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By Jon Milton The last 18 months has left the UK's grassroots music scene battered and bruised, but thankfully unbowed. A couple of days ago we wrote about Mai 68 Records plans to bring back the flexidisc and now four independent non-profit organisations (Blender, Blaggers Records, Transmission and Vandalism Begins At Home) have come together to produce a 4 band split vinyl 12 inch EP featuring four of the finest bands from a melting pot of talent over four counties, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. The EP will be accompanied by UK tour featuring the bands involved - JW Paris, Luna Rosa, Tragic and Seven Sentinels, with the project to be funded overall by a kickstarter campaign in which the vinyl EP can be pre-ordered, along with merch and gig tickets. There are various bundles and pledges available for pre-order, which you can check out at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/blenderselects/project-leave-the-capital  The bands were handpicked by a judging panel, consisting of Hana Staddon (BBC 6Music), Gareth Barber (Bedford Esquires), Danny Watson (Radio Promo) and Suzanne Fletcher (Musicians Against Homelessness).
JW Paris have been praised by Chris Hawkins as sounding like “where gritty meets swaggery”, and the band have earned radio play from Steve Lamacq, Radio X and Absolute Radio for their infectious indie rock ‘n’ roll. A run of superb singles and a debut EP has propelled Tragic into all the right conversations and onto ‘Ones to Watch’ lists. It has been said, “there is no stopping Tragic’s blistering, post-punk attack”. There are big things to come from this Northampton band. Think METZ meets IDLES and you’re somewhere close! Forged from the beauty and ugliness which permeate every facet of the concrete mass, The Seven Sentinels rise out of the dirt with a rallying call for the downtrodden heroes who have fallen foul of pitfalls and temptations. Helmed by the inimitable Bombshell – a battle-scarred MC, The Seven Sentinels are a grime-tinged force to be reckoned with. Raw & frenzied tones with a post-punk DNA create the enigmatic backdrop for an unrivalled intensity that is delivered from the soul. Gripping psychedelic guitars, pounding basslines and primal beats forge a wall of sound that is Luna Rosa.
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By Jon Milton Independent purveyors of pop music for the wild North and beyond and home to wonderful bands such as Sunstack Jones, Mai 68 Records have had a novel idea. Looking to circumnavigate a series of problems that are facing small indie labels and artists, and inspired by Sarah Records and Eighties DIY scenes, Mai 68 records have decided to bring back the flexi disc with their latest endeavour, the Mai 68 Flexi Club. Speaking about the venture, the label said: 'BEING A TINY INDEPENDENT LABEL IS ALWAYS CHALLENGING. THE EVENTS OF THE LAST EIGHTEEN MONTHS HAVE ONLY SUCEEDED IN INCREASING ALL THE USUAL CHALLENGES OF GETTING A NEW RELEASE FROM MASTERING, TO STORES, IN ANYTHING RESEMBLING A TIMELY FASHION. INITALLY PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT THE VINYL REVIVAL WAS A FAD. IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS WE ARE WELL BEYOND THAT NOW. PRESSING PLANTS ARE WAY BEYOND CAPACITY. LEAD TIMES FOR PRODUCTION ARE TERRIFYING. NEW ARTISTS ARE STUCK IN A NEVER-ENDING QUEUE, WHILST ‘RUMOURS’ IS ONCE AGAIN RELEASED TO SAINSBURYS SHELVES ON DECREE NISI COLOURED VINYL. STREAMING IS JUST AS BAD. PROMOTION, PLAYLIST PUSHES AND SAVVY MARKETING CAN GARNER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PLAYS BUT THE RENUMERATION EQUATES TO THE PRICE OF CAN OF SAN PELLEGRINO. SPOTIFY THINK THIS IS FINE. IT ISN’T FINE. THIS WHY WE ARE ANNOUNCING MAI 68 FLEXI CLUB. BRAND NEW EXCLUSIVE MUSIC EACH MONTH OVER TEN RELEASES. NO STREAMING. NO DOWNLOADS. JUST PURE EPHEMERAL POP MUSIC THAT EXISTS SOLELY ON 7” FLEXI DISC, JUST FOR YOU AND JUST AS LONG AS YOU POSSESS IT. WHY FLEXI? THE ULTIMATE DIY INDEPENDENT MEDIUM. IT’S FAST TO PRODUCE, IT’S COST EFFECTIVE AND ITS ULTIMATELY DISPOSABLE. BY PLAYING IT, YOU DESTROY IT IN THE PROCESS. INEVITABLY THE QUALITY IS NOT AS GOOD AS VINYL. THERE IS A HIGHER SURFACE NOISE. BUT LIKE JOHN PEEL SAID...LIFE HAS SURFACE NOISE. There will be ten new tracks released each month on 7 inch flexi disk, with 300 copies of each in total. Each release features bespoke numbered sleeves and an art print. There will be ten new tracks released each month on 7 inch flexi disk, with 300 copies of each in total. Each release features bespoke numbered sleeves and an art print.
