Destroyed by Madness

The claustrophobic atmosphere at Tank Subculture is reminiscent of a brutalisy Berlin rave bunker, and at odds with the warm romance of Bologna itself. I arrive early, by accident rather than design, which was fortunate given the rather painful requirement to register as a 'member of the club' in order to even buy a ticket for the show, but at least my unusual lack of tardiness means there's no queue to contend with. The staff are patient and helpful, despite my embarrassingly English lack of language skills, and I'm soon inside with beer in hand (an early birthday present to myself) and bobbing my head to Massive Attack's Mezzanine which is being pumped out of the speakers. So far, so good. The venue starts to fill around 10pm - the black-clad throng harnessing an ability to make the small venue pbysically grow in size - and an air of anticipation starts to build. Soon, the lights drop, the soundsystem falls silent, and Years Of Denial slide onto the stage. An 808 ...

SINKR No Sign Of Light 24.10.25 (self-release) Manchester-based alt-rock tunesmiths continue their fine run of form with the release of a chaotic and emotionally intense second album, No Sign Of Light. The overall tone references a sweet spot between the late-80s and early-90s where guitar-based bands had a certain freedom to build their own sound without fear of having to fit into a certain category. The rise of independent labels and DIY networks meant these bands had time to grow, and a discerning audience to support them. Ironically, the 'alternative' moniker became somewhat of a catch-all term for anything that crossed genre boundaries or was punk-adjacent in terms of spirit, if not necessarily sound, and was soon beaten into formulaic predictability across the decade that followed. SINKR sound like a band out of time, with an ability to blend a range of styles, feelings and textures with an authenticity and confidence that means they sound like nobody else but themselves,...