you’d think that the four boys from Billericay were just a quartet of noisome oiks simply penning rock-by-numbers tunes. The truth, however, is something […]

Single Review Shorts: 22-29 September

By Sonic Dice ⋅ September 23, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[Artist: The Lazarus Plot]
[Single: Do You Want To Be Someone]
[Label: Illuminated Music]

No offence meant to this band whatsoever for what I am about to say. This single started off relatively well with some programmed, slightly distorted sounding drums, but then the rest of the song made just made me cringe and wince and pull pain […]

EP Review: Spectrum 7

By John Skibeat ⋅ September 22, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[EP: Fade To Black And Back Again]
[Label: Unsigned]

Electro-rockers Spectrum 7 write songs in their bedroom much like many other bands starting out. The difference here though is that Sean Shreeve and Jon Hardless are insanely good at it. They started out layering lyrics and guitars over electronic beats created on a knackered old Playstation. A […]

EP Review: Birdpen

By Mike Copus ⋅ September 22, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[Album: Breaking Precedent]
[Label: Les Oreilles Bleues]

What’s immediately clear from the moment you press “play” is Birdpen’s obsessive fascination concerning birds, and other examples of Mother Nature’s offspring. Their press release reads as if David Attenborough has begun his own science fiction writing career - penning nonsense phrases at a rate faster than an over-excitable teenage […]

Single Review Shorts: 15 September

By Sonic Dice ⋅ September 17, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[Artist: A Silent Film]
[Single: Thirteen Times The Strength]
[Label: Xtra Mile Recordings]

Oxford 4-piece A Silent Film have been going from strength to strength in recent months, and on the back of this new single, ‘Thirteen Times The Strength’, I can see why. The four minutes of intelligent and melodious alternative indie-rock are both spacious and convincing. […]

Single Review Shorts: 1-8 September

By Sonic Dice ⋅ September 10, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

[Artist: Conor Oberst]
[Single: Souled Out]
[Label: Wichita]

‘Souled Out!’ is swimming with country-fied folk guitars - electric licks and plastic acoustic strumming. There’s not necessarily a recognisable pattern to it all and things begin to disintegrate further with a finishing torrent of drum destruction and strange out-of-place whipping delay effects. A redundant release purely to draw attention […]