The last six months has seen a lot of hype surrounding American newcomers Howler. With the band on a UK tour to promote their debut album, we made our way to Buffalo to see if Howler can be the band to re-energise guitar music...

Lights Over The Lake is the third album from South Wales based band No Thee No Ess. No Thee No Ess is a collaboration between two established figures in the South Wales arts and indie music scene - Andy Fung (Dererro, Cymbient) and Paul Battenbough (King Of Despair).

No Thee No Ess are a band who like many of their Welsh compatriots (Super Furry Animals and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) create music that does not fit into any particular scene or genre, but create music that will engulf your whole body and mind and transport you to a mystic world...

Indie Record Label of the Month

See Monkey Do Monkey started life in Ireland as a promotions company before relocating to their current home in the Welsh capital. The label have a firm belief in the community spirit of bands, musicians being there for each other and supporting each other.

The first release from the label was The Method’s LP ‘The Front’ in 2008, since that release four years ago the label has developed and is now the home to many exciting bands who have the potential to achieve a huge amount of success in the music industry.

Artists that are currently signed to See Monkey Do Monkey are...

The Sundowners are Niamh Rowe (Vocals/Rhythm guitar), Alfie Skelly (Lead Guitar), Fiona Skelly (Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Tim Cunnihgham (Bass Guitar) and Jim Sharrack (Drums).

Coming from Liverpool, a city with a habit of giving birth to bands that create magical and beautiful music, The Sundowners are very much part of it’s new music scene which also includes the likes of The Sand Band, By The Sea and The Sixteen Tonnes.

The Sundowners list their influences as being Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Byrds , Rolling Stones and Tom Petty...

Capricorn is the first single from the second album Europe by indie pop favourites Allo Darlin’.

Within the first thirty seconds of ‘Capricorn’ you will find a big massive smile has appeared on your face and their is nothing you can do to stop it...

Darren Morrissey and Greg Marshall are both from Dublin, where they spent their time perfecting their craft as frontmen of Rock n Roll band ‘Deshonos’ which made the people of Ireland take notice of these two talented musicians. The duo decided to relocate to London in January 2011 with a collection of songs ready to spread their music further than their hometown and ensure their songs have the opportunity to be heard by as many people as possible.

Whilst in London they have been working hard trying to get these songs out in the public arena. Gigging regularly across the city, building a fanbase and gaining a residency in the Boogaloo in Highgate. Morrissey and Marshall have also played their songs to people on the London Underground, which must have been a real treat for anyone waiting at the stations on those days.

The Lion’s Roar is the second album from Stockholm based sisters Kiara and Johanna Soderberg. Since the release of their debut album last year, the girls have spent time recording with Jack White, touring with Bright Eyes and recording this second album with Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters Of Folk).

The Lion’s Roar is an album full of sweet harmonies and country melodies. The real beauty of the album...

Every year a band emerges being touted as the new great hope for the future of British guitar music. Last year Brother were that band. Sadly, when their album ‘Famous First Words’ arrived it did not have the quality to match the hope that was given through their early singles. This year the great British hope to save guitar music is Camden four piece,Tribes. So the question is, are they going to succeed where Brother failed?

Next Big Sound’s ‘2011 State of Online Music’ report was released this week and includes major trends and highlights from 2011.The report shows overall consumption numbers, top networks and their most popular artists, and the top 50 artists of 2011. From Facebook fans to physical sales, Next Big Sound combines artist metrics with context to inform decisions in the modern music industry.

It makes interesting reading. In 2011, online songs received 64.9 billion new listens. Artists acquired 3.4 billion new online fans and music videos received 16.1 billion new views.

All of the major online networks (Soundcloud, Twitter, Vevo, Facebook, YouTube and MySpace) saw positive traffic in 2011. Soundcloud performed the best with a huge 231% growth compared with the lowest, MySpace, which saw an increase of 6%. It must be taken in to consideration that Soundcloud had far greater potential growth compared to all of the other networks, simply because of how much more recently it launched and therefore held a lower base figure to improve upon. In fact the list mirrors the network launch dates.

What’s most interesting about Soundcloud’s figures compared to the other five major networks is that two of their top five most viewed artists are unsigned artists. DJ BL3ND and The White Panda sit in second and fifth respectively, alongside Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys and The Weekend. The remaining networks boast Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Shakira in their top 5’s.

The top 5 most listened to artists online in 2011 were justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Shakira and Eminem.

So what do these figures really tell us about the state of music?

