ALBUM REVIEW

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Live! by Pulp (week beginning Wednesday 9 September 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

Tracklist: Spike Island; Slow Jam; Sorted For Es And Whizz; Disco 2000; Help The Aged; Farmers’ Market; This Is Hardcore; Sunrise; Something’s Changed; Grown Ups; O.U.; Do You Remember The First Time?; Mis-Shapes; Got To Have Love; Babies; Common People; A Sunset

Actress Kelly Macdonald, arguably best known for 1996’s iconic Trainspotting, welcomes this encore performance and bids the audience farewell with a charming: ‘Goodnight and safe travels – and remember, take care of each other.’

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the story of pop’s greatest resurrection of recent years
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Jenius by Paul Heaton (September 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Can’t Get Next To You; Favourite Kind Of Idiot; I Want The Job; Sad Songs And Lawsuits; She Ain’t Pretty; One Eye Open; Send In The Clowns; Do Not Ask Me; Don’t Lean On Me; Jet Black Sky; The Whisky Did; Before Before; Good For The Bees; Go Upstream; A Son Of A Father

We 1st saw Heaton live at Aldershot’s West End Centre with his 2nd band The Beautiful South as chart-topper Song For Whoever was released in 1989.

  • Read on for reasons including where to see Heaton on tour where tickets are less than £40 each
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ALBUM OF THE WEEK: The Thread by Family Stereo (week beginning 21 August 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Remedy; Waiting On Nina; Sea Change; Fault Lines; The Thread; Removed; Collapsing; DLR; Silhouette On The Hill; Three Moon Trail; Tunnels

Rather than a brat summer, this season has been more Confessions II or Pride summer for us but this understated debut album has grown in stature thanks to repeated play.

  • Read on for reasons including where to see Family Stereo on tour later this year
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: LUX by Rosalía (November 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Tracklist: Sexo, Violencia y Llantas; Reliquia; Divinize; Porcelana; Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti; Berghain; La Perla; Mudo Nuevo; De Madruga; Dios Es Un Stalker; La Yugular; Sauvignon Blanc; La Rumba Del Perdon; Memoria; Magnolias

Music is the original international tongue and Rosalía’s use here of 13 languages appears to be an attempt to maximise its appeal.

  • Read on for reasons including how the need for repeat listening is required to appreciate the ambition, breadth of ideas and astonishing realisation of them here
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Little Dreaming by Cian Ducrot (August 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

Tracklist: It’s Cian Bitch; Who’s Making You Feel It?; Little Dreaming; Unfair; What About Love?; Shalalala; Rock Bottom; Kiss And Tell; The Book Of Love; Hallelujah; Break My Heart; No Way To Live; God Only Knows; My Best Friend; Your Eyes; See It To Believe It

Authenticity is the key to Ducrot’s success and while we’ve enjoyed the radio friendliness of the singles released ahead of this 2nd album it’s the rawness of the emotion exposed within this long player that continues to fascinate us about his work.

  • Read on for reasons including the part Hurts frontman Theo Hutchcraft played in creating this album
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Virgin by Lorde (July 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Hammer; What Was That?; Shapeshifter; Man Of The Year; Favourite Daughter; Current Affairs; Clearblue; GRWM; Broken Glass; If She Could See Me …; David

Lorde debuted this new album in its entirety – in tracklist order – on the Woodsies stage as a surprise opening to this year’s Glastonbury Festival and that confidence is reflected in the material.

  • Read on for reasons including why Virgin represents a right turn towards a welcome songwriting maturity and honesty
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ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Princess Of Power by Marina (week beginning Tuesday 10 June 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

Tracklist: Princess Of Power; Butterfly; Cuntissimo; Rollercoaster; Cupid’s Girl; Metallic Stallion; Je Ne Sais Quoi; Digital Fantasy; Everybody Knows I’m Sad; Hello Kitty; I >3 You; Adult Girl; Final Boss

How To Be A Heartbreaker is 1 of Marina’s (formerly of And The Diamonds fame) best known hits and now she appears to have come full circle and released a break-up album.

  • Read on for reasons including how there’s plenty of the camp melodrama here that made Marina so popular with a gay audience
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: A Complicated Woman by Self Esteem (May 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

Tracklist: I Do And I Don’t Care; Focus Is Power; Mother; The Curse; Logic, Bitch; Cheers To Me; If Not Now, It’s Soon; In Plain Sight; Lies; 69; What Now; The Deep Blue Okay

There’s a thematic through-line to this album with the final track’s title being referenced in its opening song as Self Esteem sings: ‘We’re not chasing happiness anymore, girls. We’re chasing nothing, the great big still, the deep blue okay – and we’re okay today.’

  • Read on for reasons including how Madonna was in the audience for Self Esteem
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