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The latest addition to Blitzcat Records impressive roster of artists (including Gag Salon and Kyoto Kyoto) are Bristol's HAAL, who have just released a new single in the form of 'Janus'. The song is inspired by the cult 2013 sci-fi thriller show 'Utopia’, whose themes around transhumanism and secrecy adorn the PS2-style graphics video, designed by Will Newcombe. Musically, think Massive Attack fused with a bit of grunge and Marc Ribot's guitar on Island era Tom Waits and you'll be in the right ball- park. Not a bad set of references, eh?  Immersive visuals will take centre stage at two special headline shows - the first in HAAL's hometown of Bristol at The Louisiana with support from Crimewave (Sept 16th), the second in London at Bermondsey Social Club with special guests Waterbaby (Sept 22nd). Check out the video below to give yourself a flavour.
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By Jon Milton The Lounge Society have been turning heads and pricking up ears for just over two years since their outstanding debut single ‘Generation Game’ came out. They set the bar high with that song and kept it high with their debut EP ‘Silk for the Starving’ released last year but has it stayed there for their debut album ‘Tired of Liberty’? Kind of. The sheer amount of energy and ideas that the band pack into Tired of Liberty is mind blowing. The first nine songs twist and turn, scamper and slow and then scamper again restlessly with such effortless ease. Its easy to lose your sense of time. Brilliant stuff. Then it all comes abruptly to an end with ‘Upheaval’ a significant change in direction and one that doesn’t really fit. The album closes with Generation Game which feels like it’s been tacked on to make up the numbers. Was it rushed out to capitalise on the bands growing popularity? It feels a bit like that, which is a shame.  Despite the disappointing end however, the potential this band have is incredible. I’m kind of reminded of the first Echo and the Bunnymen album ‘Crocodiles’ here in the sense of thinking that this is not the finished article but there could be something great like ‘Heaven Up Here’ just round the corner. The comparison is amplified as both albums feature lightweight production that doesn’t get the best out of them. Despite minor grumbles though, Tired of Liberty is an impressive debut. And in many ways it’s a good thing that its flawed as it gives them room to target improvement and really nail the next record, and hopefully a couple more after that too. By Jon Milton Nice Swan Records just keep going from strength to strength don’t they? They’ve given a succession of excellent EP’s this year from the likes of Sprints, Opus Kink and English Teacher and this summer they’ve also unearthed new gems in the form of Splint and Shady Baby. Brighton based Shady Baby are inspired by Madchester and Britpop and their impressive latest single Lonely Town definitely (maybe) has a touch of early Oasis about it, no bad thing. It follows on from Come to Life released earlier this year. Manchester 5 piece Splint’s debut single is ‘in essence a song about confusion of adolescence and the acceptance of your own failings, each of which lead you to the circumstances you find yourself in’. Its also a darn good tune with slight echoes of their label mates Hallan about it. Hup, two, three, four! Both Shady Baby and Splint are out on the road playing days this month, if you fancy catching them before they get big. Like the magnificent Sprints, who have another new tune out this week, ‘Literary Mind’. Literary Mind continues the transition that a lot of band seem to be making from spoken/shouted to sung and the band carry it off well. They’re also touring next month all over the UK. Not to be outdone by their northern counterparts, Speedy Wunderground Records have also come up trumps this summer with the debut EP from Moreish Idols. The EP is an absolute cracker from start to finish. It starts and ends with the two frantic singles released earlier this year ‘Hangar’ and ‘Speedboat’ with new songs W.A.M. and When the River Runs Dry sandwiched in between. There seems to be a trend developing at the moment with guitar bands incorporating brass into their sound and these guys manage to do it exceptionally well. As do Keg who’ve just released their second EP ‘Girders’. Girders follows on from last year’s debut ‘Assembly’ with the gloriously obnoxious ‘Kids’ and ‘Elephant’ and disorientating ‘NPC’ accompanied by three more tracks ‘5/4’, ‘Girders’, and ‘Sing Again’. There’s a bit more experimentation on Girders