The Fat Angel Sings

The Clean was a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Dunedin in 1978. They have been described as the most influential band to come from the superb indie Flying Nun label, which recorded many artists associated with the “Dunedin sound”, and one of the first bands to be described as “indie rock”.

Led by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band rotated through a number of musicians before settling on their well-known and longest running line-up with Robert Scott. Hamish and David Kilgour started to write and play music together in Dunedin in 1978, influenced by 1960s pop rock and garage records, punk rock, and psychedelic music. Both brothers were part of a small but growing alternative music scene at the time in Dunedin, which followed the growing American and British punk movements closely through imported magazines and vinyl records. Hamish and David Kilgour, The Clean’s constants, had been playing and writing music together since 1978, building up a fat songbook of primitive punk, minimalist pop, infectious folk rock and adventurous psychedelic instrumentals. Their sound was built around David Kilgour’s off-centre, 1960s-influenced guitar, Hamish’s motorik drumming and melodic driving bass, first from Peter Gutteridge then Robert Scott.

Hamish was friends with Chris Knox through this scene, then-frontperson of early influential New Zealand punk band The Enemy.

The Clean’s debut single “Tally Ho! / Platypus”, was the tied-first release on Roger Shepherd’s Flying Nun Records label, alongside The Pin Group’s “Ambivalence”. “Tally Ho!” reached number 19 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, giving the nascent label its first hit. The band had a brace of instantly memorable songs including ‘Anything Could Happen’, ‘Beatnik’ and ‘Getting Older’.

Pitchfork described The Clean‘s  “Tally Ho!” as “a classic of immense proportions, from its Velcro melody, absurdly mixed garage organ and motorik beat, to the crusty, hiss-laden home eight-track recording that embodies it.” Recorded in the middle of a New Zealand tour for a humble NZ$60, the song broke into the country’s Top 20 singles chart at #19, surprising everyone including the band. Its B-side “Platypus” was recorded live at a show just days prior, capturing the band’s buoyant and elastic sound on stage.

Following the release of “Tally Ho!“, The Clean recorded their debut 12″ EP “Boodle Boodle Boodle” in September 1981, engineered by Chris Knox and Doug Hood in an old Auckland hall. The EP was released on Flying Nun in October, debuting at number five on the New Zealand music chart and staying in the top 20 for almost six months.

In November The Clean hit the highway to promote “Boodle Boodle Boodle” before gathering up the rising crop of Dunedin groups – The Verlaines, The Chills, The Stones and Sneaky Feelings

The playful, optimistic tone and Andy Shaw-filmed video of ‘Anything Could Happen’ had instant appeal. There was a lot of promise and freedom in its ringing open chords and allusive lyric. We found the EP had contrasting moods, just like the Velvets. The head-down acid instrumental ‘Point That Thing (Somewhere Else)’ brought the night. ‘Anything Could Happen’ brought the day. A distinctive Chris Knox pencilled sleeve with gold and black inner label and a band-generated comic booklet capped it off. Looking back at ‘Anything Could Happen’ in early 2012, Hamish remembered they were going for a “Highway 61/Rolling Stones country feel” born from a great affection for “20^th Century folk, blues and country.”

The continued success of the EP gave Flying Nun more financial security, and allowed the label to grow further. In May 1982, the band recorded and released the “Great Sounds Great, Good Sounds Good, So-so Sounds So-so, Bad Sounds Bad, Rotten Sounds Rotten” EP, produced again by Knox and Hood. The release reached number four on the music charts and received positive praise. The keyboard-driven classic ‘Beatnik’ from this second EP “Great Sounds Great.”.. rose as high as No.4, aided by heavy touring and a witty video set in a bohemian coffee bar.

