English neo-psychedelic power pop quartet It's Karma It's Cool's new single Goliath captures the demise of a powerful person holding you back, either physically or mentally.
All high powers will come down eventually and nothing lasts forever, so don't let them get upper hand when they no right do so. It is a track their forthcoming new album One Million Suburban Sunsets.
If you're always playing the correct notes, there's something wrong - you're not searching; you're not reaching for anything.
Joe Satriani
Dutch electropop band North Star have unveiled the lead single for their third album Death. Just My Luck was obviously inspired by Depeche Mode - bass player René Postma is a huge fan, but singer Anne-Linn Beekhof made sure that she made her mark with a defiant vocal delivery.
On the surface it may seem that Canadian ska sextet The Planet Smashers have a simple cure for pretty much anything. Celebrate the end of a relationship? Dance. Need cheering up after being hammered by the cops? Dance. Being duped once again and being let to believe that acting as a drug mule might make those financial troubles disappear? Dance.
Make no mistake, these veterans have been keeping the sound of the legendary 2 Tone label alive since 1994, so politics and asking serious questions have always been part of equation. Wrapping their concerns in upbeat and highly energetic music has kept them sane. This is catchy criticism that never goes out of style.
Four voices collaborating to sing about the lure of attraction and lust in a stylish way. London based quartet WOOM used elements of folk and dream pop to create five top shelf pastoral pop for their To Slow You EP. Alice Barlow, Lara Laeverenz, Ella Rimmer, and Izzy Risk bonded over a love for harmony, at first by doing covers, like pretty much every band does - some of them ended up on their debut release Into the Rest in 2021, before going on stage with their own material.
They did not rush things and kept chipping away until they ended with a barebones approach to let their vocals do the talking, with sparse musical accompaniment. The human voice is the oldest musical instrument after all and by layering their vocals, and having a bit of beautiful call and response going, they turned To Slow You into a real gem, that deserves to be studied carefully.
Champ appear to be stuck in 80s post-punk on their new single Future. It is a rather nice song with anthem potential. They might get in trouble for coming quite close to The Police's Message in a Bottle, but Sting is already loaded, so he probably won't bother having his attorney write a nasty letter. The video was made by Andy Harrison.
Welsh musician Richard Thomas selected two tracks for a single from the Villain Of The Peace album by his one-man Mint Biscuit project. The folk-tinged Mrs Magnolia is song for his mother, inspired by a tree in her garden that was used as a goalpost back in the day - which was frowned upon, but the tree is totally fine today. The acoustic psychedelic Roses For Rachel, with some fresh new lyrics, is a gentle love song for his wife. He still can't believe that she is treating him so kindly as she does.
Belfast based electro-punk act Chalk stick to their formula on their new single Pain: build a wall of sound and add some dark lyrics, and make sure that people can dance to it. O, and pick a one word song title of course. The video was directed by Benedict Goddard & Colin Peppard.
Dutch folk noir band The Bullfight will be on tour in The Netherlands to promote their new album 81 Bedford St., the soundtrack for a film about a drunk and a femme fatale getting into loads of trouble, starring Jack Bennett and Anne Coleman. It will be available as a limited edition LP on 180 grams coloured vinyl, CD and digital. Release date: November 21.
Seattle indie pop quartet Tullycraft sound nobody else, or more accurately like a whole bunch of bands together. On their new album Shoot the Point they wear some of their heroes in plain sight, while others will challenge the listener to a scavenger hunt to round up all the Easter eggs. They can't resist a good musical pun or turn the meaning of a song upside down. Lou Reed's magnum opus Street Hassle was a trifecta about sex, scoring dope and death, but is now a breakup song while the album plays on repeat. The Modern Lovers are blearing to drown out a couple bickering, with one of them slipping in a quote from "Chagall from the nightstand".
Love and falling out of love run through pretty much all of the tracks, with plenty of wit, sarcasm and dark humour. Paris is the city of light where romance is a given? Nope, check out Love on the Left Bank for a reality check. Clear Nail Polish will relate to anyone who has been stuck in a rut with a significant other who prefers getting pissed off in stead of doing something to make life bearable and being kind for a chance. And then there it the clear invitation to dance as if no one is watching (Jeanie’s Up Again and Blaring Faith by the Cure). Tullycraft are not a very prolific bunch - their previous album The Railway Prince Hotel was released 6 years ago - but their handle on creating twee pop songs with a bite is still in fine fettle.
