GEOFF BOTTOMS relishes a profoundly human portrait of a family as it evolves across 55 years in Sheffield
Tasty new strain of rock-hard Bean
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an excellently crafted new musical that explores the life and death of Ruth Ellis
PAUL DONOVAN is tickled by the excruciating take-downs of one of the funniest, wittiest, political writers around.
RON JACOBS points out, via a transcription of Kissinger’s secret recordings, that Trump could never have existed without Nixon and Kissinger
ELLIS RAE is persuaded that the advantages of the ‘talking cure’ are superior to the treatment of mental illness with drugs
JOHN GREEN, MICHAL BONCZA and BELLA KATZ review The Good Boy, Broken English, and Don't Be Prey
Sunflower Bean
The Wardrobe, Leeds/Touring
“LET’S make some loud music!” hollers Julia Cumming, the first of many such exhortations from Sunflower Bean’s bassist and lead vocalist, whose volume-control button seems to have malfunctioned.
This might be a problem if the New York trio, joined by keyboard player Danny Ayala, failed to deliver on the statement of intent. Yet from opening track Burn It — all Joan Jett attitude and big rock riffs — it’s clear that they’ve outgrown their formative roots in shoe-gaze and indie psychedelia.
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