On release in May 1982, Great Sounds Great… debuted at No.4 on the pop charts. This time there was a witty, bang-on video ready to roll, set in a bohemian coffee bar. The songs also sparkled. Despite some critical reviews, the EP is in retrospect a stronger and more consistent record than Boodle. ‘Beatnik’ is a fabulous keyboard driven pop song. ‘Slug Song’ mined similar territory while ‘Fish’ was a trademark Krautrock/psych instrumental, ‘Side On’ a biting Fall-ish riffer, and ‘End Of My Dream’, a thoughtful and persistent psych-folk tune.

For most of the 1980s, The Clean were effectively disbanded but Flying Nun released “Odditties” in July 1983, a cassette of 21 previously unreleased songs, many from the band’s own home recordings made on a Revox B77 tape recorder. We flogged that tape to death, marvelling that The Clean’s songbook was extensive enough to relegate standout numbers such as ‘Odditty’, ‘Success Story’, ‘David Bowie’, ‘Mudchucker Blues’, ‘Hold On To The Rail’, ‘At The Bottom’, ‘In The Back’ and ‘Fats Domino’ to a retrospective tape, when they could have sat comfortably on any of the hit releases.

The brothers released an album as The Great Unwashed named “Clean Out of Our Minds”, which David said was “an extension of “Odditites”, the bedroom mentality. The Kilgour brothers had been busy since the collapse of The band in late 1982. In mid-1983, they’d released “Clean Out Of Our Minds”, a woodsy experimental album of naked acoustic and trippy psych.

“Odditties 1” (1983) finds The Clean experimenting with echo, repetition and reverb on a dub version of ‘Point That Thing’ taped in Selwyn College’s billiard and practice rooms in 1980.

They were an acid instrumental outfit powered by surf and punk and Velvets drone and tempered by folk. It was the perfect sound for that blazing orange-lit gothic interior – two guitars and drums – with David Kilgour’s white Ibanez carving the air with none of the awkwardness of their lo-fi album recording. You couldn’t see the seams live. It was one long psychedelic splurge of folk rock jangle and out-there rockers.

Even with The Clean in abeyance, Flying Nun released live EP “Live Dead Clean” in 1986, a collection of their EPs, singles, and some live recordings called “Compilation” in the same year, and a second “Odditties” tape in 1988. The Clean’s early records featured on “Compilation“, which was released in NZ, Australia, Europe and the UK, where it sold in excess of 7,000 copies. “Compilation” was released in the USA in 1988 on Homestead Records with six extra live tracks.

The band reunited in 1988, opening for The Bats twice in London. Some recordings from these shows were later released in the “In-A-Live” 12″ in 1989. The five song live EP called “In-A-Live“, taped at the first Fulham Greyhound show by Jed Town, was released on the Flying Nun Europe label and in the United States, but not in New Zealand.

On it were, Clean perennials ‘Point That Thing Somewhere Else’, ‘Fish’, ‘Flowers’, ‘Anything Could Happen’ and ‘Whatever I Do Is Right’ burn brightly as “David Kilgour twangs away like Tom Verlaine playing at Duane Eddy.” Future praise in Melody Maker pegged the live EP as “a thing of unprecedented fire.”

The Clean played a tour of major New Zealand centres in May 1989, selling out Auckland’s Powerstation. They released the album “Vehicle” in 1990, and toured the United States, Britain and Europe multiple times to promote the record. Geoff Travis, head of Rough Trade Records had been in the audience. His indie label was already well respected in New Zealand, where many of its releases were available.

“It was all recorded live, the way we’d done all the records. We set up, blasted through the songs, did a day’s worth of guitar and keyboard overdubs then a day of vocals, a day of mixing and it was all done,”

Travis hadn’t heard of The Clean before the show, although some of his staff had. What he heard that night moved him to finance a new album, “Vehicle”, featuring 13 of those 15 new songs, “Vehicle’s” reception on release was extensive and positive. The haunting acoustic pieces on “Vehicle” remind me of Love and Spirit at their peak

During the 1990s, The Clean continued to tour internationally, releasing studio albums “Modern Rock” in 1994 and “Unknown Country” in 1996. “Modern Rock” It’s a low key, lo-fi affair featuring strong songs in ‘Secret Place’ and ‘Too Much Violence’.

