Album Review: The Mars Volta
Album: Noctourniquet
Label: Warner Brothers

The Mars Volta have never done things by half. Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala have consistently experimented with both what can be done in the confines of an album and with the patience of listeners. So it’s no surprise that, 11 years after the release of De-Loused in the Comatorium, Noctourniquet represents the biggest change in philosophy from the band since Frances the Mute sent heads spinning.

Album Review: Pulled Apart By Horses
Album: Tough Love
Label: Transgressive

Somewhere, buried deep within a cupboard which is rarely blessed by daylight, I have a hand-drawn comic created by the lads from Pulled Apart By Horses, picked up all the way back in 2009. It’s a little reminder of the hard graft that the lads from Leeds have put into their art; an effort that has been well rewarded with the rapturous reaction to live shows and the healthy dose of radio coverage that they’ve received to boot.

If 2012 is the last year we have on this planet, then at least the musicians are helping us go out with a bang. Over the past few days a spate of reunions have been announced, including the ‘always rumoured, never happening’ reformations of At the Drive In and Refused.

Album Review: Mastodon
Album: The Hunter
Label: Warner Brothers

If there’s one thing to say about the men behind Mastodon, it’s this – they’ve always gone out of their way to valiantly charge into the realms of imagination that the sane would flee from in tears. But with The Hunter, the follow-up to the bewilderingly successful Crack the Skye, this fearless beast is showing hints of becoming domesticated.

Album Review: Foo Fighters
Album: Wasting Light
Label: RCA Records

Foo Fighters, despite their stadium-rock popularity, have never been a band I have loved. They have never, unlike Dave Grohl’s previous exploits in Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age, been a band that has resonated with me on a level other than a bit of superficial fun. They have always been a singles band, perfectly suited to the click-and-get nature of the iTunes generation. But I admit: Wasting Light hasn’t left my ear canals since my first listen.

Leeds’ Vessels have managed to impress a great number of people with their follow-up to 2008′s White Fields and Open Devices. Helioscope is a stunning record, and one worth checking out if you’re into the likes of Mogwai and bands of that ilk. If what I said about the album hasn’t convinced you, then have a read of what guitarist/vocalist Tom Evans has to say of their record, and what went on behind the scenes.

Album Review: Vessels
Album: Helioscope
Label: Cuckundoo Records

Whatever is being put in the water in Leeds, it’s having a magical effect on the quality of musicianship pouring out of the place. Vessels are the latest in a healthy list of bands to come out of the city with a strong record, Helioscope being a much more measured and concise account of what the five-piece have got stored away in their noggins.