There’s a sense, listening to “END / START,” that PELOWSKA is less interested in songs as discrete objects than in music as a site of reckoning. The Edinburgh-based duo’s debut EP unfolds like a private ritual made public, not cathartic in a neat, redemptive sense, but uneasy, tidal, and insistently human.

Trip-hop is the obvious reference point, but PELOWSKA treats the genre less as revivalism and more as emotional architecture. Echoes of Massive Attack’s submerged dread and Portishead’s fragile intensity surface, but they’re reconfigured through a contemporary lens that favours abrasion over polish.

Synths feel weathered rather than glossy; beats crawl and pulse like nervous systems recalibrating. Dave Tynan’s bass and guitar work anchors the music in the body, heavy and grounding, resisting any drift into the purely spectral.

At the centre is Aneshka Pelowska’s voice; not performative, not ornamental, but confrontational in its vulnerability. Her lyrics chart experiences of abuse, displacement, and mental illness with an unflinching directness that refuses metaphor as camouflage. Yet “END / START” isn’t an exercise in trauma-as-spectacle. Instead, it documents what comes after collapse: the slow, painful stripping away of inherited identities and the tentative forging of something new.

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If there ever is a box set that is needed right now, it’s the recently released Power to the People from John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band.

Available in various configurations, the 9-CD/3-Blu-ray The Ultimate Collection slipcase box set, featuring a lenticular cover, is the one to get. It is the one that tells the whole story of a time in New York City (and elsewhere), when John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, became politicized and, through their music, believed that with the power of the people, there could be peace in the world.

The Lennons didn’t just think big; they used creativity, the media, and the power of art, and with the savvy eye of a hustler and the idealism of the times, both co-opted and became co-opted by “the movement” and inspired political engagement and hope that has resonated for decades and brought about results.

Why this box set is so timely is that much of the progress made by the various movements that began in the 1960s and were solidified in the 1970s is under siege—women’s rights, gay rights, equal rights, the environmental movement, social justice, and government transparency, to name a few.

While the movement became part of the establishment in positive ways, the current political environment is erasing 60 years of gains. The people who are causing the damage are the obvious root problem, but what spells disaster for the future of the country, if not the world, is that there is essentially a weak resistance.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | This Angry Pen of Mine: Recovering the Journals of Layne Staley—an unprecedented look into the creative archive of Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Staley, created in direct collaboration with his family—has debuted as a New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller in its first week.

This Angry Pen of Mine (Weldon Owen; November 11, 2025) published by Weldon Owen in partnership with Primary Wave Music, offers the first ever look into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice fronting Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more.

Discover his striking original artwork, where every line tells its own story, and explore rare, candid photos that capture both the highs and lows of his journey. Experience the love and admiration of the fans whose lives he touched, beautifully expressed through evocative fan art that honors his legacy.

“I hope this book gives you a glimpse of the son I knew, the one beyond the headlines, the one with a beautiful, creative, happy soul,” Nancy McCallum, Layne’s mother, writes in the foreword to this book.

“Layne’’ songwriting has left an unmistakable imprint on the music world, and its significance only grows with time. We’re honored to showcase his talents as a writer and to help ensure his legacy continues to shine,” says James Janocha, Primary Wave Music

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Tony Joe White’s The Real Thang Deluxe Edition unearths more gems from a country-leaning, Waylon Jennings-collaborating era of the legendary Louisiana recording artist’s career.

Over the last few years, the late, great Tony Joe White’s output has been as prolific as ever, thanks to his son and de facto archivist, Jody White, who spends his free time digging through The Swamp Fox’s treasure trove of lost, rare, and mostly-unreleased material. Earlier this year, Jody re-released one of his father’s forgotten albums, The Real Thang, which included not only the original album but a heaping helping of never-before-heard recordings from that era. And, with the release of The Real Thang Deluxe Edition, even more has been unearthed. For the digital-only deluxe release, two new songs are included with the original eighteen tracks: “Fine Country Woman” and “Gringo.”

