Cassandra Jenkins - Delphinium Blue
Truth be told we were a bit underwhelmed with Only One, the first single from My Light, My Destroyer, out July 12th. The second... well, that's a very different story. The way it evolves from sparse, gossamer Lynchian layers and electronic hits, through the re-emergence of her Laurie Anderson-ish spoken word bridges into technicolour celestial choirs and guitars like power tools in the background... there's something special here.
Good News - Orange Juice In The Shower
Yet more hyperactive end of skittish post-punk, is it? The Sheffield trio align metronomic percussion with deadpan-monotone vocals in a minimalist whirl and it's done with as soon as it feels done.blurb
Helen Love - Stay With Me
32 years, Helen's been at this coalface of glitter-gun dayglo synth-bubblegum by now. The Ramones were still a recording act back then. Aligned to the mighty Alcopop! these days, her 31st single continues the introspective side developed on last album, 2002's This Is My World, and is an openly Northern Soul indebted love song replete with string stabs, percussion rolls and talc-friendly beat. Still sounds ready for the light-up dancefloor, of course.
Los Campesinos! - Feast Of Tongues
You're reading Sweeping The Nation, don't pretend you don't know. And better yet, they're on the slow burn build path. Album number seven All Hell is out on July 19th and contains a song called To Hell In A Handjob, which is already only a leftfield football reference as simile short of being the ur-LC! song. And they're releasing another song from it today! Emergency afternoon edit ahoy!
My Best Unbeaten Brother - Time On Our Hands, Spider-Man
Ben Parker (Nosferatu D2, Superman Revenge Squad etc)'s current vehicle for frantic verbose excoriations of society and culture moving around him have a debut EP, Pessimistic Pizza, out on 28th June. Driven, as with the former band, by Adam Parker's frantically driving drumming, the first slice (see?) covers the passing of time and memory, processing and legacy, and "trying to be the Spider-Man/Superman figure for someone".
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
New sounds from way out (Focus Wales 2024 to be precise)
Every year of late, at the end of the week that begins with the May Day bank holiday, we've travelled west out to Wrexham for Focus Wales, a conference that discusses big hot topic issues with industry types in the afternoon, exhibits short films and artistic progression and, most importantly for us roadtripping heathens whose idea of a rock'n'roll anecdote is "we once played a pub quiz machine in Wrexham with Islet" - and the pub's shut sometime in the last year, just to completely kybosh it - puts a hell of a lot of varied musical entertainment on for three days at a time. Link-ups with various similar conferences across the world brings in a remarkable array of under the radar international talent and while there's a good few well known names - this year Spiritualized, the Mysterines, Snapped Ankles, Antony Szmierek and Fat Dog because it’s still a festival happening in 2024, Deerhoof if they hadn’t had to pull out - the emphasis is on a wide, and stylistically all-encompassing, variety of Welsh talent. It's pretty much the city festival circuit’s best kept secret, and one where we get to hang out with a good few people we've got to know through this wingding, catch up with old favourites and find new ones.
Most of which for whatever reason have tended to be Canadian. This year Fold Paper, whose recent single we covered a few posts ago, brought their knotty, obtuse take on post-punk over from Winnipeg for a couple of underattended and not greatly mixed sets - they're in London tonight and sticking around for The Great Escape and Get Together - while last year's discovery Laurence-Anne returned in her other guise as guitarist in art-pop outfit La Sécurité, full of electric shock new wave post-B-52s jumpiness (and also doing a Great Escape show) Our real Canuck catch for the year however was Boyhood, the project name of Ontarian Caylie Runciman who's been recording under the guise since 2011. A late addition to the Llwyn Isaf big top main stage after Ben from Seazoo broke his ankle in the week, a woefully small audience got into the Soccer Mommy-recalling emotionaly exposing bedroom guitar pop given a left of centre realignment, the day's second set in the smaller room at The Rockin' Chair emphasising the electronic loop and noise undertows.
Meanwhile the rest of the world also delivered W!ZARD, Bordeaux's more post-hardcore leaning answer to Gilla Band's noise and confusion delivering a packed, ultra-loud set (and the first broken bass string we've seen in a while), Romanian duo Musspell's drifting, spellbound electronic soundscape pop reminiscent of Golden Fable, and some appropriately smeary, serrated sets from Brooklyn shoegazers Punchlove, right down to the Fender Jazzmaster. Something else exciting came all the way from Seoul, in the more than just effervescent Sailor Honeymoon. How the hell did their debut EP, released two weeks ago, bypass our usual 'scrappy shouty melodic but with twists female garage-punk' radar until now? Having things to say pertaining to the pristine image of Korean women they clearly have things to say and fun, innovative ways to say and fire through them in a style within the Raincoats' ballpark - the cover of their free fanzine showed one of them sporting a T-shirt reading 'KOREAN GIRLS INVENTED PUNK ROCK NOT ENGLAND'. Their last song was called Fxxk Urself, is based around a chant of "go fuck yourself/I'm gonna fuck you up" and absolutely collapses in chaos at the end. Because why wouldn't it be? Oh, and they're also in London tonight (Tuesday)! It's only a mile between Sailor Honeymoon at the Sebright Arms and Fold Paper at Strongroom Bar, just run between them.