Here's the release schedule: September 26th: SUNSTACK JONES – CAN’T GO BACK HOME October: THE SHIPBUILDERS November: BY THE SEA December: COW December: MONDEGREEN January: ANNA-JANE HOUGHTON February: ENNIO THE LITTLE BROTHER March: CAMPFIRE SOCIAL April: FRIENDS OF OUR YOUTH May: SPECIAL GUEST TBA Get your copy at: Merch | Mai 68 Records (bandcamp.com) By Jon Milton This weekend sees yet another exciting new band from Bristol release their debut single, the band in question being KickBoy and the song 'Portland from Streetview'. 'Portland from Streetview' fuses the rock/funk sensibilities of Red Hot Chilli Peppers with Parquet Courts indie rock with a vocal line that's in places, oddly reminiscent of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I caught up with lead singer Jamie earlier this week, to find out more about the band and the single... Tell us about KickBoy… In the band is me (Jamie) playing bass and I sing, Chris plays guitar. We met when we were 18, both really sucked at guitar and we tried a few jams and basically all of them sucked, but then we formed a band and decided that we were actually less shit than we were a couple of years ago! So, we decided to find a drummer, and that was Owen who we found in a smoking area in Thekla (Bristol). Owen’s insanely talented and one of the best drummers I’ve ever met (not that I’m biased). We got the name Kickboy because we were jamming a lot, but we didn’t have a name and were entering this battle of the bands and kept going back and forth over names and just decided to name the band after a Pokemon that I’ve got on my Gameboy! We’ve been going for two years now. How would you describe the band to a stranger? Well, we’ve coined this expression ‘cross-punk’ which is what we call a lot of our tracks, as they all fall under the umbrella of punk somewhere, all quite shouty and lo-fi. They also dip into other genres, so a cross between punk and generally something else. We’ve got a strange, Reggaeton inspired punk track, a lot more indie rock sounding ones, a lot of post punk, garage rock vibes. So cross-punk is what we’re calling our music.  So key influences would be who? Big question…for me Idles, Parquet Courts – Idles as a Bristol band, everyone from there loves them, and Parquet Courts I love the sound of his voice and I love the way he says words! I also grew up listening to a lot of garage rock and pop punk. Owen’s got quite broad taste – he grew up playing jazz drums and got into his punk when he was a bit older. I never quite understand Chris’s music taste – he’s into his classic rock, chill-wave, blues, its all over the place. We’ve got a lot of different influences and we bring a lot to the table at every jam session. Tell us about ‘Portland from Streetview’ – on the press release you talk about mental health, recovery from addiction, isolation from society, can you tell us more? The isolation from society and recovering from addiction comes from when I was starting my first job after leaving school and struggling with some addiction problems, and not being able to talk about it. It’s not the sort of thing you chat about in the workplace and try to deal with that in my free time and hold up a job. The idea was to make the lyrics completely off the wall and have a fun song instead of depressing and droning, we just like fun tracks. It came while I was watching the Damon Albarn ‘Reject False Icons’ documentary. I think he paints such a beautiful world with his lyrics whereas most of the songs have deep and upsetting meanings, and so we took that and ran with it to give some contrast where the lyrics are all over the place, fun sounding and cheeky but with hard topics to talk about.  Where does the title come from?