Chicago based singer-songwriter Lillian King lost her father last year, but his memory is all over her Tiber Creek single, as she sings about the rise of the water, the colour of the grass and the wind howling around her house. Everything that happens around her brings back memories, fondness and grief playing catch. It is a soft-spoken slice of folk rock. Ted Collins helped her out, providing a solid backbone with his upright bass.
Watch American singer-songwriter Ty Segall play five songs with his band for a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. They were loud.
Setlist:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds will be on tour in Australia & New Zealand in 2026, playing outdoor arenas. It has been a while. They last toured there in 2017. Tickets go on sale Friday 29 August at 10am local time.
NYC based musician John Dunbar is a huge fan of The Juliet Letters, an album by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, so he donned the alias Elvis Eno for a bunch of songs about women that were inspired by this song cycle, with The Fragment Quartet supplying the strings.
I'll See Myself Out is a series of short stories set to music - A Lady Of An Uncertain Age, An Assertive Girl - who crossed his path. Some of these meetings were rather nice, others not so much. I Found Out Who She Voted For gets off at a good start - she likes Roger Glover and The Saint with Roger Moore - but it all falls apart when politics become part of the equation. More bad news when things become quite awkward in Silence Is The Truest Expression Of Feelings and The Cards To The Chest Man, the latter written from the woman's perspective.
Irish psyshedelic folk band Dr. Strangely Strange will embark on a "little sit down" to promote their comeback album Anti-Inflammatory: "The big question after such a long time is: do they still have it? Yes, they do, with musical chops still in fine order - and being OK that the vocals will be more of a challenge, this new collection shows their unique take of progressive psychedelic has aged gracefully. Ivan Pawle, Joe Thomae, Tim Boothe and Tim Goulding are not ready to call it quits yet and with this new album as proof that they can up with fresh sounding songs that honour the traditions of the musical heritage they start tapping into more than 50 years ago."
Chicago based power pop band The Second Summer sing about trying to make a relationship work in their new single, even though the odds pretty are pretty bad. Maybe lying that everything is fine might work. Try is infinitely sad, never mind the rather cheerful jangling guitars. The band are currently working on a new album, which should see the light of day in the Winter of 2026.
There are only so many letters in the alphabet. When I talk to young musicians or authors and they ask for advice, I say, 'You gotta learn all the letters of your own personal alphabet. With music, you need to know all the different kinds of music and everything in and around your given instrument.
David Lee Roth
A long lost live show by The Shirts will be released on September 26. Recorded in 1981 at Manhattan's Hi-Five Studios the band barreled through fourteen songs, all of them brand new. They would disband soon thereafter, naming their label's failure to promote their Inner Sleeve record as one of the main reasons. Live feat. Annie Golden shows what a fourth album might have sounded like. Lead single Little Bit Of Action is brimming with bravado and energy.
Part of the CBGB's scene their blend of New Wave and power pop never made it big stateside, but the Dutch loved them. Lead singer Annie Golden took up acting and made a suprise appearance during Phish's Gamehendge show at Madison Square Garden on December 31, 2023. Guitarist Arthur Lamonica keeps the flame of garage rock alive with his Rome 56 band. The Shirts have been playing intermittently since the original lineup called it quits. They reconvened last year and recorded a rather good single, Move On Groove On b/w Deux Royale.
Being able to identify a few guitarist after hearing only a few notes is the sign that special something special is going. Brooklyn based Kaki King's signature tone is in full force on her new Stop Sometime EP, once again exploring the outskirts of jazz and neo-classical music. Small runs, unusual chords, single notes, it is all there and then some.
She is a player who defies pigeonholing and fellow musicians will try to find out what she is doing and fail to copy it, even if they are watching her perform up close. The magic is in her hands.
Mancunian indie quartet Westside Cowboy made a video for Drunk Surfer, a track from their debut EP This Better Be Something Great: "Anguish and bravado are playing catch, with no clear winner, just like in real life".
Live dates:* w/ Blondshell)
# w/ Black Country, New Road
HCTF review of This Better Be Something Great
Singer-songwriter J.M. Hart reached out to Mike Gorman to play mandoling and add some backing vocals on Central Time, a track from his forthcoming new album Turned Around. It is a country song about displacement and trying to find his bearings, holding on the numbers that the clock is showing back home, while he was Nashville during a snowstorm. Nice weaving of the two string instruments, with some old school call and response thrown in for good measure.
