What We've Been Listening To This Week...Sugarhorse, Scottibrains, Fumar Mata, In Earnest, Public Body, Polevaulter, Kopper

By Jon Milton and Mark Glenister

Links to music and articles in blue

Exciting times for the blog this week, as we’ve had a new writer join our ranks, Mark Glenister. Mark is one of the fine team of individuals that manage a Facebook page dedicated to Crows and he manages the blog associated with the group, which you can read here. Mark contributed his first article to the blog on Friday, about the debut single from In Earnest, a personal and honest account about dealing with depression, something that Mark himself has battled with. You can read his piece here.  
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Another band releasing their debut single this week was Fumar Mata with El Kapp. El Kapp is a feisty garage rock tune with a respectful nod to Oh Sees, both in terms of guitar and vocals. We came across it via a social media post by label mates Eyesore and the Jinx and were glad that we did as it’s an excellent tune.

Public Body released a fine new single Naughty On My Bike as a follow up to the brilliant ‘Presenteeism’. Naughty on my Bike has an angular post punk Gang of Four like take to it, slightly similar to fellow Brightonian’s Egyptian Blue, although it must be said both bands have their own unique sound.
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A few months ago we came across Leeds band Polevaulter (there’s some talent coming out of that city isn’t there?) and were blown away by their brutal noise music, so were delighted to see them releasing a new single this week. Ra doesn’t disappoint either, another powerful beast that pummels your senses, in a good way of course. If you’ve not heard of the band before and you like the sound of Ra I’d recommend you check out the rest of their portfolio as its all very good. Kopper have also released some highly enjoyable noise this week with two new singles out, Fake It and How Can You Be Sure. Not as brutal as Polevaulter mind, but also punchy and drenched in feedback.

Following on from last years acclaimed single ‘GakEater’ and EP ‘Druj’, Bristol based Sugar Horse release their new EP ‘Drugs’, which like its predecessors is a pure slice of immense, loud, ethereal rock. The 5 tracks on this EP showcase the band at their best, and hi-light their many influences that formed this record, think Mogwai, Deftones, Oceansize for starters. They have the ability to bludgeon you with layers of guitars and drums on tracks such as Drugs & Richard Branson in the Sky With Diamonds, then gently soothe you with the ethereal beauty of When September Rain, as well as mixing both with for me the standout track Pity Party. The EP ends as it starts with Dogegg assaulting your senses one last time. Listen to this loud so you neighbours still know you are alive!

Finally, we celebrated a new single from Scottibrains this week. It looks like this is the third single they’ve released in about 8 years and follows on from 2018’s Sustained Threat. Aristorats is a bit of an epic, 6 minutes long, instrumental, with various twists and turns and a very enjoyable listen. Not quite sure if it’s on the prolific Speedy Wunderground label like its predecessor (youtube says yes, Spotify says not but anyway there’s a connection to that label somewhere, which is normally a good indicator of the quality on offer.