Green Day

Father of all...

Billie Joe Armstrong et al have done their thing since being inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Touring here, there and everywhere, releasing another greatest hits and writing Father Of All...

Although it is described as being filled with the grungy, gritty rock sound we know of Green Day, I beg to differ.

This isn’t the angry, rampant guitar music that I remember.

This is a well produced, glam-punk pop album.

The grit from the American Idiot era has been rounded out.

Father Of All is all guitars and muted mics, the glam rock is apparent from the get-go, dipped into some early 80s glitter and reverb.

Ready, Aim, Fire feels like a White Stripes track, but mixed with a hint of the Hives.

However the glam is at its most rampant with an anthemic addition in Oh Yeah’s chorus, which will make it a live performance favourite.

For me the most surprising addition was the classic 12 bar blues of rock ’*’ roll belter that is Stab You In The Heart.

This is not Green Day as you remember them. However, it is an awesome progression for the Californian natives offering another aspect on modern Americana.

Smoke Fairies

Darkness Brings the Wonders Home

Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies show the full range of their musical capabilities on this sixth studio album.

The duo’s guitar-heavy sound has previously caught the ear of the likes of Jack White and Richard Hawley and their early albums shared a producer with PJ Harvey, taking them far beyond any folk pigeonholes, even if their 2014 Christmas album Wild Winter inspired a real ale..

On The Wing and particularly Elevator make for a potent opening one-two punch, while single Out Of The Woods is a mid-album stand out with its chiming hook.

The more ruminative Coffee Shop Blues references the year they spent in New Orleans early in their career and leads in nicely to the gorgeous harmonies of Left To Roll, with Don’t You Want To Spiral Out Of Control? providing a late highlight.

Nada Surf

Never Not Together

Try listening to So Much Love, the opening track on Nada Surf’s ninth studio album, and not smile. It’s nigh on impossible. And Never Not Together has another eight tracks just as good or even better.

The music is the same as Nada Surf have been making for a quarter of a century - Beatles-esque power pop, with an emphasis on pop.

Singer/guitarist Matthew Caws is also a great lyricist, particularly here on Mathilda, a heartbreaking song of growing up looking and sounding different and how cruel children can be. It’s brilliant, as is this album.

One day, Nada Surf will be recognised for their greatness.

by Rachel Howdle, Tom White and Padraig Collins