Its one of the lyrics in the song. A lot of my job at the time involved spending time on Google Streetview, looking online at roads and how they lay out, and the idea for this song came while I was looking at Portland. How did the link up with Conor from Home Counties come about? I met Conor after a gig. Home Counties were supporting Sports Team at Rough Trade in Bristol, and we were chatting at the end of the gig, and we met up in the studio. Tell us about the video? We just wanted to have something fun to go along with the track. It was 100% DIY, shot by our mate, and Chris, Owen and I came up with the idea for the shoot. There are a lot of references to food in the track, so we had the idea of Chris and Owen trying to enjoy a picnic with me coming along and being a lout, trying to mess up their day. There’s not a whole lot of meaning behind it to be honest, we just wanted to have some fun! What’s next for the band? We have two other releases planned for this year, both singles and we wanted to pick the songs that were at the most distant points of our genre spectrum. Portland from Streetview is very post punk, the other track is the reggaeton inspired one and then one which is quite skate punk, quite fast. We wanted to establish ourselves as a band that doesn’t stick to a single sound. We want to get as much variation as we can in our first couple of releases. We’re looking for one to come out in November and one in December. We’re also getting some nice gigs lined up. We’ve landed a night with New Waves in Portsmouth, we’re playing with our mates Captain Gas and there’s some other stuff planned. Once we’ve got this song out, we’ll be getting a lot more hopefully. Finally, tell us a little known fact about the band? We’ve all got hidden tattoos of ‘KickBoy’… By Jon Milton The inaugural Wide Awake festival finally happened last week, and what a fantastic day it was. Despite delayed by over a year due to COVID restrictions and beset by artists having to withdraw due to infection up until a week before the actual, the Wide Awake team managed to deliver an immaculately organised event with an amazing line up. James Cox, Crows  The event boasted 6 different stages across the breadth of London’s Brockwell Park, and first up for us was Lazarus Kane who played at a packed Moth Club stage. With Idles performing an early set the crowd already seemed well up for the day, and LK were clearly a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people in the tent. That all told, they played a lively set that got everyone moving. Next up were Idles, who found themselves in the unique position of headlining the festival on the main Windmill Stage at 1.30 in the afternoon, as they had another engagement later that date. That didn’t hold them back though, as they made their way through a high-octane performance that the enormous crowd lapped up. Frontman Joe Talbot naturally led the performance, but his supporting cast certainly played their part, including guitarist Bowen, who managed to find his way into the audience toward the end of the set drenched in sweat and grinning ear to ear. Talbot’s interplay with the crowd was so refreshing to see, and something that you wish all bands would incorporate into their performance. It was brilliant to see a crowd finally thrashing about too, its been so long since a mosh-pit of this magnitude was able to happen and it really added to the overall experience, although those that emerged from the front of the set looked a little worse for wear at 2.30! Idles  Squid had the unenviable task of following on from Idles and they took the stage with another packed audience in attendance. Maybe it was the fact that they had to follow on from Idles, or maybe because they were pitched alongside so many exciting artists on the day, but they just seemed a bit underwhelming to me, and distinctly lacking in entertainment factor. Incredible musicians and wonderful music, but visually a bit dull. Their set didn’t really get going until ‘The Cleaner’ kicked in and seemed to be attempting to build slowly from the off. If they were headlining and able to full explore their set this approach would no doubt work a treat, but it fell a little flat on this occasion. We caught a couple of Los Bitchos numbers at the Moth Club stage but moved on quickly as it was so packed, and settled down to watch Mandrake Handshake, who were playing at the Bad Vibrations stage next door. The band’s eclectic psychedelia was a real mid-afternoon tonic in the sunshine and they clearly looked delighted to be part of the day, all ten of them full of energy and enthusiasm on stage, which you couldn’t help but warm to. Squid  Then came Crows…unbelievably loud and unbelievably good, Crows were one of the highlights of the day. Frontman James Cox was electric throughout, commanding the stage and commanding the mosh pit with whom he joined on several songs. Cox clearly couldn’t wait to be at one with the crowd, as though he’d been waiting for the moment for 18 months, and in doing so immediately created a bond with all on-lookers who were hooked into the performance from then on in. Having held the singer aloft, the mosh pit duly obliged any others that fancied a go to, much to the displeasure of the security team, who steadily grew as the gig progressed fearing that things might have got out of hand. Unsurprisingly there was no trouble though, enabling Crows to blow us away with their set. A truly excellent, and engaging performance from a great band. After all that excitement Kikagaru Moyo took the stage, but as with Squid chose a slow burner start to the set which prompted us to seek more immediate thrills with Snapped Ankles, who didn’t disappoint (do they ever?). Snapped Ankles dance oriented grooves had everyone at the Moth Club stage moving about as they treated us to some of the highlights from their new album ‘Forest of your problems’ as well as older favourites ‘Tailpipe’, ‘Jonny Guitar Calling Gosta Berlin’ and of course ‘I want my minutes back’. Given the early start to the day we were flagging at this point however, despite the bands’ infectious energy. Crows  Next up was the Murder Capital, who took seconds to remind us of what a powerhouse live performer they are. They kicked off proceedings with ‘For Everything’ the opener from their 2019 debut ‘When I have Fears’ with all eyes fixed on mesmeric frontman James McGovern, before running through other highlights from the album including ‘Green and Blue’, More is Less’ and ‘Slow Dance I and II’, the latter of which got a little interference from Crack Cloud on the neighbouring stage. When I last saw them play at the Dome in Tufnell Park I had wondered if that was all that they had in the locker, but there is new material on the way apparently. There was an impromptu end to proceedings as the sound started going on ‘Don’t Cling To Life’, which saw McGovern chuck a massive hissy fit and the rest of the band contemptuously walk off, but they certainly made their mark on the day. Yard Act  We quickly hot footed over to the So Young stage to grab the end of Slift’s set which sounded wonderful, before waiting for Yard Act to take the stage. For some reason the tallest photographers in London had all decided to get in everyone’s view in front of the barriers, but that didn’t take away from an enjoyable performance from the band. James Smith made his entrance on the second song and then walked off mid-way through the last, with a bit of banter in between tracks playing out that quirky persona that he’s set out to create.
In ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ Shame have made the album of 2021 and possibly one of the albums of the decade. Live they are equally impressive, with frontman Charlie vying for attention with their bassist Josh, who strutted about endlessly (and was that a back flip too?). The bands older tracks washed over a bit and felt overshadowed by their newer material, although undoubtedly tiredness from the early start played a part in that view. Shame’s performance capped off a brilliant day, and a festival that must surely now be a must-attend in the future for any self-respecting alternative music fan. The Wide Awake organisers’ choice of artist line up was impeccable, organisation on the day spot-on, and their attention to detail exemplary, right down to the choice of DJ’s in between artists. Get those early bird tickets for next year as soon you can! By Jon Milton August has been a busy month for new releases, with the likes of Feet, Treeboy and Arc and The Howlers releasing full EP’s, Pip Blom and Parquet Courts giving us tasters for their new albums, Midlight, Geese and Les Bods continuing to impress, and exciting new talents Porchlight and Stores releasing impressive debut singles. Brighton band Porchlight’s have released a bit of a stunner with their debut single Drywall, fusing post punk and krautrock very nicely. Judging by the footage of some of their gigs that’s appeared on social media, they have a lot more in the tank to get excited about too, with some of the footage revealing elements of muscular post punk / funk crossover reminiscent of the Pop Group. There was a little snippet of Liverpool’s Stores online last year that sounded intriguing and got them on our watchlist, so we were looking forward to hearing their debut ‘bones’ when it came out earlier this month. The single doesn’t disappoint. Coming from the same label that brought us Eyesore and the Jinx (Eggy Records) was always going to be a good sign, but ‘bones’ is a real marker, snarling post punk that really hits the spot. Another debut single that caught our attention earlier this year was ‘Disco’ by Geese. It’s obviously difficult to make too much of a judgement based on just the one track, particularly as the band haven’t been able to tour, but the release of their new single ‘Low Era’ provides further solid confirmation of their credentials, with its smart indie swagger. The band’s debut album comes out in October on Partisan Records, and they’re touring the UK in November. Could they go on to be massive? Possibly… Another band that you feel could (and should) go on to be huge is Midlight. The band released their wonderful ‘Emergency Song’ earlier this year and have just followed it up with another great tune in ‘Daily Routine’. These guys certainly know how to write great songs and they seem to have real crossover appeal, so it feels like only a matter of time before a big label will be coming along and snapping them up. Les Bods were talking about their new single ‘Tea Stained Day’ when we interviewed them last year and the track has finally got its release this week. There’s a kind of Led Zeppelin meets Oh Sees vibe about it, like ‘In the Light’ getting a garage rock makeover. The band are massive fans of both LZ and John Dwyer and co, and quality 70s rock in general, and they very much wear those influences on their sleeves, which is alright by us, particularly when they put out tunes as good as this. After what seemed like an absolute age Treeboy and Arc issued ‘Role Models’ and ‘Logistical Nightmare’ last month as tasters for their new EP ‘Life Preserver’ which came out at the start of the month, adding the masterful ‘The Condor’ and ‘In Dreams’. There was talk of an album last year so one would hope that we won’t have to wait as long for new material to emerge next time. Feet similarly returned after a long hiatus a month or so ago with a string of new singles, brought together on their Walking Machine EP. In a recent interview the band suggested that they felt that their debut album ‘What’s Inside is More Than Just Ham’ was perhaps a little too adventurous in places, resulting in an inconsistent body of work, and this EP took more of a back to basics approach and this is certainly evident. Their trademark playfulness and magpie approach to song-writing persists, but songs like Peace and Quiet and Busy Waiting certainly pull no punches. The last (but not least) of the big EP releases of the month comes from The Howlers with their debut ‘The Sum of Our Fears’. Lead singles ‘I don’t love you all the time’ and ‘Lost without you’ gave us a glimpse of a new direction from the band, more confident and commercially focussed, and that feel carries across the whole EP. Excellent stuff. The band’s long delayed tour begins at the end of the year, and they’re well worth checking out live. Other tunes worth checking out this month are the new single from Parquet Courts ‘Walking at a Downtown Pace’ taken from their forthcoming album out in October, ‘Spectator’, the new single from SHEAFS, ‘He is Me’ from On Video and ‘Brother’ from Belishas. And if you like your noise, make sure you check the brutal new tunes from Fuzz Lightyear ‘Berlin, 1885’ and ‘Baby Killer’ from Tragic. |
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