Tom Phelan

Writer and Music Journalist

United Kingdom

Hello! I’m Tom: a writer and all-round music obsessive based in London eternally exploring the fringes of culture and delivering work which grabs you with its humour, social commentary and distinct voice.

My work has been featured on numerous sites including Far Out, Still Listening, RGM Magazine, In Stereo, and New Noise Magazine, plus have contributed creative writing to award-winning films. Be it from the depths of the musical subterranean or mainstream ubiquity, I've delivered comprehensive critical work on a myriad of genres, from Ariana Grande to Gutter Pig.

Over six years ago I founded the project 'Heads on Sticks', a moniker/alias dedicated to showcasing the "uncharted, offbeat, and bawdy in new music", branching out into residencies with Aaja and Noods Radio, a podcast (guests include Paul Barker, Alison Statton, Chris Cowey, VR Sex, Zolar X and more!) and curated nights of live music.

If you want to get in contact or send me some music, please don't hesitate!

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Portfolio
Far Out Magazine
06/20/2025
Is Glastonbury Festival really middle-class?

Long the source of ire among liberal and conservative pundits alike, is Glastonbury Festival really a middle-class event as it is often accused of being?

Far Out Magazine
05/12/2025
The strange story of John Lennon's Mellotron

Owning a limited edition Mellotron keyboard, The Beatles' John Lennon's carried the instrument over to America before it passed some unexpected hands.

Far Out Magazine
03/19/2025
Benefits - 'Constant Noise' album review

Middlesborough noise punk duo Benefits return with 'Constant Noise', a sophomore LP that wears their hearts on its sleeve with deeper fury and humanity.

Far Out Magazine
02/25/2025
What are the paintings the Vatican is hiding?

In a curious chapter of the Catholic Church's history, the trifacial Trinities that were painted were deemed so unorthodox and aberrational they were outlawed.

Far Out Magazine
02/13/2025
Civilistjävel! - 'Följd' album review

Swedish artists Civilistjävel!'s new album Följd masterfully illustrates ambient dub's evocative power wrought from minimal arrangements when executed right.

Still Listening
05/23/2024
Lip Critic - Hex Dealer Review - Still Listening

Electropunks Lip Critic crush dense, aural collages of combative hardcore and hazardous breakbeat into an enthralling, confounding mess. New York electropunk misfits Lip Critic's very conception was born from mishap and blunder. When half of their predecessor outfit Chalklit hadn't shown up for a g

Still Listening
04/05/2024
Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine Review - Still Listening

Ariana Grande's latest pop offering examines the messy, complicated self with the aid of a subversive, sonic palette. Few have reached the stratospheric fame and pop adulation heights Ariana Grande has scored. Easily casting aside the stubborn associations with former children's TV stardom immediat

Still Listening
03/28/2024
Shabazz Palaces - Exotic Birds of Prey Review - Still Listening

Latest Shabazz Palaces album opens another portal into synth-soaked dimensions and Afrofuturist, celestial reach. Initially, it doesn't appear that there's much connecting Seattle rapper and producer Ishmael Butler's former jazz hip-hop group Digable Planets with current intergalactic project Shaba

RGM : REYT GOOD MAGAZINE
03/22/2024
WE REVIEW THE NEW ALBUM FROM HAVE MERCY LAS VEGAS

Scotland's Loch Lomond area isn't usually the locale one thinks of when considering barn-stomping country and rootsy Americana, but Dumbartonshire folk six-piece Have Mercy Las Vegas has spent the last ten years indulging in their shared passion for bluegrass pop, amassing an ever-growing fanbase an

RGM : REYT GOOD MAGAZINE
03/17/2024
WE REVIEW THE NEW ALBUM FROM ZEROPOLIS

Conjuring drama from conceptual themes of ennui and weathered dissatisfaction is a difficult task for any artist, let alone inspiring hope and solidarity amidst the contemporary swirl of cultural inertia, but London post-punk duo Zeropolis have been unleashing smoggy blasts of synth-soaked darkwave

Heads on Sticks
05/05/2023
Benefits 'Nails'

A write-up on my former Heads on Sticks Blog.

Bristol In Stereo
02/01/2020
Lynks at Crofter's Rights 2020

Live review of Lynks Afrikka's (now just Lynks) set at Bristol's Crofter's Rights. Was featured in the monthly print version.

Tap the Feed
09/16/2019
Astral Festival 2019

Cover of Bristol's Astral Festival for now defunct Tap the Feed Magazine