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About Me

Music journalist in Birmingham, with a primary interest in hardcore, post-punk and pop!  

Assistant Editor: Punktastic

Current: Distorted Sound Magazine, Stereoboard, Overblown, Skiddle.

Contact: Jackmcgill999@gmail.com

Recent Work.

Stereoboard.com •

Metz - Up On Gravity Hill (Album Review) - Stereoboard

Metz are changing as they age. You might remember the Canadian trio being noisy for the sake of it in their early work, but now they have a relationship with the more aggressive elements of their sound that is caustic but tempered by greater textural ambition. Their fifth album ‘Up On Gravity Hill’, for example, is their most refined work to date, with core elements still firmly in place but subject to some judicious self-editing. The opener No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing stops just short of
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: You Could Do It Tonight - Couch Slut

The following words describe an album that contains graphic themes of self-harm and violence. Reader and listener discretion is advised.

When someone recommends a band for you to listen to, and you ask “well, what sort of music is it?”, you’ll have some preconceived notions of what it will sound like when you get your answer. It’s a bit different when someone recommends you COUCH SLUT and they tell you they’re a noise rock band, because this isn’t like any noise rock you’ve heard before, they a
Skiddle.com •

Dry Cleaning @ Hare & Hounds review: joy meets surrealism | Skiddle

The fact it was early in the work week didn’t stop the BBC 6 Music dads of Birmingham from striding into the Hare & Hounds for the past two sold-out nights for a chance to be graced by Dry Cleaning’s sound. Touring through North America and Europe, the quartet have had the chance to celebrate the reissue of their two early EPs with a cheeky mix of album tracks thrown into the set for good measure.

Drawing out the eccentric in the usual and mundane, they qualify as one of the most spellbinding p
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Light Will Shine - Divided

You can name lots of things that Belgium is iconic for: great food, architecture, the saxophone and Audrey Hepburn originate from there, and more. But you might not list really great post-rock. DIVIDED could change that; the quartet from West Flanders create visceral and emotionally nuanced post-rock, speckled with some hardcore, on their debut album Light Will Shine – a title that seemingly emits an essence of hope at first glance, though at times the album can do all but that.

This debut can
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Gen And The Degenerates: A Spoonful Of Degenerates

If you don’t already know who GEN AND THE DEGENERATES are you’ve either been living under a rock or too ignorant to acknowledge their potential. But, if you’re an open minded individual who’s willing admit to their mistakes then you’ll come to love their scathing jabs and sarcasm that distil their work, built on the foundations of silliness and frustration this quintet make for a unique whimsy that relieves you of your worries. After being around for a few years now, touring with the likes of SK
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: This Is All We Ever Get - Spaced

The hardcore community is inundated with releases at the moment, making it all the more difficult to discern what’s good and what’s just okay — it’s pretty easy to tell what’s bad. What separates a release, or a band, from being just mediocre? Well it’s something along the lines of what SPACED are doing, exciting blends of hardcore with flecks of unexpected textures that deliver just enough brow-raising additions to keep things fresh. Their debut album, This Is All We Ever Get, offers everything
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Love Child - Sweat

If you’re looking for something refreshing, sort of like menthol mouthwash mixed with liquid nitrogen fresh, or just something to quench the craving of excitement to push you through this last winter month, look no further than SWEAT and their new record Love Child. From maniacal ragers with scathing topics, to fun moments that take the edge off just for the hell of it, there’s something for everyone on Love Child.

