andconham's Diary

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (27/30) Some good melancholy indie tunes in here. The instrumentals are breezy and the vocals are soft and at times haunting, similar to Julia Jacklin. Rock solid debut here and I'll definitely be checking out future releases. Favourite Tracks: - London & Leaving - Long Distance Lovers - Brighton

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (26/30) A good collection of psych surf rock. Great chill vibes on some of these tracks, with sweet licks and tasty basslines throughout. I do think the album fizzles a little towards the end unfortunately. Favourite Tracks: - The Comedown - Confidence - Knees - Overgrown

Another fun, short collection of pop punk tunes that evoke a nostalgiac feeling even though I never really listened to these guys at the time. No super high peaks, but it's a pretty consistent little sprint. Favourite Tracks: - Christmas Card - Victoria - Schley - The Jerk - Catalina Fight Song

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (24/30) A bit of a nostalgiac one here, as a few if these songs got heavy rotation from me in my early twenties. This album excels when it slows down, and plays it mellow. I fond some of the peppier tracks to be a little flavourless personally. But I do still live those chill tracks. Favourite Tracks: - Lemonworld - Hold On - Feel - Holiday - Sleep On It - Partner In Crime

A bit edgier than some of his other releases, this album maintains a pretty good blues rock vibe throughout. The vocals do sound a little goofy at times but the story telling and songwriting is all on point. Favourite Tracks: - Adam Raised A Cain - Racing In The Street - The Promised Land - Streets Of Fire

Somewhat of a return to form, though they never dipped too far in the first place. Deftones provide another tight set of rock solid tunes, that are more of a refinement of their sound, rather than anything groundbreaking. More instantly enjoyable than Gore, but not quite at the level of something like Around The Fur. Favourite Tracks: - The Spell Of Mathematics - The Link Is Dead - Radiant City - Ohms

I feel Bryan is depriving himself of classic album status by making these so long. There's great songs and songwriting all through this, and I appreciate it may be hard to 'trim the fat' when every song seems to be a heartfelt recital of his thoughts, but I can't help but feel the album would have more impact if it was shaved down a bit. Favourite Tracks: - Runny Eggs - DeAnn's Denim - South and Pine - Plastic Cigarette - Miles - All Good Thigs Past

A pop punk classic. I think it has aged fairly well, maybe not as well as some of its contemporaries but still it sounds pretty good. The songwriting doesn't deviate from standard pop punk of the time, but has some fun riffs, catchy hooks and decent breakdowns. Favourite Tracks: - Niki FM - The Transition - Silver Bullet - Ohio Is For Lovers

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (22/30) Another good album from The Streets here. Didn't grip as much as the debut album, but this thing is still loaded with character, good storytelling, and interesting beats. Favourite Tracks: - Blinded By The Lights - Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way - Fit But You Know It - Dry Your Eyes - Empty Cans

Some nice smooth tunes here, with a good country twang to them. Knopflers tasty licks and nice vocals stand out, and the way he says Heavy Fuel tickles my brain. A couple of songs towards the end I'm not a fan of but most are worth listening to. Favorite Tracks: - Calling Elvis - On Every Street - When It Comes To You * - The Bug - You And Your Friend - Iron Hand - Planet Of New Orleans

A timeless dream pop classic. Melancholy and vibey throughout, the album maintains a consistent quality, that sounds right at home in the 2020s. Also features one of the best songs of all time. Favourite Tracks: - Fade Into You - Five String Serenade - Unreflected - Wasted

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (19/30) I had heard Kesha's newer music was better than her older stuff, but never really gave it a listen. But yeah, this is pretty good. Less party-pop and more subdued and introspective. I love the production on this album, and keshas vocals and songwriting shine here. Favourite Tracks: - Eat The Acid - The Drama - Hate Me Harder - Happy

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (18/30) What a voice. I'll be honest I thought it was a woman at first, but a bloke hitting these falsetto's is nuts. I have to catch this guy live. A great soul record here that throws back to the soul singers of old. The song writing here isn't revolutionary but with the sheer talent in the performance department it gets by. Favourite Tracks: - Come Around And Love Me - If You Don't Want My Live - Lost - Just Like You Used To - It Takes A Fool

