L&Q Weekly
Listen to Cootie Catcher, Biffy Clyro on the podcast, First & Best with Melody's Echo Chamber, Geesalazy Keith Richards, The Best of 2025
Track of the Week
‘Friend of a Friend’ is not a new song by Toronto band Cootie Catcher, but I only heard it yesterday and you should hear it too. This is a cootie catcher, by the way, so you won’t be surprised to hear that the group has a fair bit of twee in their squiggly indie pop. There’s something in the way they first sing “if you can call me that”, that recalls the great DIY bands of K Records. The track’s video adds to the fun, as if everyone should play music with their mates.
Podcast: The two lives of Biffy Clyro, with Simon Neil
2025 has been the 30th year of Biffy Clyro, the Kilmarnock trio who always wanted to be 100 people’s favourite band 1 million people’s 10th favourite band. On this episode of the Loud And Quiet Podcast, frontman, guitarist and lyricist Simon Neil reflects on the band’s beginnings and what drove them to sign to a major for their fourth album, Puzzle. It was, says Neil, a no-brainer, despite them never wanting to be on a big label, and none of their favourite records coming from that world. The payoff has been undeniable, as Biffy became the UK’s biggest rock band, covered by an X-Factor winner and scoring four number 1 albums, including this year’s 10th record, Futique. Not band for a group of friends who were signed at T In The Park playing the Unsigned Band Stage, when their kit fell apart and was covered in blood. Listen now
Seriously though, what is it that I’m not getting about Geese?
I don’t hate Geese. I don’t even dislike Geese. I think Geese are a pretty good band on the level of I can take or leave Geese. I would see Geese play at a festival I was at, but I might not watch the whole of their set. Honestly, guys, I don’t have it in for Geese. Continue reading
First & Best: with Melody’s Echo Chamber
As French psych pop musician Melody Prochet releases her fourth and best record yet (Unclouded), she shares the first album she ever bought and the best album she’s bought since, squeezing in a couple of new music discoveries, for our new video series. Find previous episodes on our Instagram and YouTube channel.
Also this week
You’ve no doubt already heard the extremely sad news that filmmaker and director of This Is Spinal Tap Rob Reiner was murdered earlier this week, alongside his wife Michele Singer Reiner, at their home in Los Angeles. Rob Reiner was 78 and Michele Singer Reiner was 68 when they were fatally stabbed on Sunday. Their son Nick has been charged with the murders.
On Wednesday, Amyl & The Sniffers dropped a live concert film on YouTube, recorded at their biggest show to date, at London’s Alexandra Palace. Watch it here.
The Rolling Stones have pulled plans for a 2026 stadium tour after Keith Richards “couldn’t commit”. 82-year-olds are lazy, aren’t they?
Black Country, New Road have thanked fans signed up to their mailing list with a Christmas present: a live recording cover of ‘The Ballad of El Goodo’ by Big Star. It’s really rather good too, and you can still get it for the price of your email address here.
Best of the year: Loud And Quiet highlights from 2025
A 7 point plan to combat music fatigue
Imagining a world where the oldest record on streaming was released a decade ago, and only 10 new albums are released each week. Read now
Don’t read the comments
How useful is the feedback from your fans, and at what point can it have an adverse affect on your creativity? Matt Berninger, Lily Fontaine, Anna B Savage and Richard Dawson give me their insights. Read now
Podcast: These New Puritans, happiness in solitude
On a walk along the seafront, Jack Barnett reflects on the town he came from, keeping out of scenes, and new album Crooked Wing. Listen now
Why don’t indie labels quit Spotify?
If the lowest paying, biggest streamer is so bad for independent music, is there a world where it can be boycotted by the labels? Read now
Spare a thought for all the recovering Oasis addicts out there
It’s a tough time for a lot of us right now. Read now
Submitting to the sprawl of Glastonbury
Oskar Jeff went to Glastonbury for the first time to lose his festival pessimism in the vastness of the place. Read now
Have we loved the music industry to death?
Perhaps music’s biggest Trojan Horse has been our refusal to treat it like any other business, because we love it so damn much. Read now
How we were feeling then: What did Covid do to the sound of UK music?
5 years on from a worldwide pandemic, Luke Cartledge revisits 5 British albums unique to a time already unimaginable, and their lasting impact. Read now
Clive Le Bouche reviews every album cover to ever win the Mercury Prize
L&Q’s reclusive art critic resurfaces. Read now
How much is the Gene Simmons’ personal assistant VIP experience really worth?
I’ve run the numbers, and $12,495.00 seems a little high. Read now
The Best Albums of the Century so far
The first quarter of our current century is over – so what have been the best records released since January 2000 until now? Part 1. Part 2.
Rumour of the Week Year: Man sheltering from last Taylor Swift album release picks worst possible time to see if the coast is clear
“I suppose you have to laugh, really,” said Gareth Stimply as he blinked into the sun for the first time in 19 months. The ex-roofer from Canterbury has been living in a self-made bunker in his garden since the release of Taylor Swift’s 89th album, The Tortured Poets Department, in an attempt to get away from the overwhelming media coverage of the ‘Shake Me Up’ singer. Having spent the last year and a half in a hole in the ground, Stimply took a deep breath as he planned to return to society, completely unaware that another album by Swift had been released that same morning. “I knew I’d made a mistake instantly,” laughed the father of none, who had been looking forward to opening Instagram. By the time he was lowering the lid of his home again for the next year or two he’d been subjected to 12 four-star reviews of The Life of a Showgirl and had passively heard two thirds of the album.