The title says it all, this is a labour of love, an endeavour in joy and an exer
Stereoboard.com •

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - Dark Rainbow (Album Review) - Stereoboard

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes’ fifth album takes us on a sultry, dimly-lit journey into self-reflection, channelling sex, unconditional love, and spite into their most intimate and honest work to date. From start to finish Carter’s lyrics are unfailingly candid, foregrounding his voice and experiences in a refreshing dose of realness. Unlike its predecessor, ‘Sticky’, ‘Dark Rainbow’ has no features, which provides the duo — completed by multi-instrumentalist Dean Richardson — with more space t
Stereoboard.com •

IDLES - Tangk (Album Review) - Stereoboard

Each new IDLES album has come to feel like a turning point, with the Bristol band always reaching for something approaching a defining statement. ‘Tangk’ is no different, stepping into a revolving door of love songs that are alternately angry, soft, or gleeful. Following ‘Crawler’ — a record that bathed in a feeling of of self-loathing — in this way is restorative and ‘Tangk’ is grounded in affirmations of self worth. Daring to slow things down from time to time, this feels like IDLES finally co
Overblown •

Real Estate interview: "this record is about finding out what maturity really is"

Real Estate are made from humble beginnings in New Jersey. Picture growing up, passing through the white picket fences as you plug your walkman in to blast some Weezer into your ears as you step onto the yellow school bus. It’s simple. Unadulterated indie rock that’s warm to the touch as it hums across your skin.

The same remains true for their sixth studio album, Daniel, proving that – although the band are now spread out across the states, starting families, and perhaps having more important
Distorted Sound Magazine •

LIVE REVIEW: TesseracT @ O2 Institute, Birmingham

A slow filling room at Birmingham’s O2 Institute doesn’t reflect what is to come for the headline set from TESSERACT later this evening, but still there’s a couple of hours until they take the stage in this city for the first time in a very long time. Excitement is felt throughout the air even as the few people in the room wait for the supporting acts.

THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS walk on stage to Every Time We Touch [CASCADA], bassist Jackie Buckalew is wearing a ski mask which we’re sure is already dr
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Half Divorced - Pissed Jeans

Half Divorced is made with the clarity that only coming out the other side of mid-life crisis, borne of divorce, can conjure. The rest is credited to pummeling hardcore-inspired PISSED JEANS. Six albums, 20 years in, and signed to Sub Pop, they have all the fuel to put into their discontented, clinging between youth and later adulthood, art.

If you’re a longtime fan of PISSED JEANS and see a photo of them now you might wonder as to how you liked these guys in your twenties, or if you’re not, yo
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES - Ministry

Standing for over 40 years, MINISTRY have built a legacy that is filled with weird and wild stamps. Behind that is Al Jourgensen, the final original member of the band still active within, 65 years old still giving it whatever he’s got. Fifteen studio albums in and it doesn’t look like he plans on slowing down anytime soon; instead it seems he’s one of the few of his generation willing to indulge in the ever changing musical landscape and keep on observing. HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES is the band’s sixte
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Thorns - Guiltless

From the Bay Area comes another, not quite yet, supergroup of twisted noise. Members of INTRONAUT, BATTLE OF MICE and more join forces to make the sludge-pumping doom machine GUILTLESS. With the goal of accepting what they assume to be the inevitable conclusion of this world and finding catharsis within that, they release their debut EP Thorns, packed full of nihilism and poignant moments that don’t feel all that far off from reality.

Whilst only being a four-track EP it does sit well over a 20
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: The Three Faces Of Beauty: A Violent Misinterpretation Of Morgan Montgomery - Kaonashi

Not many bodies of music tell a good story quite as well as a properly thought out and planned concept album, although sometimes they come out feeling like they’ve been written by a brand new fanfiction author; KAONASHI haven’t fallen down that manhole. Their new EP, first in the series of three, The Three Faces Of Beauty: A Violent Misinterpretation Of Morgan Montgomery sets out to look at themes of race, homophobia and family through the lens of fictional character Morgan Montgomery.

When you
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: The Body Is The Wound - Cold In Berlin

We tend to dwell on things; the negatives that we experience in our lives, ticking over in our heads late at night, sneaking in as you doze off on an early morning commute, anchoring ourselves for weeks on end. COLD IN BERLIN refuse to let the negatives be just that, instead using them as an opportunity for growth and furthering themselves. That’s the goal for multi-record project The Wounds, and introducing the journey that the quartet set out on in 2024 is the EP The Body Is The Wound. With fo
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Health: That Makes You Feel Alive

