“Warmer Than Gold”, the new album from Ben Cook’s project GUV, is a document of a life in music, a critical and celebratory travelogue, an attempt to transcend the homogeneous and status-obsessed conditions of the contemporary world through the use of big beats, big choruses, and distortion. It’s a record made on the go that makes sense anywhere. And most of all, with its expanded sonic palette and emphasis on breakbeats, it ushers in the newest era of an artist who has never stopped growing.
Cook, who grew up moving between Toronto and England, boasts anglo bonafides that separate him from the growing pack of hardcore kids sporting windbreakers and bowl cuts. Two of the first shows he attended, at the age of 12, were Oasis and Neil Young. After the show, he remembers thinking, “Yeah, I’m gonna do music forever.” Not long after he discovered hardcore and punk, and it was off to the races, first with his beloved hardcore band, No Warning (who he continues to play with to this day), then as a member of punk experimentalists, Fucked Up, from 2007 to 2021–and all the while building a deep and impressive catalogue of solo work first as Young Governor, then Young Guv, and now simply, GUV (“I’m not so young anymore, three letter band names are cool, and I’m tired of being mistaken for a rapper,” Cook notes).
“Warmer Than Gold” is the widescreen culmination of all of these threads. The album’s music retains the hooky spirit of Cook’s previous records, like the acclaimed double albums “GUVI” and“II” and “GUV III”and “IV,” but it adds a decidedly rhythmic element informed by classic Madchester and Britpop. It smears and soars, it feels like bolting down the M1 Motorway at midnight, propelled by an urgency unseen in Cook’s other work.
What is retained from those earlier power pop releases, though, is the artist’s sharp ear for hooks; now combined with a recharged production sensibility inspired by everyone from the Beastie Boys to The Field Mice to Primal Scream, Cook is able to musically support the core lyrical themes that run throughout the project: the global flattening of culture, the passage of time in the material world, and the artist’s role within all of it.
Brighton & Edinburgh Psych Fest announced their first wave of acts at the end of January which included festival headliners Stereolab, psych synth-pop favourite Gwenno, Virginia rocker Lael Neale, nostalgia-psych outfit The Mystery Lights and many more!
Bruce Springsteen performed a solo acoustic version of his new protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” at Tom Morello’s “Defend Minnesota!” concert at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis,
Springsteen told the crowd that after he wrote and recorded the song, he sent it to Morello, and expressed his reservation that it was “kind of soapbox-y.” He said Morello responded: “Nuance is wonderful. But sometimes you have to kick them in the teeth.”
He dedicated the song to “the people of Minneapolis, the people of Minnesota, and the people of our good country The United States.” After he performed it, the crowd chanted “ICE out now!”
In addition to singing “Streets of Minneapolis,” Springsteen also performed “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with Morello, and joined in on the show’s grand finale, a cover of John Lennon’s “Power to the People.” Videos of those songs are below as well.
The concert also featured Rise Against, Al Di Meola and Ike Reilly. It was billed as “A Concert of Solidarity & Resistance,” and proceeds benefited the families of the late Renee Good and the late Alex Pretti.
“Volume V” follows on five years after their fourth album “For Your Love“, a record lovingly nurtured but then swallowed up by the Covid pandemic.
The title signifies the latest chapter in the ongoing story of Other Lives, this their fifth record of magnificent musical and emotional depth. From the first notes of the opening track and lead single ‘Mystic,’ it’s clear that the cinematic breadth of their arrangements and melodies had risen several dynamic notches, with a fuller orchestrated reach and more towering drama across the album’s eight songs and two instrumentals – evidence of the band’s hunger to keep progressing while retaining the essence of what makes Other Lives so unique and irresistible.
The majority of “Volume V” was recorded in The Sheerar, a former church that is now the Stillwater History Museum. The Sheerar’s acoustics partly accounts for the album’s more cathedral-esque take on Other Lives’ signature sound, which has the roots in a form of Americana but expanded via classical and post-classical forms, and the influence of iconic composers such as Ennio Morricone and Henry Mancini.
Given the five-year gaps between the last three Other Lives albums, the band plan to follow up “Volume V” more swiftly with a sixth and seventh chapter; a promise of more magic and magnificence to come. “I see Volume V as the beginning of Other Lives’ second act,” Jesse concludes. “We’re all getting older, and we have some regrets about not putting out more music – so this might be our Neil Young phase! Releasing more music over a shorter space of time.”
April 1975 was an excellent time for fans of unhinged blues-jazz-rock freakouts as Frank Zappaand the Mothers joined forces with Captain Beefheart for a two-month tour of the US. The tour was commemorated by “Bongo Fury”, mostly taken from two shows at the magnificently named ArmadilloWorld Headquarters in Austin, Texas, on 20th and 21st May 1975 and released in October of that year.