London art-rockers Leggs don't shun big gestures on their Gloss single. Emotions run high, with some of parts of the music soaring, coming close to hard rock and other parts close to a whisper, they succeeded to capture anxiety in a bottle. It is one of those tracks that you wish that is was longer. Their debut album Unreal will be released on September 12th.
Experimental avant-funk metal trio Primus will perform at Fox Theater in Oakland, CA, on December 30 and 31. Puddles Pity Party is booked as the support act for the NYE show.
Watch English folk punk band The Mekons play four songs for a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Two songs are from the new album Horror: the protest song War Economy and Sanctuary, with violinist Susie Honeyman stepping up to the mike for a rare lead vocal.
Setlist:
Chicago based musician Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee goes all out with I Walked Away From The Firing Squad, his new single about a relationship from Hell. He wrapped his hurt in a blanket of orchestrated piano pop, a torch song that burns brightly as he stacks metaphor upon metaphor: "I dreamt in books of drifting flesh // In marriage, I found there was some peace in bed // But all those dog years talking, your bullshit hawking // Really did a number on my head".
Seattle indie pop quartet Tullycraft made a very welcome with their Jeanie's Up Again and Blaring Faith by the Cure single, the first taste from their new album Shoot The Point. As if further proof was needed that they are doing things differently, the band unveiled two more tracks at once: the rambling garage rocker Tarrytown and the B-52's meet the Bangles skewed ode to Paris Love On the Left Bank. Both songs barely break the two minute barrier, because truly great pop songs get the job done fast.
Chicago based musician AJ Rosales sings about things falling apart on his new album Phasedrift. He played all the instruments, relying on his acoustic guitar to lead the way for the bass, piano, celeste, some hand percussion, and timpani. The bulk of the songs are quite personal - the intense An Unravelling, trying to let go by embracing all the curve balls that life might have in stock for him in Happenstance, but he always has a sharp eye for the rumblings in the outside world. Leitmotif is thinly veiled j'accuse, aimed at the political lunatics that are running amok.
His command of his six-string instrument will give transcribers a hard time. He is blessed with fluid dexterity and a knack for coming up with catchy and adventurous rhythms (Dinosaur). Rosales can pull off less is more choice notes (Dead Man's Sea) and it all comes together in the album's final track Anterograde, a heartfelt song for his mother Josephine whose memory stopped working properly, but supported him to finish the songs as he tried to deal with her imminent passing.
Neo art-glam rockers Not Richard & Her Majesty made a video for Everything Explodes, a track from their debut EP Not Hot: "The music is deceptively upbeat, which means that casual listeners will miss the pet peeves and emotional turmoil that are the main subjects for the lyrics. Enjoy as is fine, but there quite a few layers to explore, some of them hidden behind bravado and a dry sense of humour." The background footage was filmed at the lead singer's parents' wedding.
» Not Richard & Her Majesty on Instagram
HCTF review of Not Hot
Multi-instrumentalists Matt Tecu Fernando Perdomo have switched places on the credits of their new album Getting Warmer, as if to indicate they are equal partners once more on the follow-up for their debut release Art. Both them are in demand musicians in LA, who can play pretty much anything, but having an outlet for their own music every now and then can be liberating.
The ten tracks are smooth and sometimes blatantly sexy, taking cues for late night funk and sophisticated jazz. It is not muzak, although it comes close it, but that is by design. The music undulates like silk sheets wrapped around a couple going at it, with some rougher patches to indicate that things are getting really hot and steamy.
English singer-songwriter Chris Spurgeon's new album Five Symbols At Your Door by his one-man project Zebra Crossing Sounds deals with hurt, loss and anger. Growing up in the Nineties gave him a taste for towering post-punk meets prog-metal (Lies), introspective, soft-spoken college rock (Streetlight) and a craving for genres that popular before to give a voice to the nagging feeling that he missed out on some great music (The Blitz Kids).
Whatever style he tries his hand on, it is always his voice that is front and center. He can reach the higher notes quite easily, giving him the opportunity to go through hills and valleys, the ups and downs that are part of his emotional make-up. Quiet desperation at its finest.
I don't view audiences as amoeba in a petri dish, that you can just sort of nudge around and play with. It's more like - it's a combination of what the audience wants and what you can give them. You've really got to bring them with you. It's really great when you do a song that everybody knows but they don't recognise it because the arrangement is so different and then it dawns on everybody and it becomes something else entirely.