“Modern Rock” crackles with spontaneous energy, as if The Clean—namely, Hamish Kilgour, David Kilgour, and Robert Scott—couldn’t help but make music together whenever they were in the same room. Following their 1989 reunion tour and the 1990 release of “Vehicle“, those opportunities were rare, with Hamish in New York City fronting The Mad Scene, David releasing his first solo album, and Robert recording albums with The Bats at a breakneck pace. Then, for nine days in April 1994, the stars aligned over Dunedin and “Modern Rock” bloomed into life.

For this reissue, “Modern Rock” has been remastered from the original tapes by producer and engineer Tex Houston and preserves Hamish Kilgour’s original artwork.

“Unknown Country” followed in 1996, having been recorded at Fish St studios in Dunedin in autumn 1995 with Starrett again contributing strongly, but “Unknown Country” is their least compelling album so far.

‘Wipe Me I’m Lucky’ Up in the clouds, zooming and floating, sounds like quite a bit went into the structure and production on this. Played live a lot. Backwards percussion is always good too.

‘Champagne and Misery’ Two great titles so far, always a good sign, “X ray spex didn’t do much good…” A great sound, cohesive and tight, good pop structure with cool changes and a double co-vocal between Hamish and David.

‘Changing Your Head’ Well you need to listen to this album. I like the way the changes happen in the song, a good collaborative example, propulsive. “what we do with our lives…”

‘Balkans’ From memory laid down as a ‘proper’ song then getting Alan Starrett to do his wonderful string stuff, then stripped away the main body of the song just leaving Alan’s overdubs, the feel is somewhere between Turkey and Bulgaria.

‘Clutch’ Dreamtime whimsey, a story I dreamt up. sweet treatment tempered by good wacky overdubs and a co-vocal “I’ve got my mind all opened up”. Feels wobbly and disjointed like it could collapse, that is probably good.

‘Franz Kafka at the Zoo’ Hamish in fine wacky lyrical form, freestyling, I love the backing track, David on bass and high plucked piano strings. You may have to strain to hear the story… it’s worth the effort, there are some cracking lines in there.

‘Whisk’ Enjoying the sound of ourselves mucking around, Keys, plucked strings, exploring sound for the fun of it… Eastern tones?

‘Indigo Blue’ The wild blue yonder, glassy slide shimmering up high, the bass riff anchoring it all. A great Hamish vocal, evocative and moody.

‘Chumpy’ A crowd stomper for a while when it was tackled live. Mutant disco for Cro-Magnons. Great keyboards, bass and drums drive it forward. Alan’s strings provide wonderful tension as it ebbs and flows, mad otherworldly music.

‘Get the Liquid’ Who made up these mad titles, we were on a roll with this stuff, lots of ideas flowing. Misleading intro, then it dives into strange bizarre sections and changes. We were heading down prog road but got well lost, we knew what we were aiming for.

‘Happy Lil Fella’ More madness, lightweight mutant pop from another place. South Pacific Western. Sparkling guitars and the song is constantly changing, never settling in one place for too long.

‘Tweezer’ A bass pattern that stretched my fingers to their limit. Keyboard excursion, background music for a warthog doco.

‘Rope’ Rainy arvo ditty, a sad western story “there’s a rope on the wall, that isn’t for you” Bass, piano and percussion…come to think of it there is a lot of piano on this album.

‘Twist Top’ Wonderful pop, one of my faves. Almost seems out of place on this album, a ray of light in the darkness. It came together easily and all the overdubs and ideas fit well. “3 million people can / can’t be wrong”. It doesn’t muck around and before you know it the outro is happening and it’s a doozy, should have been a hit.

‘Cooking Water’ Dark, claustrophobic at first then sometimes it opens up and lets the light in, sound almost like a normal song then dives back in on itself. A very tight riff, it doesn’t sound like us or anyone else for that matter.