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (17/30) This was quite a bit better than I expected. I had only heard of few tracks from these guys, and while decent I never bothered to look much further. This is full of character, the beats are great, it's lyrically interesting. Great stuff. Favourite Tracks: - Has It Come To This? - Same Old Thing - Don't Mug Yourself - Stay Positive

A bit of a mash of styles and ideas that works for the most part. Honestly the last 8 years have passed so quick I didn't realise he'd been gone so long, but listening to this makes it clear he hasn't lost a step. Here's hoping this isn't a one-off and he keeps putting out new music. Favourite Tracks: - Stole Ya Flow - Stay Here 4 Life - No Trespassing - Punk Rocky - Whisky

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (7/30) Pretty good UK Garage album here, with plenty of grime features helping to create a few bangers throughout. There's also some more vibey tracks on here that go down pretty well. Maybe lacks some real stand out moments but pretty solid all around. Favourite Tracks: - One For The Books - Cops & Robbers - 925 - Dis Badman - Match My Mood - Roads Roulette

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (6/30) A unique blend of genres results in a R&B album with a distinct sound that works very well and stands out from her contemporaries. Will definitely seek out more from Sudan Archives going forward! Favourite Tracks: - Confessions - Iceland Moss - Coming Up - Limitless

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (5/30) Another soft dream pop release from Fazerdaze here, with this one going into even dreamier territory. This is a great follow up to her debut with a nostalgiac sound that maintains a solid vibe throughout it brief runtime. Favourite Tracks: - So Easy - Dancing Years - In Blue - Distorted Dreams - Cherry Pie

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (3/30) A short one here, this only being a 5 track EP. Some nice vibey, cruisy house music here. Retro inspired, and even with some hints of acid house in there, I could see this going down well at the early stages of the festival. The dub remix is the only song I wasn't super high on, but it was fine. Favourite Tracks: - Tell Me How - Hold It - Find Your Way - The Deepest

30 Albums Before Electric Avenue 2026 - Reviewing the albums of artists on the line up. (2/30) Great production on this one that has stood the test of time. Parts funky, parts grimy, parts groovy. The tounge-in-cheek vocals elevate the music well (for the most part), and make for a fun listen. Favourite Tracks: - Romeo - Breakaway - Get Me Off - Where's Your Head At

A bit more scattershot than their previous albums, with The Strokes playing with their sound a bit here. The result is a bit of a mixed bag, though mostly good. Even with the sonic changes, it still sounds undeniably like a Strokes record. Favourite Tracks: - Under The Cover Of Darkness - Two Kinds of Happiness - Taken For A Fool - Games - Metabolism

A brief, dark, sad collection of acoustic alternative rock songs. The first half of this album is stacked. Unfortunately the last few songs don't hit as well for me. Instrumentally it's darkly soothing, and the harmonies are haunting. Favourite Tracks: - Rotten Apple - Nutshell - I Stay Away - No Excuses

More good stuff from Deftones here. A bit more of a mixed bag here but the continue honing their signature shoegaze/metal sound. But my god, pink cellphone really is as bad as they say! Favourite Tracks: - Hole In The Earth - Rapture - Cherry Waves - Xerces - Riviére

Worth a 10/10 for the Booker T sample alone. Conway maintains his streak of solid albums, with another swagger filled collection of raps over cold beats. Some welcome features on this track list as well. Favourite Tracks: - Slapbox - Piper - Land O' Lakes - Sigel In State Prop

A very frontloaded album here, with all the 'singles' coming one after the other to start. The back half of this album is forgettable and not really worth revisiting. The hits do hit hard though and are worth replaying over and over. Favourite Tracks: - Given Up - Leave Out All The Rest - Bleed It Out - Shadow Of The Day - What I've Done - No More Sorrow

