
Husband Material: Raindrop (2023) single
Auckland jazz trio Husband Material have their debut album coming out later this year and prior to that they have released this single to give us a taste of what is to come. Although the three of them all play multiple instruments, this sounds very much like a live...

This Silent Divide: Beautiful Creature (2023) single
Here we have the latest single from Wellington-based melodic hard rock quartet This Silent Divide. I really enjoyed their Tall Stories EP, and they played a great gig at Dead Witch towards the end of last year, and this would have been recorded at about the same time....

Drop Off Point: Bridge City Crew (2023)
Back in 1991, bassist Jorge "Hoya Roc" Guerra took over from the legend that is Roger Minet in the Agnostic Front side-project Madball, since when he has been a constant alongside Freddy Cricien. He now has a new claim to fame, providing a shoutout to his favourite...

Mikey Videotape: The Strangest Dream (2023)
Some years back I was asked by AAA Records if I would write the press release for the debut album by a young Auckland-based prog band to which of course I agreed and in due course I was speaking to singer Michael Brown of Outside In about their incredible release,...

Cautionary Tales: No Funeral Blues (2023) single
Cautionary Tales are a multi-international band in that they are mostly based in Berlin, as well as Aotearoa and NYC and feature Will Marshall (vocals, keyboards), Karl Weber (guitar, backing vocals), Martyn Matthews (synthesizers, Rhodes, Hammond), Taylor Mallo...

Written by Wolves: Misery (2023) single
WBW may not have released any new material in 2022 but they are certainly making up for it in 2023 as while “Give ‘em Hell” is still moving up the SMR US Mainstream/Active Rock Charts (now not far from the Top Ten at #13), here they are with their second single of the...

Matt Joe Gow & Kerryn Fields: Your Heart Of Gold (2023) single
Here we have a brand-new partnership from two artists who have already made names for themselves performing solo, and although they are both proud Kiwis, they have each won The Music Victoria Awards. Even though Matt only released his latest album a few months ago,...

Aro: Aroā (2023) single
It is not often that I plagiarise my own reviews, especially when it was only a few weeks ago that the original review appeared, but here I am going to make an exception. There I wrote about the latest single by Aro, “Know How”, and here we have the same song but with...

Emily Rice: Warenoa (2023) single
Emily obviously does not have enough on her plate with raising her two-year-old daughter, as with her husband Charles she has released two singles in May, and here she is back with a solo effort as well. I was fortunate enough to hear her perform this live a few...

Five Finger Death Punch: AfterLife (2022)
When 5FDP first came out there was lot of noise about them in the scene, and I really enjoyed their first few albums, but I must admit I have somewhat lost touch with what they have been doing over the years so when I had the opportunity to review this their ninth...