Though Zappa and Beefheart had shared the stage on occasion and worked together in the studio (Zappa had produced the Captain’s weirdo album triumph “Trout Mask Replica“, while Beefheart provided snarling and wild-eyed vocals to ‘Willie The Pimp’ on Zappas “Hot Rat’s”), the tour marked the first time the old high school chums had toured together. They were backed by a group of dyed-in-the-wool Mothers – Terry Bozzio (drums), Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor sax, vocals), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), , Bruce Fowler (trombone) and Tom Fowler (bass) – along with newcomer Denny Walley (slide guitar, vocals), a friend of Zappa’s younger brother Bobby.
Though the original “Bongo Fury” focused on new material, mostly sung by Beefheart, the tour featured plenty of material from the Mothers’ 1974 repertoire – including ‘Florentine Pogen’,‘Stinkfoot’ and ‘I’m Not Satisfied’ – as well as a few golden oldies, such as ‘Sleeping In A Jar’ and ‘A Pound For A Brown (On The Bus)’, both of which hadn’t been played since 1971. There were also a couple of new songs played on the tour which, till this point, have remained unreleased – ‘The Velvet Sunrise’ and ‘Portuguese Lunar Landing’. Meanwhile, the regular encore was a blast through ‘Willie The Pimp’.
This new anniversary set marks the first time that 1975 recordings of all of these and more have been officially released. The only other song released from the Armadillo shows to date is an early take on “Zoot Allures’ ‘The Torture Never Stops’, released on 1991’s 2CD live compilation “You Can’t Do ThatOn Stage Anymore, Vol 4″.
The new 50th anniversary super deluxe edition expands the original album with five CDs of material (roughly 80% unreleased) including studio outtakes and live tracks plus the two Armadillo concerts complete and remixed from the original 16-track masters. The blu-ray features new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 mixes, and high-resolution stereo audio with “bonus surround experiences” from Zappa’s vault.
The set also includes a book including unseen photos and sleevenotes from Walley and the Zappa estate’s ‘Vaultmeister’, Joe Travers.
Vinyl collectors have the choice of a 2LP set – featuring an all-analogue mastering of the original album by Bernie Grundman plus a bonus disc featuring highlights from the super deluxe set – or a single LP featuring the new Grundman master, available on black or ‘orange & black galaxy vinyl’. All vinyl formats include a lithograph print and booklet.
Super Deluxe 6-disc box (5CD + Blu-ray Audio) featuring 57 tracks, with over 80% previously unreleased material — including two full, unheard 1975 Austin concerts that formed the backbone of the original album.
Blu-ray includes brand-new Dolby Atmos & 5.1 surround mixes, plus rare Vault bonus tracks. A previously unreleased live version of “Debra Kadabra” (Austin, 1975) is streaming now.
This release captures the explosive chemistry between two lifelong friends at their creative peak — raw, funny, unpredictable, and utterly unique.
This 50th anniversary reissue of “Bongo Fury” is released on 20th March 2026, via UMR.
One of the most consistent bands in pop-punk, Joyce Manor have found ways to refine their sound while going out on a limb on at least a couple of songs on every album, and their latest is no exception. “Regular depression,” as Barry Johnson once put it in describing their self-titled album, has hardly lost its regularity and fans can all rally around it no matter the musical style it’s presented. But two decades is enough hindsight to say what it really used to be like, and no matter how dark, the comforting thing about “I Used to Go to This Bar” is the sense that Joyce Manor could be doing the same in as many years from now.
The trio and their rotating cast of drummers have found ways to refine their sound while going out on a limb on at least a couple of songs on every album, and their latest is no exception.
1. I Know Where Mark Chen Lives
Nodding to Summer Vacation/Winter Break singer-songwriter Mark Chen as well as Television Personalities’ ‘I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives’, the song feels instantly like a blast from the past, at once ambivalent and anthemic. Throwing it back to a time when weed was not fully legal, the scene Barry Johnson paints is frightful yet humorous in its gnarliness, and the song all the punchier for it.
2. Falling Into It
Apparently inspired by his love for Vampire Weekend’s latest album,“Only God Was Above Us” – and as any fan would be quick to presume, Weezer’s ‘Falling for You’ – Johnson naturally begins by singing ‘Falling Into It’ with the wistfulness of someone conditioned to predict the fallout. But as an odd, squeaky synth is swallowed up by a mountain of distortion, the song’s explosive final chorus doubles as a defiant outro.
3. All My Friends Are So Depressed
“Got it wrong, can’t move on/ Been awake for far too long/ 3pm, can’t get dressed,” Johnson sings on the catchiest song on the album, the kind you’ll find yourself singing over and over before finally getting up and covering it for the regulars at your local open mic. Joyce Manor are no strangers to experimentation, and the jangliness of ‘All My Friends Are So Depressed’ is a fresh look that wears its Smiths (Johnson would actually say Morrissey) influence on its sleeve. It captures the brand of self-deprecation that will have you pointing fingers at everyone else while being the obvious culprit.