Better than expected. New vocalist is pretty damn good, and I can image her covering the classics quite well. There's a few bangers throughout this brief runtime as well. It's hard to escape the shadow ast over this band, but on its own merits it's not half bad. Favourite Tracks: - Heavy Is The Crown - Two Faced - IGYEIH

Great album here. Smooth instrumentals, with a subdued Akerfeldt on vocals this time around. Album breezes by, with a shorter run time than usual. The songs are still long but nothing outstays it's welcome, only wish the album ended a bit stronger. Favourite Tracks: - Windowpane - In My Time Of Need - Hope Leaves - To Rid The Disease

Slaves 'comeback' album after rebranding themselves as Soft Play. Whatever you think about the name change, you can't deny this album holds up well within their catalogue. Yes some of the lyrics are a bit corny but the track list here plays out largely tongue-in-cheek and full of character as you expect from these guys. Great energy, heavy riffs, great stuff. Favourite Tracks: - Punk's Dead - Isaac Is Typing - John Wick - Mirror Muscles - Everything and Nothing

Solid Hardcore album. Turnstile again keeps it brief with some rapid-fire tunes, churning out some groovy riffs and energetic vocals. Not as experimental as later releases of theirs, with this one keeping it relatively simple and rockin'. Favourite Tracks: - Gravity - Fazed Out - Bad Wave - Out Of Rage - Stress

Short and sweet. Turnstile keeps it brief with this album, with most songs clocking under 2 and a half minutes. They pack in some good tunes with the classic fun riffs you expect from turnstile. They would go on to do better, but this is still a fun album with some bangers littered throughout. Favourite Tracks: - Real Thing - Big Smile - Generator - I Don't Wanna Be Blind - Lost Another Peice of My World - Can't Get Away - Come Back For More - Time + Space

Feels a little directionless and toothless when compared to their previous efforts. But even a lesser Deftones album is still a great album, just not one I will return to as often as White Pony, Diamond Eyes or Around The Fur. Favourite Tracks: - Hexagram - Needles and Pins - Minerva - When Girls Telephone Boys - Battle-axe - Bloody Cape

A slight step down from their previous album, with a few songs sounding a bit samey. The riffs still crush, with good solos, sick drum work and some catchy vocals as well. Solid stuff. Favourite Tracks: - Walk With Me In Hell - Again We Rise - Redneck - Pathetic - Blacken the Cursed Sun - Forgotten (Lost Angels)

A solid debut, and a good hint of things to come. Deftones come out the gate here with a raw, low fi, aggressive alternative/nu metal album that hits more than it misses. Obviously not their best work, but very good for a debut from a band still finding their sound. Favourite Tracks: - Bored - Minus Blindfold - Nosebleed - Root - 7 Words - Birthmark - Engine No. 9 - Fireal

Not my favourite VB album, but even at their 'worst' the boys show more creativity and character than most others in the rock world at the moment. Electronic/disco infused post-punk with great rolling grooves and the usual brand of slurring, crooning vocals. Favourite Tracks: - Ain't Nice - Creatures - 6 Shooter - Secret Canine Agent - I Feel Alive

Good enough album here, but is noticeably front loaded. The first half goes pretty hard, but then is brought down by a bit of filler towards the end. The hits here are pop punk classics though, and even average TBS songs are better than most in the genre. Favorite Tracks: - Set Phasers to Stun - Bonus Mosh Pt II - A Decade Under The Influence - This Photograph Is Proof - The Union - Slowdance On The Inside

A pop punk classic, but looking back this album is very front-loaded. The hits are great as are some of the b-sides, but there is some forgettable moments on the back half of this. Still, a fun listen and likely Green Days peak. Favourite Tracks: - American Idiot - Jesus of Suburbia - Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Give Me Novacaine / She's A Rebel - Letterbomb - Wake Me Up When September Ends

Never been the biggest Jay-Z fan, but this one was pretty good. Sill some corny and awkward lines scattered throughout ("what's better than one billionaire? Two" 🤮), but there's also some great introspective songs on here that makes it worth a listen. Favourite Tracks: - Kill Jay Z - The Story of O.J. - Caught Their Eyes - 4:44 - Legacy