Summer 2011, a new young American band started causing a wave of excitement within the music industry. All it took was one listen to their EP to lead to Geoff Travis from legendary Rough Trade Records to send an A&R man to America to watch the band live and obtain their signature. Howler are the latest American guitar band that are being touted as ‘your new favorite band’. The comparisons to The Strokes ten years previously are inevitable, both bands emerging at a time when guitar music had become a bit stale, both bands being young converse wearing boys and look like they should be in a band. Like The Strokes, Howler are a band that teenage boys will want to be in and teenage girls will want to be with.

With debut album ‘America Give Up’ now available, it is time to answer the question, is the hype worth it?

The first time I put this album on if i'm truthful it was only as backing music, just to get a feel for the album. That's no refection on the band, their last album This City Draws Maps was a fantastic piece of work but I think it's hard to truly get a feel for an album on the first listen. However, by the end of the first track...

The Electric Stars are an unsigned band from Manchester and are made up of Jason (Vocals), Andy (guitar), Keith (bass), Damian (guitar) and Johnny (drums).

The promoters at Ten Feet Tall put on a night of exceptional music talent. Those of us that were brave enough to leave the comfort of our sofas and venture out into the cold January night were all the better for it.

The story goes that Finn had challenged himself to write a song a day and those songs ended up being outside of the norm for the standard Hold Steady song and therefore decided to make a solo album...

Stokes, William began life as a solo folk project which evolved and expanded to a collective of musicians who began gigging around London and the South. The project now revolves around a core membership of seven musicians.

Roll up, roll up! You can now show off your musical taste with our high quality and exceptionally priced t-shirts and hoodies. Loads of colours and designs, available in male and female, all at fantastic prices.

Tone Puppets are a fresh and exciting Liverpool based band made up of Mark Mulhaney (Guitar and Vocals), Peter Fell (Guitar), Colin Maddock (Bass) and Steven Pearson (Drums).

We catch up with Jonny Davies, the singer with Alt-Folk band The Rosie Taylor Project for a nice chat in the lead up to the new album Twin beds.

The first thing that jumps out at you when listening to Ben's songs is that Ben is a man who has a passion for music and wants to use it's power to express his thoughts and feelings.

At the end of 2011 The Maccabees made ‘Pelican’ available as a taster for the new album. ‘Pelican’ took that spiky guitar sound of The Maccabees up a level and is a bold confident pop song. Does the theme continue?

Red Face sees Lucy being backed for the first time by a full band. Providing this very talented artist with a more confident sound that will no doubt see her gain even more fans and praise amongst music critics.

Cut Ribbons are based in Llanelli in South Wales and consist of Aled Rees (Vocals and Guitar), Anna Griffiths (Vocals), Christian James (Guitar), Shane Lee (Bass) and Caio Griffiths (Drums).

Rise Up The Sun is the second EP from Cardiff and Leeds based duo Joseph & David.

Towards the end of 2011 evanjack self released a beautiful debut EP ‘For Susan’ which was recorded at Urchin studios. The EP was produced and engineered by Matt Ingram and Dan Cox who have previously worked with Laura Marling and Fyfe Dangerfield. All four songs on the EP were recorded live to fully capture the emotions of the session.

Cut Ribbons are based in Llanelli in South Wales and consist of Aled Rees (Vocals and Guitar), Anna Griffiths (Vocals), Christian James (Guitar), Shane Lee (Bass) and Caio Griffiths (Drums).

As the new year approaches we have gazed in to our crystal ball to bring you a dozen artists that we believe will be making waves in 2012.

We Are Augustines are a trio from Brooklyn, New York whose debut album 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships' was independently released on 6th June 2011 and is unreservedly exceptional. They are a result of their previous band 'Pela' crumbling and the upshot of this is that We Are Augustines were created. They consist of Billy McCarthy (guitar/vocals), Eric Sanderson (bass) and Rob Allen (drums).

When I discovered that a band I have been listening to incessantly for the last three months were playing a free, intimate and acoustic show, it would have been ridiculous for me to have missed it...

Its that time of year synonymous with cheesy horrible music. Sure it's a season when you get to hear the Pogues - Fairy Tail Of New York on repeat but surely there must be more music out there to get you in the festive mood without destroying your soul. Well you're in luck, here’s our handy guide to a few alternative albums and individual tracks to get you through the festive period.

After much deliberation, in-fighting and downright childlike squabbling we have eventually decided upon and ranked our top 25 albums of 2011.

AMP Magazine catches up with the band for a chat about all things music and an exclusive listen to the forthcoming EP.

Scott chats to AMP as the band prepare for the launch of their self titled debut album.

It’s an exciting time for Bird as their debut EP has just been released. Adele chats to AMP and gives us an exclusive listen to the EP.