The former is an ode to White’s wife, Leann, with White’s guitar sounding more ’90s country than any of his previous work. The latter, “Gringo,” is a rare instrumental written by White and his friend Waylon Jennings. Replete with the iconic Waylon Jennings phase-shifted telecaster tone and delicate acoustic lead playing from White, “Gringo” is a prime example of the pair’s musical friendship. “Nobody really knows the story behind this song, as these two men took it to their graves,” says Jody. “Apparently, it was recorded one night while they were just hanging out and buried deep in the archives of the Tony Joe White audio tapes.”

Fans can stream or purchase The Real Thang Deluxe Edition here. For more information or to purchase a physical copy of The Real Thang on vinyl or CD, please visit tonyjoewhite.com. To hear more stories about the project and Tony Joe White, be sure to check out Jody White’s recent interviews with Otis Gibbs.

Celebrating Tony Hicks on his 80th birthday. —Ed.

When it comes to scrumptious English pop confections, it’s hard to top the fluff produced by The Hollies on the Epic and Imperial labels during the mid-sixties. While their contemporaries were producing big psychedelic statements, these Mancunian lads were whipping up irresistible little ditties that were pure froth. “Carrie Anne” is one of the most innocent and loving slices of pure popcraft ever recorded.

And 1973’s The Hollies’ Greatest Hits offers a wonderful–if inherently limited–overview of the Hollies’ not-so-grand ambitions. These proud lightweights adhered like superglue to the format of the 3-minute pop song–“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” is a serious outlier at 4 minutes, 19 seconds–but they knew how to make those 3 minutes count. A whole hell of lot happens in “Dear Eloise,” and the deliriously dizzy-making “On a Carousel” contains gorgeous multitudes. When it comes to great songwriting teams, the names of Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, and Graham Nash should never be forgotten.

It goes without saying that this compilation will not appeal to existentialists, hard rockers, or people who recoil at the word “cute.” That said, the LP doesn’t play up the cute as much as it might have. I can certainly understand why such post-Nash compositions as 1969’s heavy-on-the-soul “He Ain’t Heavy,” 1972’s lovely but lugubrious “Long Dark Road,” and that same year’s surprisingly hard rocking “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” are included herein, but they don’t feel much at home; a comp that focused solely on the Nash-era Hollies would sound more of a piece, and would provide more pure pop pleasure to people looking for frothy pop thrills.

I also wish this greatest hits didn’t jump back and forth in time in a craven effort to put the more recognizable hits up front; side two starts with a song from 1969 followed by three songs from 1967, then fast forwards to two songs from 1972. But hey, that’s show business, and I can only presume that the folks who put the comp together–and omitted some great U.K.-only hits in the process–knew best.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Back in 1980, Twisted Sister were still a few years from superstardom. They’d already been around since 1972, growing out of a band called Silver Star, who styled themselves as New Jersey’s New York Dolls. A year later, though, they changed their name and shifted their direction as well.

Constantly gigging, forever sharpening their sound, and undergoing a veritable plethora of line-up changes, Twisted Sister as we know them best would not emerge until 1982. But already they’d made appearances on major label comps, and they’d recorded, too, the first couple of live shows featured on 2016’s so-aptly titled box set Rock ‘N’ Roll Saviors – The Early Years. Now the most ferocious of those performances, from West Islip NY in1980, makes its stand-alone debut as Hammerheads—and what a show it is.

Opening with a positively roof-raising rampage through “What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You),” the 12 song concert sees these legends of crazed, cross-dressing hard rock mayhem absolutely slaying on stage, with—among so many more—future smash “Rock’n’Roll Saviors,” a fiery “Johnny B Goode,” and one of the all-time greats, “Born To Be Wild.”

It’s a devastating concert—the sound of a band that, still awaiting their first major break, has already put all the pieces in place. Now all they need do is wait for the world to catch up with them.

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There are voices in rock history that don’t just age; they gather texture, like a well-worn leather jacket that only gets cooler with time. Graham Bonnet possesses one of those voices.