John Cale
Watch John Watts and Katie Freudenschuss perform No Bohemia at the Ebertbad in Oberhausen, Germany on March 26, 2025.
English post-rock act Peninsula have come with an alternative for an obscure French movie, Le Rituel. With Floydian ambient textures (with nods to On the Run and Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1) and Porcupine Tree in their The Sky Moves Sideways phase, the trio take their time to create a long-form piece that will appeal to prog fans of all ages.
Guitar and keyboards are taking turns as the lead instrument for supplying washes of intricate melodies riding on top of carefully constructed groundwork of bass and drums. Peninsula have secured their place as among the most interesting underground acts. Le Rituel keeps the ball rolling for close to 17 minutes, without making a single misstep along the way.
Erin West, who goes by the stage name shortstraw., hit the ground running with her single dot cotton, so could she do it again with her new one bad turn? Yes and no. She created a great jungle type beat for her tale about things going South in a spectular way, but a little more musical diversity would have worked wonders to keep the listener engaged.
Bostonian indie band Tiberius tackle the perennial subject of a breakup on their new single Felt. Songwriter Brendan Wright went headfirst into a flurry of nocturnal activities to deal with the pain - not all them were a good idea, although it seemed so at the time. Emotions run high as they scream to the heavens in this alternative rock song.
Brooklyn based psych folkies Golden Alphabet try their hand at swaggering rock song. Breathe A Lot Of Life is brimming with confidence, with husky vocals by Tommy Cormier, come hither percussion courtesy of guest drummer Elliott Abaza and subtle backing vocals by Aria Hammer. Quite a change in regard to their more introverted and/or political awareness, but it works like a charm.
Watch the new video by London based indie rock quartet The Open Flames for The Right Pill, a track from their Same Time Next Year album: "a bunch of songs that are part kitchen sink drama and hard-boiled film noir". And yes, that's Dirk Benedict in the clip, which uses footage from Battlestar Galactica. His claim to fame would follow shortly when he played Templeton "Face" Peck in The A-Team.
HCTF review of Same Time Next Year
Austrian chamber pop band Richard Kapp & the Gowns bring back the smooth sound of the 70s on their new album Ship. A bit of jazz, a bit of funk, with band leader Richard Knapp's piano as the core. It is all done in very good taste and it could have been become rather faceless, save for the lyrics which can be quite ironic or scathing, with the twist in Magic Cake as the prime example.
The band lists Elton John and Billy Joel as major influences. Rufus Wainwright and Jackson Browne come to mind as well. Ship is not an album that sails unchartered waters, but it does offer a nice trip along the coast, with the crew pointing out familiar landmarks. The few freak waves are good for a giggle, knowing that there is no real danger.
When Drew Danburry shared his hurt about his divorce on the Icarus Phoenix album I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said last year, it was a pretty intense journey. Those ten songs, including the Mother Lights cover In The Blood, were only the tip of the iceberg. In a flurry of creativity the band recorded 40 (!) songs in three days, with producer Jed Jones as a true ally to keep the the momentum going. The subsequent single releases culled from those sessions were proof that maybe that way too many darlings were killed when assembling the original, so Danburry did a 180° and decided to release 37 songs in all for an expanded deluxe edition, using the order in which they were recorded.
Heartbreak is a source for mixed emotions: hurt, anger, grief, and even relief. The latter comes to the fore in the upbeat Solitude. Drewbury keeps his lyrics pretty straightforward mostly, honouring the folk adage that simple words can tell a great story, but he is not afraid to go the opposite route by comparing the break-up as a conflict between Tachykinin vs. Habenula, which will have most listeners reaching for a medical handbook. Self-deprecating humour is also part of the equation, with Poor Sad Indie Everything, Not Misunderstanding Litotes, and the stop-start approach for Live. Give. Lose. Grow., with the music taking short pauses as well, a highlight from the original album.
Dutch electropop band North Star will release their third album Death on September 12. Bass player René Postma and singer Anne-Linn Beekhof have welcomed guitarist Mark Schimmel as a new band member last year and he has written two tracks for the new album. They will play a special release show @ Hedon in their hometown Zwolle. Peter ten Wolde will join them on drums.
HCTF review of North Star II
Scottish sisters Eva and Grace Tedeschi are keeping a brave face on their new single I'm Not Sad, a track from their self-titled album by their duo The Cords. They get the job in less than two minutes, basically a 101 for how to write a jangling pop song with plenty of earworm potential.