4. Well, Whatever It Was
Dating back to Johnson’s earliest attempts at songwriting, ‘Well, Whatever It Was’ is less deflective: you’re clearly the one “slowly going insane.” Slowly is the key word here, as the song cools down the album’s pace, though not without the playful riffing that backs up Johnson ‘s claim that it would “go insanely hard in a Shrek film.” Frustration may be mounting, but the worst day so far is always ahead of you.
5. I Used to Go to This Bar
In terms of shooting for nostalgia, ‘I Used to Go to This Bar’ is a direct hit. But the album’s pensive undercurrent pervades; Johnson insists there was nothing special about the place, but his off-handedness underscores the grim realities of the past, the darkness he could lightly scoff at previously but less so now. The title track is necessarily hooky but cuts the singer’s breath short, the sting of old memories preventing it from becoming a full-force anthem.
6. After All You Put Me Through
The band’s versatility expands to bouncy new wave on ‘After All You Put Me Through’, which more importantly furthers the album’s emotional progression: “I’m through/ Feeling blue/ And it’s all because of you,” Johnson sings, later reduntantly (but rather funnily) adding “It’s tough/ Feeling rough” over wafting keys. The juxtaposition between the arrangement and his singing initially seems like the point, until it comes to a satisfying resolution.
7. The Oppossum
Another jangly song, this time steered in more of a punk direction, mirroring the contrast between Johnson’s mature vocals and the nostalgically juvenile subject matter of his lyrics. It’s a strong outlier on the record and a good reminder to Google “oppossum.” There, I’ve just made your day better.
8. Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?
It seems like Joyce Manor have started a tradition of beginning at least two album track titles with the word “Well.” Or maybe it should grow exponentially? Well, whatever it is, the delightfully ironic thing about ‘Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?’ is that it I don’t think they’ve ever added a harmonica to a song before, which makes it step in like sunshine here.
9. Grey Gray
We’ve certainly heard Johnson in this mode before, but his shaky, thunderous performance almost throws you off guard as it closes “I Used to Go To This Bar”. The rhythm section’s got muscle, the main riff is somewhere between glorious and mournful. “Let’s not confuse the issue,” the chorus begins, catching the song in its own bemusement and downright horror. The album mostly comes from the vantage point of being privileged enough to say terrible things used to happen, but ending with ‘Grey Guitar’ reminds us it’s not until the present becomes the past that the dark parts even reveal themselves. That stuff lingers, but Joyce Manor’s latest is proof that reminiscing can mean the opposite of going back.
Lande Hekt has quietly become one of the UK’s best underground songwriters. On her 2021 debut full-length “Going To Hell” and 2022’s“House Without A View“, she explored her queer identity, sobriety, and childhood trauma through the lens of heartfelt, conversational indie-pop, which led to spots opening for the likes of Alvvays, Throwing Muses and The Beths.
Her new album “Lucky Now”, written and recorded with producer Matthew Simms (Wire, It Hugs Back), reflects the most mature and confident version of Hekt yet. “I’m not as concerned about how I’m presenting myself,” Hekt says. “I’ve tried to think less about how things are coming across, and just write songs that make me feel connected to myself and what I value.”
Hekt’s musical touchstones — The Wedding Present, The Sundays, The Replacements — remain the same, but at the same time she’s delved deeper into other influences. “Lucky Now” is indebted to 1980s twee-pop and jangle-pop like The Pastels, Tallulah Gosh and The Bats, plus more modern iterations of the sound such as Autocamper and Jeanines, in its ecstatic, soaring melodies and gorgeous, tactile guitars.
The sound is fitting for Hekt’s new lyrical outlook, where, though despair and anxiety rear their heads, she digs deep to find the gratitude. “I wanted to try and push for something slightly more positive, which I’m trying to do more of generally — just to not fall apart.”
No stranger to protest songs or outrage over wrongs committed by governments and corporations, Billy Bragg’s music has been in the mouths of folks willing to fight for a better world for decades. On Monday night, Bragg revealed he has written a new song for the people of Minneapolis. From the man himself:
The murder of Alex Pretti was horrifically shocking, all the more so as we are still reeling from the images of the murder of Renee Good. That these crimes can be committed in broad daylight, on camera and yet no one is held accountable only adds to the injustice.
I wrote this song yesterday as a tribute to the bravery of the people of Minneapolis who, knowing that these trigger happy ICE thugs operate with seeming impunity in their midst, are still willing to put themselves in harms way to defend their community. Their resistance is an inspiration to us all.
The Fat Angel Sings 