Ry | Vinyl Fantasy Reviews

A poster indicating that a concert will use low risk lighting, and that it is unlikely to pose a risk to photosensitive people.

Love seeing this from La Dispute. I stand on business regarding strobe lights: they’re non-essential, and make concert pointlessly less accessible.

‘Not having them ruins the vibe!’ Or maybe if you rely on strobes, your live set is a bit wank, eh?

EP REVIEW – Granite State – PROPER FORMS OF PROTEST An EP for the end times we are living through, Granite State deliver hardcore with teeth.

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Granite State - PROPER FORMS OF PROTEST

‘…‘PROPER FORMS OF PROTEST’ is here to remind you of what hardcore should be about; confrontation, defiance, and community…’

Genuinely heartbroken over this. ‘A Black Mile To The Surface’ was one of those special records that transformed part of me, in no short part thanks to the phenomenal drum work. ‘The Silence’ remains one of the finest drum performances I have ever heard. A joy to watch play live. Rest easy.

If you call something ‘coworker music’, I instantly will disregard your opinion and spend the rest of any interaction booing you loudly.

All you’re telling me is that you have a MASSIVE main protagonist complex.

SINGLE REVIEW: Hungry – Cambridge is on Fire Hungry commence their year of “Fenland Gothic” with an anthem for indie sleaze.

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Hungry - Cambridge is on Fire

‘…The satirical dynamics of modern post-punk collides with the scrappy hedonism of 00’s indie rock…’

Finneas and Billie

Finneas is better at political messaging than 99% of the Democratic consultants in DC.

It’s why UK fans can often seem entitled. Driving isn’t an essential part of our culture, so many of us rely on public transport, potentially for life. Despite that, it is underfunded and under serviced.

I get that Leeds is north in England, and that bands can only visit so many cities, but it is a kick in the nuts whenever a cool band announces Leeds as a tour date. Our public transport system is so shite, the last train home is 10:30.

EP REVIEW: Power Snatch – EP1 The new project of Hayley Williams and Daniel James is a collection of glossy lo-if ruminations.

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Power Snatch - EP1

‘…Superfans of Williams will no doubt relish this, and those who enjoy bedroom pop, dream pop, and trip hop will find something to really get their teeth into…’

I get that musicians have to make money however they can, so purchasing digitally and physically helps that. But I think a return to complimentary digital copies would somewhat help facilitate a shift from streaming. Convenience and all that.

I miss bands doing free downloads with physical purchases.

Like, if a record is only getting a physical release that isn’t CD, then I have to buy it again digitally in order to own a copy I can put onto an audio device. It’s part of why I have always loved Bandcamp.

EP REVIEW: Ugly Jumper – Everything Is Not Alright! The self-proclaimed band for the virgin losers, middle aged boozers, and baby boomers unleash four tracks of emo-adjacent brilliance.

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Ugly Jumper - Everything Is Not Alright!

‘…the band’s future direction feels clearer and brighter than ever; this is the sound of an emo band that, in their refusal to adhere to expectation or convention, has the potential for a masterpiece…’

Free Palestine. Fuck ICE. And may imperialism, capitalism, and fascism rot and wither away.

The ‘keep politics out of music’ crowd are just that. Cowards. I can guarantee, if they said something you agreed with, you’d be preaching free speech. Instead, you slam your hands over your ears and bleat apathy. You cannot bare the truth that history will curse your name.

Incredibly funny to read about Earth refusing to play unless a Palestine flag was removed from the venue, and then whining about the venue putting ‘politics above music’… and then blocking all comments on their social media. Utter cowardice.

Not to be all ‘and yet you participate in society!’, but it irks me when a fairly sizeable band bangs on about shunning the mainstream, yet are quick to share every single Spotify and Amazon playlist they’re on, custom graphics included.

Come on lads, let’s have a backbone x

I think there are plenty of valid criticisms to be levelled at Sleep Token. But it really frustrates me when I see people say that all of the songs sound the same.

Emergence, Gods, The Way That You Were, Say That You Will, The Summoning… you don’t have to like any of them, but variety is there.

Let your music speak without relying on putting other uNcOoL people down. Social media fucking sucks for musicians, but if you’re giving me 30 seconds, I want to know your name, where you’re from, the song I’m hearing, and other cool musicians you know!

Also whilst I’m being a miserable little grinch, if you are in a band, please stop with the ‘it’s sad people watch an influencer for 7 minutes but won’t give us 30 seconds’.

It’s giving ‘old man shouts at clouds’. It’s giving boomer. It’s weirdly low-key giving misogynist.

“When everything around us is cultural trash, trash becomes the new medium, the lingua franca of the digital age.

You can build culture out of trash but only trash culture: B-games, B-movies, B-music, B-philosophy.”

The reduction of art to consumable content is one of the biggest failings of millennials and Gen Z. Bennett Foddy was right:

On Bandcamp yesterday I tried scouting out records arriving in 2026, and found myself on the page of an individual proudly putting out an entire album a week, with a fully generated bio, description, artwork, and I can only assume sound.

Sometimes I remember criticising a band for using AI for a joke and being told to ‘kill the cop in your brain’.

Now Suno is here and musicians are realising that the Sloppening was never going to stop at just images.

Rock Music Struggles to Draw Crowds as Tour Earnings Drop Rock tours once dominated arenas, but 2025 data shows a shrinking share of total touring revenue, with newer genres eclipsing classic rock on the live-music charts.

I'm old enough to have seen a version of this story repeat over multiple decades.

It's old and tired.

It's also very gendered. If you're counting Coldplay as a rock act, and not counting Olivia Rodrigo, that's a you problem.

If you unironically share the ‘place/place (Japan)’ meme, I am going to assume you have the critical thinking skills of a walnut.

every year is a good year for music if you like music

Regardless, tell the artists you love that you love them. Buy their music if you can. Attend shows, especially for that local band that only have two songs out. And IF you can, look at getting off streaming; consciously listen to music as opposed to passively consuming it. Be present in your scene.

But it’s also a reminder of how something as wonderful as music has been commodified, and turned into something that supports warmongers and fascists. And ultimately, whilst I still use that platform, I’m also supporting it.

I still unfortunately use Spotify; I’m in the process of switching to physical, but a multitude of excuses have me still streaming.

Regardless, Spotify wrapped remains a bittersweet feeling. It’s nice to see people supporting their favourite artists. Music should be a community.

TOO LATE NOW, by male//gaze 6 track album

I have a full review coming out for this soon, but I am absolutely fucking blown away by what this band have achieved here.

Extreme pop. Hyper punk. Chaos pop. Call it whatever you want, but this genuinely feels like I’m listening to the cutting edge.

malegazeband.bandcamp.com/album/too-la...