On November 2 John Cale will present Steam on Glass @ Lincoln Center in New York:
Cale presents Steam on Glass – evolving sound clouds, exploring noise, improv, and experimentation while tracing his New York City lineage. He showcases his vast repertoire of songs, from the academic experimentation that led to the formation of The Velvet Underground to his multi-genre stepping stones and current works.
Tickets go on sale on September 10.
British poet Brian Bilston and indie band The Catenary Wires will be on tour to promote their collaborative album Sounds Made By Humans, so why not create a special song listing all the cities they will visit. No extra credits for getting the reference for No Sleep Till Herne Bay.
Watch guitarist Randy McStine discuss his set-up with Julien Bitoun for Steven Wilson's The Overview tour. Most of it stock, which might come as a surprise, and he is always looking for opportunities to simplify his pedalboard.
Dutch artist, composer and producer Robin Kester is hesitant to be fully optimistic on her new single Perspective, but her blend of a chamber pop and danceable soft-spoken electronics is top notch. As the song progresses she speeds up a bit, eager to reach the greener pastures a bit sooner: "The moment I’ve been longing for all day // I’m on the floor, alone, unseen // And everything seems magnified from here // Except for me, I’m smaller than I used to be // But it’s just a matter of perspective"
Mancunian indie quartet Westside Cowboy are brimming with energy on their debut EP This Better Be Something Great. They are loud, but are also capable to turn it down a notch within the space of a track (Drunk Surfer). The superb slow song Shells is a serious contender for this year's best song about feeling awkward. They threw in a line from the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues into Alright Alright Alright - the bum notes are intentional (or they just did not care fixing them).
I've Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (until I met you) sums up their mixed emotions quite nicely: pretending not to care, but also clamouring for a meaningful connection. Anguish and bravado are playing catch, with no clear winner, just like in real life.
The Polish Primuz Chamber Orchestra worked their magic on Steven Wilson's Staircase. Wojciech Lemański wrote the string arrangement. Conductor Łukasz Błaszczyk led the ensemble at a recording session in September 2024. They used the original tracks from Steven Wilson's The Harmony Codex album. Previously the orchestra teamed up with jazz-fusion rock trio The Aristocrats, for an album in 2022.
Avant-garde musician Colin Robinson could no longer contain his inner garage rocker. 40 Thieves, the opening track on L'agent leve son baton blanc the new album by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough, is a retelling of the classic Arabic folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with mentions of a teckel, quite a bit of genuflecting, and, wait for it, short bursts of Louie Louie. Those short blasts to yank people out of their comfort zone keep reappearing throughout the album. Sleep Apnœa settles into a groove, with Robinson's vocals sounding like he recorded him one of those masks that are used to control breathing, only to be rudely awakened by a howling saxophone.
His knack for spinning off-kilter tales has been extensively documented, so for him getting another artist to come up with a story is pretty rare. Steve Lacey Marsden's voice for The playground by the abandoned mill is almost buried in a mishmash of field recordings and guitar licks that will have music instructors crying for the mother.
Dutch folk noir band The Bullfight have unveiled Nuhr...Schermz!, a track from their new album 81 Bedford St., the soundtrack for a film about a drunk and a femme fatale getting into loads of trouble, starring Jack Bennett and Anne Coleman. It is pretty dark and jarring, almost a clash between percussion, vocals, strings and saxophone,, but as the song's title implies, it is supposed to hurt.
81 Bedford St. will be released on November 21st (vinyl, CD) via Brandy Alexander Recordings & Sonic Rendezvous.
I saw Van Halen support Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi was a very good friend, even by that time. And the pair of us watched Eddie Van Halen do his stuff, and it was just glorious — almost too glorious to take in, to see this guy romping around a guitar like a kitten, just running and taking it to places undreamed of. I love his playing, and I always will.
Brian May
Watch the new Jake Nicoll video for Try To Believe Me, a track from his Saturn Returns album: "He used to rely on his guitar as his main instrument, but he went head first into the world of synthesizers, inspired by underground disco and Pet Shop Boys melodies." The clip was made by Noah Bender.
HCTF review of Saturn Returns
Canadian ska sextet The Planet Smashers are singing about ending a relationship on their new single Things You Do, listing a bunch of pet peeves while packing a bag to leave the house for the last time. The horn section sounds both joyous and relieved, inviting the audience to join in for a celebratory dance now that is all over. It is track from their forthcoming album On the Dancefloor. The video was made by David Hughes.
