Indie/Alternative charts

Review: Seven Psalms finds Australia's most imperious musical misfit Nick Cave leaving his Bad Seeds at home and teaming up with frequent collaborator Warren Ellis for a limited 10". The spoken word pieces on this record are the result of a daily song writing practice over a week during lockdown - Cave himself describes them as "small, sacred songs," set to appropriately subtle musical accompaniment. Recorded during the sessions for Cave and Ellis' 2021 album Carnage, it's a rich work in its own right that offers a different perspective on Cave's considerable gifts as a soothsayer.

Review: You can trace the roots of Fu Manchu back to the disaffected wastelands of mid-1980s US suburbia. Specifically Palm Desert, California - at the time, a quite unlikely focal point of a loose 'scene' defined by interferential rock & roll, drawing lines between early grunge, psyche, punk, metal and blues, the movement gave us Masters of Reality, Sleep, and, of course, Queens of the Stone Age. Stoner-leaning Fu Manchu were very much at the centre of that, and are now ready to celebrate 30 years since they emerged from the dry heat and bong water of the period, they've been putting out episodic 10" vinyls on limited pressings to mark the occasion. Musically, this is familiar territory, as hard and gnarly as it is exploratory, funky and infectious, which can only be a good thing when you're celebrating a big one.

Review: KC

Review: Effective communication relies on being succinct. Boygenius clearly know this given their track record for naming things. 2023 saw the trio - Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus - drop their debut album, The Record, and now, a few months down the line, we have The Rest: an EP made up of the other bits that didn't quite make said LP.

If you're completely new to the band, then let's start by saying these offcuts that didn't fit would put many a group to shame, which tells you just how good the full record is. Here, though, we have the lo-fi, dream-indie-pop crackle and fuzz of 'Black Hole', a track of huge emotional resonance, heartfelt, heartbroken yet hopeful semi-folk on 'Afraid of Heights', and the delicate, tender, and incredibly personal letting go balladry of 'Voyager', just for starters. Sublime confirmation Boygenius are your new favourite thing.