From Reading with Love – Via Belfast – Album Reviews – The Coronations and Mirror Pictures

So in this disposable life we are living now, does anyone listen to albums anymore? In full?

Yeah Tim’s listening party and the like have brought back the interest in the LP and certainly vinyl sales have increased as well, but overall do we sit down and make the effort?

Well I do, as I’m of that generation that did. There is something about an album that just allows you to immerse yourself in the artists world, to understand them better, to see how they want to be portrayed, are they just noisy 3 minute guitar songs (no problem with that) or is there something else going on, side B Track 4?

So I thought I’d write about a couple of albums I have been listening too recently that deserve a bit more attention, that deserve you sit down and listen in full, in one go, no skipping, no shuffling. Just switch off from the world for 40 mins or so. It’s good for the soul….I encourage you to always wear headphones for a greater audio experience as well.

Needle poised, play pressed and away we go….

The Coronations – It’s All Kicking Off

First released back in 2019 – it kinda got lost following the hell that has been Lockdown and Covid. However its an album that deserves more then that. The Coronations first came to my attention via #DPHAPPYHOUR when Dan added Dead Forever a bass heavy intro and crashing guitar tune to his weekly playlist. As soon as I heard it – immediately I thought I was hearing a mixture of Stiff Little Fingers and Oasis, it sounded quite menacing but also catchy and well done. I was amazed when the SLF connection was real as The C come from Northern Ireland as well and should well be the next NI band to follow in the footsteps of greatness and hopefully have the same kind of impact SLF, Ash, Therapy and of course The Undertones had coming from across the water.

The rest of the album is incredibly accomplished and it is chocked full of modern rock bangers like the aforementioned Dead Forever but tracks like the album title and Out of my Head need to be heard. The more I listen to the band the more influences I hear – yes its clearly got that NI feel to it, yes Oasis at their heaviest but I get The Stooges and Nirvana coming through and other classic punk like The Clash. They would do a great gig I reckon and if they did one with The Debris that might just go down in some new music history of “I was there when”.

Other tracks like Sniff it all Away show the band have sharp rock hooks to go with their heavy jabs, very akin to Manic Street Preachers as well. They would sit comfortably alongside many of your favourite bands and easily hold their own.

The band can also show their more delicate side and Shine Your Light is all kinda Oasis Slide Away but equally well done and shows maturity in their song writing. Breath Away is probably the strongest song on the album and would sound ace live I feel. The Album ends with The Fight Goes On. Vocally similar to Thom Yorke during peak 2nd/3rd album Radiohead – its a great closer.

So despite the concerns that the album missed the boat a little, the album has got legs and is a classy debut for a band that I’m sure have a lot more in their locker and once gigging recomences, can really show what they are about and get their message across – Good Luck to them.

You can purchase their music on Bandcamp here:

https://thecoronations.bandcamp.com/

The album can be streamed here:

Mirror pictures – You Can’t Change the Past

Another album I’ve listened to a lot recently and a band I feel really deserves to be heard by more is Readings 4 piece Mirror Pictures. Who since forming in early 2019 have been releasing quality songs and last year their debut album – You Can’t Change the Past.

10 Tracks of great Indie poptastic tunes that again bring back that New Wave Post Punk Sound but with an American feel to it.

Their album includes some of the best titles of songs I’ve heard in a while – Listening to Bowie is exactly the kind of song you’d expect it to be – full of hooks and lyrics that bring back memories of listening to the great man, whilst name checking Benson and Hedges cigarettes. In addition as I tweeted recently the song about Robin Friday, a cult Reading football legend is brilliant and deserves to be up there with the SFA tribute of the same man.

All the songs on this self made debut are around the 3 min mark and get the job done – they don’t outstay their welcome but also get stuck in your head with some brilliant choruses.

For me the album is lynch pinned by the great Three Hour Blackout which is prime American New Wave – kinda like The Cars – its brilliant.

Underneath the Shopping Centre is an semi acoustic track which also shows another side to the band before it builds into a more anthemic britpop type tune.

Ending with Old Age makes you strange – I paid attention to this a lot (I wonder why) – starting off a bit Space Oddity, its a melancholic tune that deals with I assume dementia and loss of memory – “grandpa thinks he is a polar bear” Its heartfelt and quite emotional and makes you think about what time has been lost – so especially after this last year, go and do what you want to do before its too late.

A great intro to the band and another I have on my go to see list (about a mile long).

The bands album can be purchased on Bandcamp as I did here:

https://mirrorpictures.bandcamp.com/releases

Or you can stream here:

Please take the time to listen to these albums – let me know what you think – you never know you might just find your new favourite band.

And if you do then as always – Listen, Share, Buy, Repeat.

Spread the word

Peace N Love

Michael