Those paying very close attention to the rock underground over the past couple of years may well have encountered Desert Kites. The Dundee based band have released a string of singles and an EP that gained some positive online press.
The band are back with the surprisingly sparky ‘Simple Cure’, which takes their riff-based approach in a slightly different direction from the EP’s post grunge sounds..
Lili Refrain’s fifth release ‘Mana’ was an interesting proposition. The record’s nine compositions drew influence from a variety of styles. The opening couplet (‘Ki’/‘Kokyu’) set a fairly cold mood by mixing light drone with choral vocals; ‘Eikyou’ featured strong, soaring vocal lines against heavy tribal influenced rhythms; the much darker ‘Ichor’ shared a vocal mantra shifting between the gothic and operatic, augmented by orchestral sounds via heavy synth work, only allowing finger cymbals to bring any lightness to the piece. Better still, and slightly more accessible without shifting too far away from Refrain’s sense of the artistic, ‘Ahi Tapu’ occasionally sounded like early eighties Tangerine Dream fused with a Brad Fidel film score, topped with whispering Japanese vocals, and latterly another neo-operatic melody that showed Refrain in possession of a huge voice.
Welcome back to the Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. This time around, there’s an amazing ballad from a veteran singer-songwriter, some really cool retro vibes from a brand new rock act, a slab of almost perfect shoegaze, and a metal oriented number that flaunts a massive 90s riff with an industrial edge. You’ll also find a piece of Americana tinged pop-rock that shows massive promise, and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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Throughout 2025, Brighton’s The Rockerati propped up the British rock underground with a couple of enjoyable singles and an EP, all of which captured a pleasingly natural, analogue inspired sound. Favouring energy over originality, volume over finesse, the band’s finest tracks played with a nostalgic bent, but at the same time, never showed The Rockerati’s approach to be in any way tired.
Blending elements of groove metal and melodic hardcore, with influences from Machine Head and Sevendust, Irish band Asylum Road delivered some absolutely massive riffs on their brilliant EP ‘The Fear’ in 2024. A couple of the vocals might have split opinion with their genuinely abrasive approach, but from a musical standpoint – and looking at the material in terms of tightly played, classic metal, without sounding at all dated – the release was first rate.