Author: Lizz
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Spanning Genres With All Them Witches – Nothing As the Ideal
All Them Witches are an easy a comfort band for alternative music fans, thanks to their ability to rampage through Metal, Classic Rock, Stoner, and Prog—pocketing the best bits and fusing them into a sound that’s truly unique. Their 2020 release Nothing as the Ideal is no exception. Originally a foursome formed in Nashville in…
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Protest Songs Through Time P7 – Why Do They Always Send the Poor? – 21st Century
System of a Down In 1994, four Armenian-Americans—Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and John Dolmayan—formed the neo-metal band System of a Down, who went on to pioneer the nu-metal genre. Armenian history is marked by violence: between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman Empire forced Christian Armenians from their homes en masse, exposing them to…
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Garbage – Cassette Tape
Cover Art The pink feathered album cover was photographed by Stéphane Sednaoui, with the band providing creative direction. Its bright, vibrant yet simple design, along with the band’s logo, serves as a striking, distinctive image — much like the band itself. The J-card features a black-and-white photo of the band, taken by Clifford Lecuyer. The…
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Protest Songs P6 -LGBTQ+ Rights in Song: A Punk Anthem Against Injustice
The Winter of Discontent—and Ongoing LGBTQ+ Struggles The Winter of Discontent, from 1978 to 1979, saw widespread strikes across private and public sector unions as they demanded pay rises that exceeded the limits set by Prime Minister James Callaghan. But this wasn’t the only unrest during the period—especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Although homosexuality had…
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Yungblud, Why Are You Shouting at Me?!
Earlier this year, I sat anxiously through five days of Ticketmaster queues, desperately wishing the 28,000 people (and bots) ahead of me would fall off the face of the Earth. Alas, I wasn’t one of the lucky ones, and I would spend the next few months accepting that I would never see one of my…
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Protest Songs P5 -Women’s Rights in Song: A Century of Defiance and Change
The Suffragette Anthem: “The March of the Women” The UK’s suffragette movement had its own anthem, The March of the Women, written in 1910 by composer and activist Ethel Smyth. The lyrics reflected the movement’s readiness for militant action: “Comrades – ye who dared first in battle to strive and sorrow!” Sung during marches and…
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Everyone Makes Their Barbies Kiss Each Other, Right? – Dreaming Soda – Kissing Stacey
We all had our own way of playing with dolls as kids—whether it was full-blown soap opera drama or Ken and Barbie playing house. With their new single Kissing Stacey, Dreaming Soda— Sydney duo Ella Sterland and Renee Stein—pull us back to those glittery, plastic worlds, only this time with a dose of grown-up hindsight.…
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Protest Songs P4 – The Civil Rights Movement
The Terror of Lynching and the Birth of “Strange Fruit” Between 1900 and 1939, the United States witnessed 2,805 reported lynchings. In 1937, a Jewish teacher named Abel Meeropol came across a photograph of Black men who had been lynched—bodies hanging from tree branches. Such images were disturbingly common in the South, often displayed publicly…
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Waiting For the Sun – The Doors – Cassette.
Cover Art Photographed by Paul Ferrara in Laurel Canyon in LA. This was a significant location for the band as Jim Morrison lived close by in Rothdell Trail, many of the songs on the album had been written in and around his home. Jon Densmore and Robby Krieger had also lived in the area. –…
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Protest Songs P3 -Songs of War – The 20th Century.
America and WW1 By the time America considered joining the First World War in 1915, the conflict was already in full swing. The idea sparked backlash—most of the public wanted to remain neutral and avoid fighting. That same year, Alfred Bryan and Albert Piantadosi wrote I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier. Performed…
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Ghost Notes and Quiet Truths: Inside Mac DeMarco’s – Guitar
Canadian singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco cemented his place in indie history with his 2014 release Salad Days. Over a decade later, its popularity still refuses to fade. Now in his 30s, DeMarco remains in a Chamber of Reflection, exploring themes of heartbreak, the meaning of home, and letting go of material possessions in his self-produced album…
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Protest Songs – P2 Spirituals
Roots in Resistance When enslavers stole African people from their homeland and brought them to America, they forbade them from speaking their native languages or practising their religions. However, this didn’t stop them. They organised secret meetings, where they sometimes performed Ring Shouts. In these gatherings, they formed a circle and moved counterclockwise while singing,…
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Wolf Alice – The Clearing – How to Blow Your Load Releasing Singles
I was really excited for the release of Wolf Alice’s fourth studio album. When I reviewed the first two singles a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the contrast between the tracks and admittedly turned on by their new ‘70s rock aesthetic. However, after listening to the album in full, I fear they…
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Protest Songs – P1 The Cutty Wren.
Introduction One of my A-Level English Language coursework assignments was to write about a subject of my choosing and how it had changed over time. It comedised with my discovering Green Day’s cover of Working Class Hero and its music video featuring survivors of Darfur (which I’ll explore in a later instalment). The impact it…
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He Not Busy Being Born… Is Being Filmed – A Complete Unknown.
Bob Dylan – God, or Judas? Bob Dylan is a notoriously private and cagey character, especially for someone who has garnered such success, a Nobel Prize winner of literature no less. In 2025, James Mangold took on the task of directing A Complete Unknown, giving audiences a backstage pass to the rise of Bob Dylan,…
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SZA; Ctrl – Audible Growing Pains.
When Ctrl dropped in 2017, I was 19—but I didn’t find it until years later, stuck in a genre rut. It came at the perfect time. I was in my twenties, learning to enjoy my own company and redefine my self-worth outside of relationships. It turned out I wasn’t alone in those feelings. I was…
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Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones Cassette.
Cover Art Andy Warhol created the cover, and Craig Braun designed it. It features a close-up of a man’s groin in tight jeans, with the outline of the penis clearly visible through the fabric. Although no one has confirmed the model’s identity, several men in Warhol’s circle claimed to be the well-endowed figure featured. Early…
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I Have Been a 13-Year-Old Girl. The Virgin Suicides – A Sound Track.
TRIGGER WARNING – This essay openly discusses suicide. If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, please know you’re not alone, call 116 123 for the UK’s suicide helpline, every lost life is a tragedy. The Virgin Suicides is a cautionary tale, the book, written by Jeffery Eugenides in 1993 and later adapted into a film directed by…
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An Album Passed Through Generations – Revenge, Eurythmics.
In 1975, Dave Stewart met Annie Lennox in the restaurant she was working at, together with other artists, they became Catch, later evolving into The Tourists. They would achieve mild success throughout the ’70s with tracks such as ‘So Good’ and ‘Blind Among’, but this was relatively short-lived. By 1980, Stewart and Lennox would break…
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Born in The USA – Bruce Springsteen Cassette Tape.
Cover Art Historical Context Track List Side A – Side B – Lyrics are enclosed in the J card which also features black and white images of Springsteen’s other albums with track lists. My Favourite Track ‘I’m on Fire’ it’s repeating beat drives the moody, almost melancholy sound, brimming with poetic desire – ‘sometimes its…