When you think of the sheer power required to front bands like Rainbow, MSG, and Alcatrazz, you realize it takes a special kind of fortitude to keep that engine running decades later. With the release of Lost In Hollywood Again, recorded live at the legendary Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip, the Graham Bonnet Band doesn’t just revisit history—they grab it by the collar and shake the dust off. And this isn’t a nostalgia trip; it’s a testament to the enduring vitality of hard rock when it’s delivered with Bonnet’s level of conviction.

From the moment the band launched into their set, I could feel the raw energy of the Whisky beginning to hum. The album opens with “Eyes of the World,” a 1979 Rainbow classic that immediately sets the stakes high. It’s a bold choice, demanding vocal dexterity right out of the gate, and Bonnet delivers. But the true centerpiece of the evening—and perhaps the emotional anchor of the entire record—is “Since You’ve Been Gone.”

Bonnet himself notes that this track “put Rainbow on the map,” and hearing it live in 2025 feels like a victory lap. The audience connection is electric; you can almost hear the crowd sweating along with the band as they belt out that iconic chorus. It captures the essence of a great live performance: the shared passion between artist and fan.

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Celebrating Dave Clark on his 86th birthday. —Ed.

The Dave Clark Five were one of the most successful and acclaimed bands of the British Invasion of the 1960s. Unlike The Beatles and many others of that time and place, however, they were not from Liverpool. The group was from Tottenham, in north London. Their big, booming, stomping, brassy and infectious sound propelled them to seven top-ten UK singles and eight top-ten US singles.

The DC5’s unique sound centered around Clark’s pounding drums, Mike Smith’s full-throated voice and wide-ranging keyboard styles, and Denis Payton’s honking sax. The group was rounded out by guitarist Lenny Davidson and bassist Rick Huxley. Huxley also played harmonica and all four members, other than Smith, supplied bracing backing vocals. Unlike most of the groups of the British Invasion, their sound did not center around guitars. They were the first British group after The Beatles to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show and they were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

The group disbanded in 1970, but Dave Clark, who was the group’s manager and producer, has always curated the group’s legacy with aplomb. Among his many other activities through the years are acquiring the rights to the seminal British music television show Ready Steady Go! and, in the 1980s, he wrote and produced the 1986 theatrical musical Time.

There have been excellent collections of the group’s music on CD and vinyl, but the latest reissue is the best yet. The group’s debut U.S. album Glad All Over, originally released in 1964 and one of four albums released by the group in the U.S. that year, has been reissued on white vinyl in glorious mono, from the original master tapes from BMG.

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Here I spent decades, hell, most of my life, thinking Eddy Grant’s synth-fueled, hard-rocking, reggae-flavored, let’s dance dawn-of-the-eighties MTV anthem “Electric Avenue” was about having a good time. I guess it would have helped to listen to the lyrics.

Because, and you probably know this, my lyrics-conscious brothers and sisters, it’s actually about a riot, the Brixton Riot of 1981 to be specific, and Eddy isn’t heading on down to Electric Avenue to have a good time, as I spent decades believing. He’s going to light shit up, and I’m not talking electricity. And it wasn’t the first protest song by the Guyanese-British musician–he’d been on the front lines since the mid-sixties as guitarist of the Equals, the UK’s first major interracial rock group, for whom he wrote the incendiary tracks “Police on My Back” (which the Clash culturally appropriated!) and “Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys.”

The Equals were a top-notch rock/soul/reggae/pop act, and their most popular songs were apolitical, from their first (and biggest) hit “Baby Come Back” (1967) to “Viva Bobby Joe” (sample lines: “Bobby Joe and his funk machine, yeah, yeah/Everybody’s gonna see a sensation, a sensation”).

They had some bubblegum in them too; “Michael and the Slipper Tree” must have resonated with the kiddie crowd, ditto “Rub a Dub Dub” (the Equals Jamaican-born lead vocalist Dervan “Derv” Gordon wants to smell like a rose for his baby). And “Laurel and Hardy” is kiddie novelty rock at its most blatant. “Honey Gum” isn’t as chewy chewy as you’d expect, but it still has bubble-blowing appeal. Why, they even recorded a cover of The Music Machine’s bubblegum standard “Little Bit of Soul.”

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