compared to Assembly and again even a little bit of singing (unsurprisingly on Sing Again’) in among the shouting. Other tunes worth checking out right now include: Tragic - Backfoot Human Interest - Alive Personal Trainer - The Lazer By Jon Milton Last month (on a whim) I paid a visit to Bedford Esquires for their ‘Ceremony 2’ all-dayer, principally to check out Keg and Hallan. Both of these were excellent on the day, but another couple of performers really stood out, Low Hummer and Opus Kink. I had the added bonus of seeing the latter again five days later as they opened for Feet, and I would recommend anyone reading this to check them out when they play next, as their performance is a wonder to behold. The band have also just released their debut EP ‘Til the Steam Runs Dry’ on Nice Swan Recordings, a heady mix of tunes seemingly drawing influence from Tom Waits, The Pogues, The Redskins and Pigbag. Luna Rosa released a cracking single in ‘Brutal Nature’ at the start of May, and their EP of the same name has also just launched via those good people at Vandalism at Home. When talking about the EP, lead singer Rory McDade says it is ‘our stance against the ineffective asinine powers that be, a statement to every wave of self-doubt and a message to the downtrodden, the fucked and forgotten. Its core forged by our own truth and soul, its pulse and spirit soundtracks our defiance and conquering of the stronghold placed upon us in our times of tribulation. This is our proclamation of intent, our resistance against being ruled by anyone but ourselves. We mean every last second of this record, every word, every note, right down to the end. Hopefully it opens a few eyes and reaches a few hearts’. The band cite The Verve as influences which certainly comes across on tracks like 'MK Ultra' and 'Empty'. 'Brutal Nature' the song reminds me of The Blinders when they were good, and the other stand out track on the EP ‘I in the Centre of Pride’ has shades of one of my personal favourites, Echo and the Bunnymen. The EP is thoroughly impressive throughout and a real statement of intent from the band. Completing a trio of tasty new EP releases from bands on the up is ‘Get a Load of this Guy’ from Gag Salon. The band announced themselves in February with their debut single, the frantic ‘Horses’ with a further couple of tracks ‘My Gun’ and ‘Don’t Eat Stuff off the Pavement’ following. The equally insistent 'Germs' and '21st Century Classical Music' complete the madness wonderfully on this full release, which has flashes of Josef K, Gang of Four and Parquet Courts, albeit a bit more hopped up and quirky. On the singles front, Porchlight’s new single 'Silver Spoon' is well worth checking out. I have to say I’m desperate to see this band play live but have been sadly thwarted in my attempts thus far. Silver Spoon and its preceding singles Drywall and Country Manor are all superb, with this latest one packing loads of post punk attitude, sass and noise. More please, and give us a gig on a Thursday or Friday somewhere centrally in London! Other standouts just out are 'Hangar' by Moreish Idols, 'Black Cat, White Cat' by Pigeonhole, 'Cry Harder' by Gawjuss, 'The Drug' by Life and 'Sich Ubergeben' from Hallan. I was rather taken with Moreish Idols first single ‘Speedboat’ but Hangar is even better, and the best thing I’ve heard on Speedy Wunderground for a while. Many years ago the addition of saxophone on an indie track normally happened when they signed to a major and the major wanted them to sound more accessible, but invariably made them sound terrible instead. These days when done well it can really lift the track, and on Hangar its done really well, perfectly complementing the songs manic thrashing and the Do Nothing style vocals. I've not come across Pigeonhole before on the evidence of Black Cat, White Cat I like what I hear. A Psycho Killer like bass line kicks off the track and then its indie glam stomping and attitude all the way. The band play The Windmill in Brixton at the end of the month with the equally intriguing Neuro Placid which should be a good night out. On Cry Harder, Gawjuss continue to honour the long established legacy of quality noise that Leeds bands seem to be so adept at making, and they have an album on the way on Clue Records out in September. Life’s new single The Drug is yet another telling sign that their forthcoming album North East Coastal Town might well be up there as one of the albums of the year, sitting alongside TV Priest, whose excellent album we reviewed last week (scroll down). I thought Life’s last album A Picture of Good Health was