‘Valley Cab’ A song about David and I getting a taxi home to North East Valley each night after recording. Scary overdubs over a sweet Piano and vocal. “Now we’ve lost the night, was it ever ours” Another wobbly gem.

‘Wall Walk’ White boy disco/dub. Quite a swagger to this one, David having fun on the keys conjuring some middle eastern vibes, boom then partway through. It changes into another song, ambitious structure and many changes, strings come in and change the feel, the bass and drums re enter the fray. A one off never attempted live, for good reason.

‘Balkans’ Revisited, possibly from the same original song idea, slightly different mix of Alan’s overdubs, lost in the ether, another world.

Sifting through The Clean’s non-compilation albums is like sifting through garage punk compilations of old. There are real gems to be found such as ‘Stars’ and ‘Jala’ on “Getaway” (2001) released on Matador Records in Europe and Merge Records in the USA. Like all The Clean’s records, “Getaway” started in the practice room, with recording stretching over four studios. Fans Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan from Yo La Tengo contributed to two songs.

Originally released in August 2001, the double-LP reissue marks the first appearance of The Clean’s “Getaway” on vinyl and includes an 18-song bonus CD that compiles the hard-to-find, tour-only releases Syd’s Pink Wiring System and Slush Fund. A double-CD version includes the full album plus the bonus disc.

The live version of the pulsing, soaring “Stars”—along with a couple of other “Getaway” songs and Clean classics like “Fish,” “Side On,” “Quickstep,” and “Point That Thing Somewhere Else”—appears on the rare 2003 album “Syd’s Pink Wiring System“. That record is included with the “Getaway” reissue, along with the more experimental, piano-driven EP “Slush Fund” from the same era. These bonus tracks reinforce the idea of the “Getaway“-era Clean as especially plugged in, generating inspired and beautiful music almost on instinct.

Indeed, they’ve done justice to “Getaway”, a key album in The Clean discography—a record that honours the band’s origins as garage-rock-loving New Zealand kids, excited just by the hum of a good, cheap amplifier. Songs like the twangy, easygoing “Crazy,” the jaunty acoustic snippet “Cell Block No. 5,” and the trance-inducing “Circle Canyon” are more fine examples of Robert Scott and the Kilgour brothers’ interest in immediacy and a strong vibe, applied to catchy melodies.

In 2003, the two-disc compilation “Anthology“, released on Merge Records, awakened new interest in the band in the US, building on an international reputation that had been enhanced by endorsements from prominent 1990s indie groups such as Pavement and Yo La Tengo. Starting off with The Clean’s infectiously catchy debut “Tally Ho” this double disc anthology has it all, from rarities to classics, simply put it is the ultimate Clean collection.

The first disc features tracks from the band’s early recordings – the two 12″ EPs, two 7″ singles, the perfectly-titled cassette of ‘Odditties’ and the ‘Live Dead Clean’ EP. It showcases The Clean’s seemingly effortless ability to jump from guitar-drone, off-centre pop and psychedelic songs. Disc 2, follows on from this into even wider musical experiments, from the instrumental riffs of “Wipe Me, I’m Lucky” through to the strange tale of “Franz Kafka At The Zoo”. All in all it captures perfectly all the elements that make this band so great.

The Clean’s story is on-again/off-again purely by design. It suits the trio’s creative desires and keeps them clear of the machinery that threatened to interfere with that process from the moment they threatened to get awfully popular awfully quickly over thirty years ago. The Clean’s modern age has seen them splitting time and hemispheres: David Kilgour has a reputable solo catalog; Robert Scott has The Bats; and Hamish Kilgour has been an endearing and enduring fixture in New York City, playing with assorted combos.

