Stevie's Stonkers #6: 'Queen of Hearts' by Fucked Up

I’m a cynic. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. So when I hear the oxymoronic term “Punk-Rock Opera” being knocked about to describe a record, I want to puke. I’m all for a band being ambitious, and evolving, but I don’t want a ridiculously straight up deadly punk band like Fucked Up going all amateur dramatics-dinner theatre on me. I’m old school like that. Luckily, in making their high concept hardcore Tommy for 2011, David Comes To Life, they have compromised nothing, and have in fact made their best LP to date. 'Queen of Hearts' is the perfect intro to the record that sees the glass gargling, vicious vocals of lead screamer Pink Eyes sound positively uplifting when he hits the chorus with that soaring guitar line. --Stephen Rogers

Stevie's Stonkers #5: 'The Wilhelm Scream - Live' by James Blake

While the stonker is usually the place for brash off the cuff observations and not, conversely, quiet & emotional reflection, I make the rules so that's the way it's gonna be. Mr. Blake has spent the past year making a name for himself as one of the most promising young DJs/producers worki...ng in the post-dubstep musical landscape, from cutting up 90's R&B into unrecognisably beautiful forms on "CMYK" to dismantling the idea of what voice and piano can sound like on the "Klavierwerke" EP. Just as he's garnering attention he's already pretty much abandoned those musical forms for more relatively straightforward songs on his forthcoming full length debut. The Wilhelm Scream showcases his impossibly fragile and surprisingly impressive vocals, underscored by melancholic keys, lyrics suggesting a heartbroken man resigned to his fate. A grown man could cry, and in fact i almost wish i was broken hearted so i could lose myself in this.--Stephen Rogers

Stevie's Stonkers #4: 'Lightnin VIP' by Skream

Olly Jones has sweet fuck all to prove to the dubstep purists lobbying accusations of him being sellout. His second record as Skream saw him branching into more laid back and occasionally ravey territory, and the dubstep supergroup he formed with Benga and Artwork gave the dubstep genre it's... biggest pop hits. Showing he hadn't lost sight of where he came from and in a very festive spirit Skream released the Freeizm album on Christmas Day for, you guessed it, free, featuring some of the most straight up womping dubstep tracks he's put out in ages. 'Lighnin Vip' proves once again he's a master of blending absolute filthy basslines with foreboding atmospherics. This is Skream just doing what he still does better than anyone, even though it wasn't necessary prove anything to anybody, this did it nicely anyway.

Stevie's Christmas 'Stonking' Filler: 'Sick' by Salem

Twas the week before Christmas and in Dublin City, Stevie was trundling through the snow, struggling to shop, and feeling quite shitty. And this brought the inspiration for this week’s stonker. Just as I was close to assaulting a fellow pedestrian on Parnell Street for seemingly sleeping whilst attempting to move through a doorway, snow began to pour down again and ‘Sick’ popped up on my player’s random playlist. Suddenly I was feelin’ Christmassy, which is perverse considering this track is a major downer, a hybrid of durty south beats, even dirtier synths, spooky choral backing, and some dude rapping slowed down or pitch shifted, so it’s barely decipherable. But it made sense at the time; it gave me a bit of swagger to continuing shopping. It’s probably the choral aspect of the song that lends itself to Christmas, but more than likely I picked this track because I’m a contrary and miserable bastard.

Stevie's Stonkers #2:'Don't Look Back' by Kylesa

Nobody fucking needs two drummers. I don’t care who you the fuck you are. I like Kylesa, I may be growing to love them, but they have two drummers, and they certainly don’t need them. Sure, for a hairy psych sludge metal band outta Georgia that shit may seem pretty cool, would maybe even ...feel like a luxury for them. But a necessity? No. Even for a metal band they’re rhythmically fairly simple. There are heavier tracks on their new record, there are more musically complex tracks, there is more accomplished song writing showcasing their progress as band, but I’ll be fucked if there’s a more air-pummelling-ly satisfying song than ‘’Don’t Look Back’. Four chords strung together, repeated, and I feel like I could take on the world, and like those four thunderous chords the sentiment “Keep moving, don’t look back” may be simple, but it's seriously uplifting blasted into my ears. --Stephen Rogers

Stevie's Stonkers #1:'Derezzed' by Daft Punk

Every week until he grows weary of the format Stephen Rogers will be choosing a stonking song of the moment.

Two French DJs who have been pretending to be robots for the past 13 years, revered by critics, musos, hipster indie kids, their peers, and the pop music loving general public. Hired to soundtrack sequel to innovative if dated sci-fi flick, that exists purely due to the current trend of retro revivalist "everything when i was a kid was brilliant" necrophelia. An "evolution" of their electronic sound, because, ye know, there's like, strings and that. The curmudgeonly loner sociopath in me wants to hate Daft Punk and this. Except I like Daft Punk and this. A tantalisingly brief glimpse of the glitchy brilliance of Daft Punk.