Robert Jan Stips and Jane Goulding will promote the release of their Love And Affection album with a string of shows in The Netherlands. They kick off wiht an in-store performance at Concerto in Amsterdam on August 31.
Live dates:
Bunnygrunt's debut LP Action Pants has gotten the deluxe treatment for its thirtieth anniversary. The cuddle-core band St Louis, Missouri, has dug out for unreleased tracks - Eggy Greggy, the two-parts of Maude, Tadpole, and Inanimate Objects that were left of in 1995. Inn hindsight that is quite odd, as they fit in with the mood of the endearing ramshackle poppish punk perfectly - and even with those extra tracks, the runtime of the records barely breaks the 35 minutes runtime.
Lyrically they dared to dream like kids do. Who wouldn't like a piece of clothing enabling them to break the constraints of time and space (Transportation Pants) or felt being attracted to a Criminal Boy, a kid who breaks all the rules and gets away with it? Growing up comes with an awful lot of responsibilities. Dropping the needle of this carefully curated reissue will offer some relief, while going sorting through the bills and might drown out the thoughts about stupid co-workers and event invitations you never asked for.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus have made a video for Carry the Faces (for Martha Wills), a track from their Another Nice Mess album. It is a song for all the people that were lost or forgotten.
Wilmington, NC based multi-instrumentalist Blase might have found the cure for aging on his new single Finding Myself in You. As long as he is together with his significant other "the days never grew old", because each day comes with a new way to find himself as part of the equation. Drenched in synths and guitar flourishes he created a dream pop maze for the listener to wander around in.
Nobody sounded like McLuhan, a free-flowing yet extremly tight playing jazz-fusion sextet from Chicago, who recorded their sole album Anomaly over the space of three days in 1972. The bandmembers, who were students at the University of Illinois, named themselves after Canadian philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan. The four long-form tracks, composed by David Wright, are all over the place, ranging from free-jazz, psychedelic prog, tidbits from musical scores, the MGM opening credits, and much, much more.
Describing it as Zappa-esque or full-on eclectic does not capture the full breadth of this record. This album is a cornerstone for early progressive rock by way of the Canterbury scene. The band had been playing live a longtime weekly residency at The Wise-Fools Pub in the lead-up to the recording sessions, so there is method in their madness. They knew what they wanted to achieve within the constraints of a limited time frame in the studio.
English neo-psychedelic power pop quartet It's Karma It's Cool show some compassion for people who revert to using self-medication as means to cope with life on their new single 21st Century Meds. Some of the stuff they pick is not exactly legal, but pointing a finger does not help. After all, most folks are addicted to something, trying to deal with stress, grief or pain. Better have a look at yourself before crying wolf. The high energy rocker is a track their forthcoming new album One Million Suburban Sunsets.
Duo Decad, a transatlantic collaboration between Emmet McCaughey (Dublin) and Mark Casey (Chicago), have released the intense alternative rock song Had It Coming, a track from their forthcoming new album Far Beyond the Red Line. They constructed a wall of sound, with stacks of synths as the backbone for the track. It is about revenge and things get pretty dark - "I am going to watch you burn" - with the vocals alternating between pleading and scaring the shit out of the other party.
Take a bit of Roxy Music, T-Rex and the New York Dolls to get an idea what Brighton & Hove based quintet Not Richard & Her Majesty sound like. Their debut EP Not Hot is a spicy mix of punk, late 60s pop, and glam rock. The music is deceptively upbeat, which means that casual listeners will miss the pet peeves and emotional turmoil that are the main subjects for the lyrics.
Enjoy as is fine, but there quite a few layers to explore, some of them hidden behind bravado and a dry sense of humour. Not Hot is cheaper than therapy and a lot more fun.
German progressive guitarist Yuval Ron has released Rocket Science For Dummies, a fast-paced showcase for his six string skills and love for extensive virtual orchestration, creating a widescreen soundtrack for a blockbuster that has not been filmed yet. Simon Schröder on drums and Bryan Beller on bass (he only needs to team up with Guthrie Govan to have a complete Aristocrats bingo card).
Dutch artist, composer and producer Robin Kester will perform at a couple of record stores in The Netherlands to promote the release of her new album Dark Sky Reserve on September 12. An indie exclusive blue vinyl version will be available.