This record is jam packed with everything I love about the New Zealand music scene. Chiming, jangly pop tunes, epic guitar jams, home recorded experiments, “The Clean, truly, is the best there was, the best there is and probably the best that ever will be in New Zealand”

The band released further records and live albums on both American and New Zealand labels, their most recent album being “Mister Pop” in 2009. Hamish Kilgour’s death was announced on December 2022, In 1978, The Clean were the seeds of New Zealand punk. They carved out a big sandbox for everyone to play in, and their influence resonated not only in NZ but around the world. “Mister Pop” sees The Clean continue the great pop pastiche. Circus ragas (“Moonjumper”), hazy sunset anthems (“In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul”), and the loose Dada approach to word-smithery continue alongside “proper” lyrical forays and a few Autobahn-referential instro moments to boot (“Tensile”).

Delve into David Kilgour’s insights on all 10 songs from “Mister Pop”

‘Loog’ A chord progression I’d had for a while via the piano. In studio Bob and I finished off the arrangement and we laid it down live. I think there may be about three synthesizers on it including an old Juno and a tiny Alesis Micron. Tex came up with the background vocal ideas which was the icing on the cake really. Rainy on BVs. Some Clean instrumentals ended up as instrumentals as we couldn’t think of any decent vocal ideas. A favourite of mine.

‘Are You Really on Drugs’ …this kind of annoys cause I never finished the song and it wasn’t supposed to be the 2nd track on LP. Alluding to a good friend’s drug problem. Almost there.

‘In the Dreamlife You Need A Rubber Soul’ Another favourite Clean track. Explains itself really. I like the feel. It contains a bottleneck solo played on an old Rickenbacker guitar through a Fender Twin. It’s all about the chorus really, but I dig the chug of the verse and the sentiment.I have been asked a few times if its about Rubber Soul by the Beatles, I mean really, though they got there first! Maybe it’s time for a Plastic Soul song. Gorgeous backing vocals from Geva and Rainy from the duo Haunted Love.

‘Asleep in the Tunnel’ I think began at Gary Olsen’s studio in NYC. Inspired by Bob falling asleep in the Holland tunnel.I remember NYC winter was creeping in. I remember I’d been touring in the USA for about 6 weeks and was starting to feel very homesick, especially with winter setting in and Xmas lights going up in NYC.

‘Back in the Day’ Another that was begun in NYC. We had a couple of recording sessions in NYC. Mainly for writing and demoing though some backing tracks like this one made it the whole way. Funnily enough songwriter Michael Hurley was staying at Gary’s at the time and while cooking his brown rice he was forced to listen to a session through the floorboards. He passed on word that he liked this one the best which made us all smile.

‘Moonjumper’ The three of us have a love for German motorik , but also a deep love of the drone. I think everything I’ve done has some kind of drone through it. Nice work by Alan Starrett on viola.

‘Factory Man’ DK songwriting by numbers. I was lying in the bath in Brooklyn, NYC and thought I heard Bob singing this chorus downstairs. He wasn’t, so I wrote this pretending I was Ray Davies of the Kinks. Sorry Ray. Don’t bore us, get straight to chorus! A very good friend of mine hates this song. That’s what friends are for! ha! Rainy on backing vocals again.

‘Simple Fix’ If you listen closely at the beginning you can hear me saying “I don’t (know) what the fuck I’m doin here”. Which is usually the case esp. on a Clean session — just roll tape and see what happens! Also listen close and you’ll hear barking seals. “Seeing as we don’t have any vocal ideas for this one , let’s put some barking seal on it”!

‘Tensile’ More motorik. The lyrics come from a feeling I had driving at night towards Philadelphia. A DJ once asked me if I was drawing attention to myself by singing through a vocoder. I said releasing any kind of music is drawing attention to yourself… hopefully. Drone on.

‘All Those Notes’ One of those times I was told to put a lap steel down on a track but I wasn’t allowed to let it sound like a lap steel. To me a lot of Bob’s Clean songs always sound very biographically Clean — ie. singing about the moment, the tour, the session, the relationships. A sweet way to end the LP.

The Albums:

• Vehicle (1990)
• Modern Rock (1994)
• Unknown Country (1996)
• Getaway (2001)
• Mister Pop (2009)

Originally released in 1982, “Mechanix” marked a pivotal chapter in UFO’s evolution, capturing the band as they transitioned into a new era.