What about the Brits? Well, we missed a few due to clashes but obviously some of our old Welsh longtime favourites were well represented, with Campfire Social owning the biggest stage and (apparently, we got stuck in the queue outside) being even better in Rockin' Chair two days later previewing an album due in the summer, CHROMA likewise on the former, Mowbird's first gig in years, HMS Morris their usual unorthodox selves, and two sets from Islet that were entirely different in setlist while both capturing their hyperactively charismatic/enigmatic drones-you-can-dance-to idiosyncracies. One hopes fans of the band their second set was supporting Spiritualized were receptive.
Meanwhile, from just across the way in Manchester and playing to a sardine-like room in "indie bar" (and when they say indie bar, they mean they literally exhibit a signed setlist from The Sherlocks) The Parish... once more, how the hell did The Red Stains bypass that self same radar we mentioned up there? They've been around for a few years but in the last eighteen months or so with a settled line-up and some singles they've carved a path through the thicket with provocative dayglo disco-punk, uncompromising anti-consumerism/mental health/queerness-led lyrical torching, onstage energy and banter to spare from charisma to spare singer Natalie Emslie and a guitar played through pedals that make it sound like an analogue synth. Manchester Psych Fest at the end of August appears to be their only currently announced date. They call themselves "cyborg-housewife-glitch-kitsch-supermarketcore". That'll never fit on the HMV divider. But it should.
Most of which for whatever reason have tended to be Canadian. This year Fold Paper, whose recent single we covered a few posts ago, brought their knotty, obtuse take on post-punk over from Winnipeg for a couple of underattended and not greatly mixed sets - they're in London tonight and sticking around for The Great Escape and Get Together - while last year's discovery Laurence-Anne returned in her other guise as guitarist in art-pop outfit La Sécurité, full of electric shock new wave post-B-52s jumpiness (and also doing a Great Escape show) Our real Canuck catch for the year however was Boyhood, the project name of Ontarian Caylie Runciman who's been recording under the guise since 2011. A late addition to the Llwyn Isaf big top main stage after Ben from Seazoo broke his ankle in the week, a woefully small audience got into the Soccer Mommy-recalling emotionaly exposing bedroom guitar pop given a left of centre realignment, the day's second set in the smaller room at The Rockin' Chair emphasising the electronic loop and noise undertows.
Meanwhile the rest of the world also delivered W!ZARD, Bordeaux's more post-hardcore leaning answer to Gilla Band's noise and confusion delivering a packed, ultra-loud set (and the first broken bass string we've seen in a while), Romanian duo Musspell's drifting, spellbound electronic soundscape pop reminiscent of Golden Fable, and some appropriately smeary, serrated sets from Brooklyn shoegazers Punchlove, right down to the Fender Jazzmaster. Something else exciting came all the way from Seoul, in the more than just effervescent Sailor Honeymoon. How the hell did their debut EP, released two weeks ago, bypass our usual 'scrappy shouty melodic but with twists female garage-punk' radar until now? Having things to say pertaining to the pristine image of Korean women they clearly have things to say and fun, innovative ways to say and fire through them in a style within the Raincoats' ballpark - the cover of their free fanzine showed one of them sporting a T-shirt reading 'KOREAN GIRLS INVENTED PUNK ROCK NOT ENGLAND'. Their last song was called Fxxk Urself, is based around a chant of "go fuck yourself/I'm gonna fuck you up" and absolutely collapses in chaos at the end. Because why wouldn't it be? Oh, and they're also in London tonight (Tuesday)! It's only a mile between Sailor Honeymoon at the Sebright Arms and Fold Paper at Strongroom Bar, just run between them.
What about the Brits? Well, we missed a few due to clashes but obviously some of our old Welsh longtime favourites were well represented, with Campfire Social owning the biggest stage and (apparently, we got stuck in the queue outside) being even better in Rockin' Chair two days later previewing an album due in the summer, CHROMA likewise on the former, Mowbird's first gig in years, HMS Morris their usual unorthodox selves, and two sets from Islet that were entirely different in setlist while both capturing their hyperactively charismatic/enigmatic drones-you-can-dance-to idiosyncracies. One hopes fans of the band their second set was supporting Spiritualized were receptive.