In-store dates:NYC quartet Native Sun are once again channeling Oasis with the wall-to-wall rocker No that goes all out with an over the top double time in the second half.
Trying to keep a bit of composure in the midst of a storm, with far too many people are clamouring for attention, even if they have nothing to say, can be overwhelming. Playing fucking loud can drown out the inane chatter, and while it is not a solution for the underlying problems, it can make one feel good for a bit.
It is a track from their debut album ,Concrete Language, due for release on September 19th via TODO (vinyl, digital). The video was made by Tim Nagle & Conor Cunningham.
London based indie rock quartet The Open Flames are adamant to proof that literate lyrics can be used in popular music, without losing the excitement of a band firing on all cylinders. Their debut album Same Time Next Year is a collection of short stories, a bunch of songs that are part kitchen sink drama and hard-boiled film noir.
Whether it is the swagger of the Buzzcocks meet the Primitives in The Right Pill, the dark rumble of Lockdown or the sad acoustic solo excursion My Birthday, the band's songwriter DC Eastman always picks the right words to have the listener sit up and take notice.
Nottingham psych-pop sextet Midnight Rodeo try to shut out the horrors that fucked up their personal lifes on their new album Chaos Era, making a case for escapist jangling songs that are actually quite smart musically. By inserting a bit of Krautrock, 90s grunge guitar and even a bit of disco, they have updated the 60s moods and grooves that are their go-to reference points.
Take a seat at the Captain's Table, Growl at detractors and show some support for Daisy, who is not taken seriously in a mysogynistic environment. Chaos Era is an album that invokes the urge to go swirling on the dance floor, being transported to alternate reality, a place where the normal rules don't apply.
We couldn't hear. Back then we didn't have the monitors they have now. We didn't have anything. We had Scotty, Bill, myself, and 40,000 people out there. You really couldn't hear anybody. We'd just have to watch Elvis's rear end, his arms, and his feet to tell exactly where he was in the song. He conducted with his rear end. When we were at the Cotton Bowl, Elvis had this long cord, and he went from the middle of the fifty-yard line, where our stage was, to the fence, which had to be fifty or sixty yards away. We just kept watching him. We were doing the last song, 'Hound Dog', and he was just all over the place. How we knew where he was in the song is beyond me, but when he walked back, he was where he was supposed to be and we were there too. It was sheer luck. But we had to watch him every minute, because we never knew what he was going to do next.
D.J. Fontana
Colin Everall tackled the sprawling Porcupine Tree song Anesthetize on piano. Top shelf arranging skills too.
English twee trio The Happy Somethings' hiatus did not last long. Just a few months after the release of Felt, they are back with another quartet of tunes on the new A Kind Of Longing EP, with optimism superseding the darker mood, proclaiming that in the end love will have the upper hand.
The Lost Paradise is just around the corner. All that is needed is to let go from the narrow mindedness and open up to other people and outlooks of life. If anything, these four songs are capable to cheer one up and get cracking again.
Watch the new Splitsville video for I Hate Going To Hutzlers, a track from their Mobtown album with "ten songs inspired by their hometown, (...) big gestures and gentle interludes, a hybrid of mainstream pop and adventurous indie rock, that made them critics darlings."
Live date:HCTF review of Mobtown
Canadian folk musician and record producer Jake Nicoll started working on a concept album, Saturn Returns, six years ago. It is loosely based on the astrological idea of entering adulthood at the age of 30. Vague as that may be - to put it mildly - it got him thinking about where he wanted to go next, both emotionally and musically. He used to rely on his guitar as his main instrument, but he went head first into the world of synthesizers, inspired by underground disco and Pet Shop Boys melodies.
Melancholy and a sense of impending doom have found their way into his lyrics, but he also dares to dream that things will take a turn for the better - maybe because he became a father recently and it would be nice if the kid has a future.
Welsh duo Martyrs are sitting comfortably on the fence between disco and early house on their Syncline Folds EP. Both genres are not exactly known for meaningful lyrical content, but there is a place for soul searching in the title track and a history lesson, well sort of, in Chicago Folk House. The latter pays tribute to the pioneers in the Windy City by way of a gentle clash between acoustic guitars and beats.
Michael Hall and Jon Howells have taken two genres that dominated the mainstream back in the day and given them the fresh coat of paint. However, the real gem on the EP is Project 1, with angry guitars overpowering the beats, giving rock an unexpected victory over dance music.