good, but if this track, Friends Without Names, Almost Home and Big Moon Lake are anything to go by, then the new album will be another level. Hallan had a great EP out last year ‘Reporting Live From The Living Room Floor’ but have been quiet since them up until now. Sich Ubergeben (Throw up according to google) is a welcome return from the band who are another who really deliver live. Its another top tune from The Nice Swan Recordings stable too, who just seem to consistently release quality. By Jon Milton I can’t think of a single person who hasn’t been profoundly affected by the seismic change brought on by the pandemic. Many like to think that the world is back to normal now, but it seems clear to me that chronic fatigue and mental health issues continue to live with us, stopping us from even doing things that we like to do for fun. TV Priest’s second album ‘My Other People’ lays bare singer Charlie Drinkwater’s experiences during the pandemic, a period in which he confesses he was in ‘a place where I was not, I would say, particularly well’. The band had played once before lockdown began but were unable to move onto their second gig at Oslo in Hackney until July of last year. In between they’d managed to catch a lot of people’s attention with their first two singles ‘House of York’ and ‘Runner Up’, sign to Sub Pop and release their debut album, ‘Uppers’, but had to live this life changing experience as though they were detached bystanders. ‘It was a real gratification and really cathartic, but on the other hand, it was really strange, and not great for my mental health”  Photo: Hollie Fernando The band describe My Other People as very much a reaction against the politically aware, angry, and bolshy post-punk pigeon-hole that they were being put in. Instead, the band have expanded their musical canvass impressively on this record, with Drinkwater’s lyrics exploring vulnerability and emotion ahead of polemic. As if to make that change in direction very clear, the first three singles from the album each showcase different sides of the band’s music, with the fourth release ‘It Was Beautiful’ the first to tread the frentic, motorik driven, more familiar ground of Uppers. The starkest departure comes in the shape of ‘Limehouse Cut’, which considers whether one can really feel part of a constantly changing environment like London. There’s an almost Tom Waits like wistfulness about the song and on the bands numerous, detailed social media posts leading up to this release, Drinkwater notes that he has since moved out of London to a more rural setting. I can’t help wondering if that narrative may be influenced by parenthood, where responsibility for a new life becomes all-consuming so and when you finally come up for air, you find that the world around you has changed.  Songs like ‘One Easy Thing’, ‘I Have Learnt Nothing’ and ‘I Am Safe Here’ stand proud and ebullient in among the crowd pleasing ‘It Was Beautiful’ and ‘Unravelling’. The album's reflective moments surface on ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ and ‘Sunland’ and the aforementioned Limehouse Cut. The highlight of the album however is ‘The Breakers’, a paean to reaffirming friendship, that features a sublime guitar riff which perfectly complements the songs' optimistic theme . TV Priest’s second album represents a big step forward for the band. Where Uppers felt like a collection of songs, My Other People feels like a proper album, and one that will go down as a ‘flash of greatness’ from the band for years to come. In what’s likely to be crowded space this year, My Other People will undoubtedly be up there as one of the albums of 2022. My Other People is released in 17th June. The album is available to pre-order direct from Sub Pop and also on limited edition transparent violet LP direct from Record Store HERE. There is also a limited signed edition, each including an artwork print designed by the band's own Charlie Drinkwater, available from Rough Trade HERE or as part of an accompanying instore performance for the album's release day. UK Tour Dates: OCT 30 - Bristol, UK - The Louisiana 31 - Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds NOV 1 - Dublin, IE - The Workman's Cellar 3 - Manchester, UK - Yes (Pink Room) 4 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast 5 - Leeds, UK - Belgrave Music Hall 7 - Cambridge, UK - Portland Arms 8 - Leicester, UK - Firebug Bar 10 - London, UK - Scala 11 - Reading, UK -The Face Bar 12 - Southampton, UK - The Joiners 13 - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store |
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