Meanwhile, from just across the way in Manchester and playing to a sardine-like room in "indie bar" (and when they say indie bar, they mean they literally exhibit a signed setlist from The Sherlocks) The Parish... once more, how the hell did The Red Stains bypass that self same radar we mentioned up there? They've been around for a few years but in the last eighteen months or so with a settled line-up and some singles they've carved a path through the thicket with provocative dayglo disco-punk, uncompromising anti-consumerism/mental health/queerness-led lyrical torching, onstage energy and banter to spare from charisma to spare singer Natalie Emslie and a guitar played through pedals that make it sound like an analogue synth. Manchester Psych Fest at the end of August appears to be their only currently announced date. They call themselves "cyborg-housewife-glitch-kitsch-supermarketcore". That'll never fit on the HMV divider. But it should.
Monday, May 06, 2024
New sounds: 6/5/24
Gemma Cullingford - Early Hours
This drifting twinkliness that sounds like an even more David Lynchian Broadcast actually came out in February but features on The Komiza Project EP, originally a Record Store Day release of songs written for previous band Kozima that sountracks Home, her 25 minute short film comprising Super-8 footage of her parents.
Knitting Circle - Dance For Peace
The first single by the new project of Milky Wimpshake's Pete Dale, also featuring members of Crumbs, Red Monkey and No Fit State, is two minutes of taut, sharp pointed post-punk about behaviour by certain men at gigs.
Lilith Ai - Riot! Riot! Revolution
Lilith's urgent call to arms signature tune was originally released in 2016 but has been buffed up for Serial Killers Prefer Blondes, out 13th September.
Mouse Teeth - The Original Of Laura
From the Ten Of Swords EP, Nancy Dawkins' uncomfortable ritualistic scab-picking of spoken word/art-rock, a visceral take on of abusers of power.
Neutrals - That's Him On The Daft Stuff Again
Based in Oakland, California but you'd never guess it from Allan McNaughton's voice, 30+ years in America having seemingly done little to affect his Glaswegian accent or indeed the very un-Bay Area use of 'daft' in the title. (To cement the home away from home feel, their forthcoming second album New Town Dream - May 31st on Slumberland Records - is based around life in those utopian developmental ideals and features a track called Steven Proctor, Bus Conductor) There's something of that city's fabled indie scene in their chiming scrappiness of their agit-post-punk with classic power-pop melody.
Orlando Weeks feat. Rhian Teasdale - Dig
He used to front the Maccabees, she still fronts Wet Leg, together they have a conversational argument in harmony amid ripping piano and synth loops and motorik beats.
The WAEVE - City Lights
Whether it's because of Graham Coxon going back to his other job for the best part of a year, James Ford coming in to produce or whatever but his guitar and the synths sound a lot more like Blur's skronkier moments than what he and Rose Elinor Dougall did on last year's debut album, taking on a Scary Monsters takes to the widescreen indie-dancefloor vibe.
This drifting twinkliness that sounds like an even more David Lynchian Broadcast actually came out in February but features on The Komiza Project EP, originally a Record Store Day release of songs written for previous band Kozima that sountracks Home, her 25 minute short film comprising Super-8 footage of her parents.
Knitting Circle - Dance For Peace
The first single by the new project of Milky Wimpshake's Pete Dale, also featuring members of Crumbs, Red Monkey and No Fit State, is two minutes of taut, sharp pointed post-punk about behaviour by certain men at gigs.
Lilith Ai - Riot! Riot! Revolution
Lilith's urgent call to arms signature tune was originally released in 2016 but has been buffed up for Serial Killers Prefer Blondes, out 13th September.
Mouse Teeth - The Original Of Laura
From the Ten Of Swords EP, Nancy Dawkins' uncomfortable ritualistic scab-picking of spoken word/art-rock, a visceral take on of abusers of power.
Neutrals - That's Him On The Daft Stuff Again
Based in Oakland, California but you'd never guess it from Allan McNaughton's voice, 30+ years in America having seemingly done little to affect his Glaswegian accent or indeed the very un-Bay Area use of 'daft' in the title. (To cement the home away from home feel, their forthcoming second album New Town Dream - May 31st on Slumberland Records - is based around life in those utopian developmental ideals and features a track called Steven Proctor, Bus Conductor) There's something of that city's fabled indie scene in their chiming scrappiness of their agit-post-punk with classic power-pop melody.