It’s about 10:30 am in Los Angeles and HEALTH bassist John Famiglietti is sitting in his office chair in a SLAYER t-shirt and a silk looking robe with his hair free falling down to his shoulders. The late morning sun occasionally beams through his blinds, “Hey, how’s it going?” he says once he situates himself. His relaxed demeanour translates to his thoughts, casually stating that their upcoming record Rat Wars is their greatest yet. HEALTH are a band that date back almost twenty years, back to
Overblown •

Bob Vylan live in Birmingham: exemplifying the spirit of 21st century punk

Prior to landing back on home soil, Bob Vylan have been getting rowdy in Europe for a string of dates. Now Bobby and Bobbie arrive in windy Birmingham for the evening with the intention of warming the second city’s O2 Institute.

Following support sets form Kid Bookie and Panic Shack, the main room is already teeming with life. The on-stage presence of custom flight cases – branded with the punk duo’s moniker – only exasperates the audience’s eagerness to get moving once again.

The music overhe
Stereoboard.com •

The List: Stereoboard's Best Albums of 2023 - Stereoboard

Welcome to Stereoboard's Album of the Year rundown for 2023, where we delve into 12 months of head-spinning, pulse-quickening, thought-provoking music. Join us. Following collaborations with Stormzy, Kendrick Lamar and just about every other major act of the last decade, the wait for Sampha’s follow up to his beloved 2018 debut ‘Process’ has felt arduous. Fortunately, Lahai serves up everything fans wanted and so much more beyond that. Across 14 gorgeous tracks, Sampha’s voice soars through the
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Conditioned For Demolition - Haywire

HAYWIRE are the smelling salts needed to kick you out of the new year’s daze, with a 20-minute non-stop middle finger of a debut record Conditioned For Demolition. Firmly ingrained in their Boston roots, this hardcore outfit have a sense of aggressive loyalty to their home weaved throughout the debut. Not only is this an introduction to an exciting, developing band, but also to a wealth of other hardcore bands belonging to the infamous Boston scene.

Conditioned For Demolition is like a train, i
Distorted Sound Magazine •

CLT DRP: An Electronic Overhaul

Rushing to open Zoom on time, we do so expecting to see Annie of CLT DRP amongst their two bandmates Daphne and Scott. Unfortunately, Annie is nowhere to be seen due to an emergency. Still it’s release week for the apologetic Scott, and Daphne who’s release week pride and excitement are clearly brimming by the look of her smile. The new record has seen the trio take an early evolution of sonics in their career, debut album Without The Eyes conjured raw energy converted into stunning punk sound w
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: You're Alive, But Not Living - Perfect Teeth

The last few weeks of the year are often the most difficult to get through and PERFECT TEETH’s debut EP is appropriately titled You’re Alive, But Not Living. Setting up a post-hardcore lens to gaze upon frontman Zak’s struggles with substance misuse at this time of year feels all the more poignant, as if it’s time to watch the world pass by as everyone else celebrates.

If it wasn’t for the sensational guitar work, the type that bleeds into each other shoegaze style and overlaps into slightly in
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Free Milk - Tijuana Bibles

Touted as a Scottish IDLES, TIJUANA BIBLES blend full frontal assaults with alluring vocals and lyrics that look to provoke unique thoughts in the mind of listeners. The Glaswegian quartet have been around for almost a decade which has seen them tour across Europe and make appearances at festivals like Reading & Leeds. But are the “Scottish version of IDLES” all they’re cracked up to be?

One thing is clear as soon as the first track Stateless rings out, TIJUANA BIBLES aren’t a post-punk band an
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Who Taught You To Hate? - Animal Shithouse

You might not have heard of Tunbridge Wells but it’s home to some better known punk acts like SOFT PLAY and LADYBIRD, two acts that the over-excited ANIMAL SHITHOUSE found a fountain of inspiration in. It could be satire or an attempt to be overly shocking but it’s clear that ANIMAL SHITHOUSE aim to leave an impression even if it isn’t the best one.

Their debut EP Who Taught You To Hate? jumps between amp-blowing levels of noise — or just poorly utilised saturation — that refuses to let up for
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