Though often overshadowed by their late ’70s classics, “Mechanix” has since been reappraised by fans as a powerful and underrated entry in the UFO catalogue, featuring driving tracks like “The Writer” and “Doing It All for You,” alongside the atmospheric closer “Feel It.” This definitive reissue has been newly remastered at AIR Mastering, bringing renewed clarity and punch to the original recordings. The package is enriched with previously unreleased photographs, offering a visual snapshot of the band during this period.

New liner notes by David Hann provide fresh insight into the album’s creation and legacy, drawing on exclusive interviews with key band members including Phil Mogg, Andy Parker, and Neil Carter. A major highlight of this edition is the inclusion of a newly mixed live recording from Hammersmith Odeon on January 28th 1982, restored by renowned producer Brian Kehew. Capturing UFO onstage at London’s legendary Hammersmith Odeon, this performance showcases the band’s raw energy and musical firepower on the eve of the release of “Mechanix”.

This expanded edition of “Mechanix” stands as both a historical document and a compelling reminder of UFO’s enduring place in hard rock history

In today’s fast-paced mid-apocalyptic world it can feel like a waste of time to speak about time at all. Why dwell on the past when we could just live in the present because the future won’t shut up about how bad it’s going to be?

But with This Is The Kit, the pseudonym of songwriter / banjo strummer / pinhole camera lover / Winchester UK born Paris dweller Kate Stables, we’re going to have to give time just a modicum of consideration. Because not only is Kate still here and making albums of cataclysmic honesty and welcoming tonal embraces, they are continuing to grow, which is probably the only smart way to move forward through time.

This Is The Kit’s music places companionship at a premium, so being welcomed into its space feels like an obvious privilege, on record and in concert hall with her stellar supporting cast of Rozi Plain (bass), Jamie Whitby-Coles (drums) and Neil Smith (guitar). And at this current point in our confusing history, continuing to be here at all, to stand tall and make music to gather to, that’s a heroic act. Joyful survival as an act of time-wasting, I’ll take that any day of the week. Look to This Is The Kit to spend at least one day of your week this year, I guarantee it will be time well wasted

This Is the Kit, the Paris-based project led by British-born singer/songwriter Kate Stables, is releasing a new album, “Ghost Coat”, on January 15th via Memphis Industries. This week they shared the album’s second single, “Safety Valve,” as well as a live performance video for the song. The song features Richard Dawson.

Staples had this to say about “Safety Valve” in a press release: “This is a song dedicated to friends who come to your rescue. A helping hand. Someone who listens and doesn’t judge. And getting out on your bike and feeling better. Speaking of kind, non-judgemental people, I had been dreaming of asking Richard Dawson to sing on the new record and somehow managed to pluck up the courage to ask him to sing on this track. He graciously accepted the challenge and it immediately turned it into one of my favorite songs on the album. Absolute legend. Finest pipes in the business.”

Previously This Is the Kit shared the album’s first single, “Skim a Stone,” via a music video.

The album features Staples’ regular backing band: Rozi Plain (bass, keys), Neil Smith (guitar), Jamie Whitby-Coles (drums, keys), and Jesse D. Vernon (guitar, keys). Various guest musicians also contributed to “Ghost Coat2, including Richard Dawson, Sam Amidon, Ben Howard, guitarist brothers Valentin and Marceau Portron (of Portron Portron Lopez), and Emma Broughton (aka Blumi). The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios (where The Stone Roses, Motörhead, Oasis, Queen, and many others have all recorded).

Staples says “Ghost Coat” is both “very much obviously an album that I’ve made” and also “very different” from her other albums.

Staples grew up in Winchester, UK (home to a famous cathedral), but has lived in Paris for two decades. Themes of coming home influenced the album and its title track. “Living in a cathedral city growing up, the building has got magic powers: some dark and scary, and some relating to community,” she explains. “I was interested in exploring our relationship with home. Where home is, or was, where we come from, where we’re going. Sometimes it’s just where you put your bag down, especially for someone who travels a lot. Maybe it’s less to do with a place, and more who you’re with—people that make you feel like you’re at home.”