Orlando Weeks feat. Rhian Teasdale - Dig
He used to front the Maccabees, she still fronts Wet Leg, together they have a conversational argument in harmony amid ripping piano and synth loops and motorik beats.
The WAEVE - City Lights
Whether it's because of Graham Coxon going back to his other job for the best part of a year, James Ford coming in to produce or whatever but his guitar and the synths sound a lot more like Blur's skronkier moments than what he and Rose Elinor Dougall did on last year's debut album, taking on a Scary Monsters takes to the widescreen indie-dancefloor vibe.
Thursday, May 02, 2024
New sounds: 2/5/24
adults - trouble
Streamlined power-pop leading into a fists-aloft chorus and out within 127 seconds, from the upcoming ...in the big league split EP with Spank Hair.
Adwaith - MWY
Both albums to date by Carmarthen's finest have won the Welsh Music Prize. No pressure, then, for the upcoming as yet unannounced third. They meet it head on with a building limber groove, a burbling undertow and a dark circling chant.
Cowtown - Can't Talk Now
Leeds' long-serving angular post-punk trio are about to release their first album in eight years, Fear Of... out right at the end of this month, and they sound almost calm by their previous jerky post-Devo standards. By which we mean this is more Talking Heads range in its below surface level instability - reflected lyrically as well as rhythmically - and insistent riffs.
Fold Paper - Nothing to Report
It's been a while since we've heard a band who are right out on the hyperactive sonic edge of this whole angular thing, and Winnipeg's Fold Paper fill that gap very neatly. Which is odd, as neat is the one thing they shy away from what with wiry (and Wire-y) guitars, No Wave arrythmia and the declamatory vocal style of Chell Osuntade, all seemingly held together with bungee ropes. They're arriving in the UK for a few dates next week, starting with our favourite haunt Focus Wales, from which we always come away excited about a new Canadian discovery...
Hamish Hawk - Big Cat Tattoos
Edinburgh's eruditely idiosyncratic iron fist in velvet glove previews new album A Firmer Hand, due 16th August.
Loveletter - Prophets
Loveletter are from New York, but who isn't? They have a debut EP, Testament, out on 7th June, from which comes a song which after the Be My Baby drum intro fakeout takes quite a bit from Sleater-Kinney, not least Gabriella Zappia sounding quite a lot like Corin Tucker, but there's something else going on from a generation of female post-punks before them, specifically the groove of the Mo-Dettes and the tightrope interplay of the Raincoats.
nathy sg - Something You Said
Him off Martha again with... well, if we're honest the most like Martha one of his solo tracks has sounded. Touring towards the end of the month. Oh, and this is what was under that headgear all this time! (Nothing. It's nothing.)
Streamlined power-pop leading into a fists-aloft chorus and out within 127 seconds, from the upcoming ...in the big league split EP with Spank Hair.
Adwaith - MWY
Both albums to date by Carmarthen's finest have won the Welsh Music Prize. No pressure, then, for the upcoming as yet unannounced third. They meet it head on with a building limber groove, a burbling undertow and a dark circling chant.
Cowtown - Can't Talk Now
Leeds' long-serving angular post-punk trio are about to release their first album in eight years, Fear Of... out right at the end of this month, and they sound almost calm by their previous jerky post-Devo standards. By which we mean this is more Talking Heads range in its below surface level instability - reflected lyrically as well as rhythmically - and insistent riffs.
Fold Paper - Nothing to Report
It's been a while since we've heard a band who are right out on the hyperactive sonic edge of this whole angular thing, and Winnipeg's Fold Paper fill that gap very neatly. Which is odd, as neat is the one thing they shy away from what with wiry (and Wire-y) guitars, No Wave arrythmia and the declamatory vocal style of Chell Osuntade, all seemingly held together with bungee ropes. They're arriving in the UK for a few dates next week, starting with our favourite haunt Focus Wales, from which we always come away excited about a new Canadian discovery...
Hamish Hawk - Big Cat Tattoos
Edinburgh's eruditely idiosyncratic iron fist in velvet glove previews new album A Firmer Hand, due 16th August.
Loveletter - Prophets
Loveletter are from New York, but who isn't? They have a debut EP, Testament, out on 7th June, from which comes a song which after the Be My Baby drum intro fakeout takes quite a bit from Sleater-Kinney, not least Gabriella Zappia sounding quite a lot like Corin Tucker, but there's something else going on from a generation of female post-punks before them, specifically the groove of the Mo-Dettes and the tightrope interplay of the Raincoats.
nathy sg - Something You Said
Him off Martha again with... well, if we're honest the most like Martha one of his solo tracks has sounded. Touring towards the end of the month. Oh, and this is what was under that headgear all this time! (Nothing. It's nothing.)
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