What We've Been Listening To This Week: Magick Mountain, Yard Act, Pop Vulture, Oh Sees, Little Barrie, Dirty Burger, Viagra Boys, Torture and the Desert Spiders

By Jon Milton

That fine city Leeds and it’s remarkably prodigious musical conveyor belt of talent has delivered again this week in the form of a new single from Magick Mountain, a postcard from Yard Act and an EP from Pop Vulture.
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Cherokee is the fourth single to be released by Magick Mountain in as many months, taken from their debut album Weird Feelings, out next week, and is another decent psych / garage rock tune with a distinctly Oh Sees and Hendrix stylings. All the singles have been good so we look forward to hearing how they all come together on the album.

We were sent the fine debut EP from Fuzz Lightyear this week which we’ll profile in the coming days ahead of its release on Friday. The band play a gig at Mabgate Bleach on the 23rd October, supported by Pop Vulture who we noticed have an EP on Bandcamp that came out in July recorded at that venue and thought we’d check out. It’s good. Chunky bass, coruscating guitar, schizo vocals and inspired percussion are the order of the day on these three tracks, full of energy and they sound like a right handful live. As with fellow Yorkshiremen Autosuggestion who also had a live EP from Mabgate Bleach out earlier this year the set is a little rough around the edges, but clearly there’s a lot of promise here. Listen via Bandcamp here.
 
Yard Act sent me a postcard this week with a telephone number on it, which was nice. Being a curious type I called said number, and was greeted by a minute long message with a short monologue taken from their song Peanuts, which I can only assume is going to be coming out as a single soon. Hopefully they’ll bite the bullet, get it fixed, get it seen to and released soon because they’re a great band and we love their music.

The Viagra Boys returned this week with a new single Ain’t Nice and news of a new album on the way. Ain’t Nice sounds a bit like Slow Learner from their debut album Street Worms, which is no bad thing. Another Swedish band Dirty Burger also got in touch this week about their debut album ‘Part Time Loser’ which has some decent Stooges-like tracks and a lot of New York Dolls ones too. Worth giving a listen to, despite the dreadful band name. ​

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Little Barrie, so was excited to hear news of their new album ‘Quatermass Seven’, and it doesn’t disappoint. Whereas previous albums ‘Death Express’, ‘Shadow’ and ‘King of the Waves’ have kicked in around the hour mark and outstayed their welcome a little bit, this new one is bang on the 30 minute mark which is just about right. There are just seven tracks on the album, including the extended eight minute instrumental After After and latest single 'Steel Drum', and there's a bit of 70s Lalo Schifrin feel amongst the usual quality swamp rock/blues vibe. 

I also have more than a soft spot for Oh Sees, although the sheer volume of music coming from their way at the moment is a bit overwhelming. After the Levitation Sessions last week, this week they’ve released ‘Metamorphosed’ a selection of out takes from last years Face Stabber sessions. There are just the five tracks on the album, with the first three done in five and a half minutes and the last two spread across thirty seven. I kind of prefer this mix of short brutal songs in with trippy jams rather than the constant aural pummelling that is Protean Threat. Metamorphosed is a good selection of tunes, although it’s definitely one for the fans rather than first time listeners to the band. 

Last up this week is the latest single by the interestingly named Torture and the Desert Spiders, 'Money'. The band, led by multi-instrumentalist Anna Kunz are based in Liverpool and Money was written, recorded, produced and mastered in her bedroom during lockdown, which gives it a bit of a demo feel. The song is apparently about ‘seeing house shows back in Nashville and the kind of weird experiences you’d have on a night out’ and its rather good. Curiously the bass line reminds me of the Pink Panther cartoon, very slinky indeed. Money is part of an EP and there's another new track 'Scarlet' due out in a week or so.