REVIEWS – The Shonk

No Wave Bliss, Chef’s Kiss Sensor Ghost Irritation on Demand

Hooked by the playful guffaw of the title track, Irritation on Demand I sought the album. Between September and Christmas it shot its way up the list of ‘most listened albums of 2025’ here at […]

Egg Spectrum’s Stinky Sketchbook 2025

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Responding to someone’s request on Facebook to ‘review their latest album’ can be dangerous territory. I vowed never to do it again, since most of the stuff I hear, I can’t articulate words for, holistic […]

His Name is Jim E. Brown and the name of this article is ‘Jim E Brown might be this generation’s Gerard Hoffnung

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Rising to the surface like a fart in the bathtub, ‘Beans on Toast’ by Jim E Brown started playing on one of the weekly playlists we cycle through – I remember exactly where I was, […]

LC Pumpkin & The Joy of Diegesis

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I’m at the 2025 Skynet LAN event and due to requiring an update the software that I use that strips ads from my Facebook feed isn’t working properly. As a result, certain adverts are creeping […]

POP DONE RIGHT BUT WITH A WINKY FACE – THE VANITY PROJECT

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Once in a blue moon we stumble across an album that makes us sit up right, pay attention and think ‘fuck this is how it should be done’ – a flawless collection of hits that […]

PERIPHERAL OBSERVATIONS OF A FRESHLY-SHAVEN CYNIC

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One of the many things the scribe gets off on when attending a ‘cultural event’ is watching from the side lines the secondary features outside of the reason he payed a lot of money to […]

EXPLORING NEW NEWPORT’S NEW MARKET

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Following a soft opening, Newport Market officially re-opened on 19 March 2022. Boasting a full occupancy, new businesses, eateries as well as a total overhaul on the building costing between five and six million pounds. […]

BAKING THE NIGHT AWAY

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First published 21 May 2018: There’s a place hidden in plain sight, an innocuous venue seamlessly disguised as something as beige and bland as a doctor’s waiting room. A place where the uninhabited can sneak […]

TTNG

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Prior to this gig I knew nothing of TTNG, a dear friend of The Shonk asked if I’d like to come along and I said yes. I did however forget to put it into the […]

CALVA LOUISE

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Whether it’s age, COVID or a combination of the two, something that I have found difficult to muster over recent months is getting excited by gigs. During these long periods of isolation I’ve caught many […]

The Shonk 2026