“Ghost Coat” follows 2023’s “Careful of Your Keepers” (produced by Gruff Rhys), 2020’s “Off Off On”, and 2017’s breakthrough record, Moonshine Freeze, all released by Rough Trade. Staples also had a stint performing with The National and sang guest vocals on their 2019 album “I Am Easy to Find”.

The road to Death Valley Girls’ “Welcome to Earth” begins in the ashes of California’s Eaton Fire. After losing her home in Altadena and soon after her beloved dog Tommy, lead singer and songwriter Bonnie Bloomgarden confronted questions that resisted easy answers: What survives catastrophe? What remains after loss? How do you rebuild a life when the things that once defined it are gone? The album that emerged from those questions is among the most intimate and searching works Death Valley Girls have ever made.

Throughout the band’s body of work, they have treated music as both celebration and search party. Albums like “Glow in the Dark”, “Darkness Rains”, “Under the Spell of Joy”, and “Islands in the Sky” transformed their space rock sound into a vehicle for spiritual inquiry, finding flashes of transcendence amid everyday chaos. But “Welcome to Earth” feels distinct from its predecessors. It focuses less on escaping the world and more on understanding how to remain connected after devastation.

What emerged was not a psych-punk record about loss, exactly, but about connection: the invisible threads linking people, animals, memories, landscapes, and lives across time. The album’s title functions as both a greeting and a reminder, a welcome from the natural world to a species that has largely forgotten its place within it. Again and again, the songs return to the possibility that separation may be humanity’s most persistent illusion.

That idea of connection extends beyond the songs themselves. After the fire, Bloomgarden found herself held aloft by the musicians who now make up Death Valley Girls: drummer Bailey Chapman, guitarist Laena Myers, bassist Alana Amram, saxophonist Sarah Safaie, and keyboardist Gregg Foreman – who devastatingly passed away not long after. They carried her through grief, through the band’s first tour after the loss, and a year for her to be ready to write again. Their presence shaped not only the spirit of “Welcome to Earth“, but its sound: a more expansive, communal energy that feels inseparable from the people who helped bring it into being. “I don’t think this record could have been made with any other group of people,” Bloomgarden shares. Tragically, the album also stands as the final Death Valley Girls recording to feature Gregg’s contributions.

Yet for all its weighty questions, “Welcome to Earth” is remarkably joyful. “Plant Magic” turns renewal into a communal celebration. “Basic Witch,” featuring Seth Bogart, transforms heartbreak into hard-won self-awareness. “Message From the Venus Flower” and “I Love You” reimagine grief as evidence of an enduring connection rather than an ending. Musically, the album remains unmistakably Death Valley Girls: exuberant, melodic, curious, and gloriously open-hearted. Girl-group harmonies drift through hazy psychedelic passages; voices gather into communal chants; choruses arrive with the buoyancy of a collective sing-along. That communal spirit echoes throughout the album’s many voices: twenty-three guest singers appear across the record, including a children’s chorus whose bright presence lends the songs a fresh sense of wonder. Longtime collaborator Laura “The Kid” Kelsey returns throughout the album, as well as Little Ghost who was equally central to the process, contributing backing vocals throughout the record, creating the album artwork, and remaining a constant creative presence both in the studio and on the road. “Welcome to Earth” also features acclaimed jazz vocalist and multi-Grammy-nominated artist Gretchen Parlato.

What makes “Welcome to Earth” so moving is its refusal to separate the cosmic from the deeply personal. Bloomgarden searches for meaning everywhere, following those threads wherever they lead. The result is Death Valley Girls’ most intimate album, but also their most expansive: a record that looks directly at loss and somehow emerges more open to wonder. In the end, “Welcome to Earth” proposes a radical idea disguised as a danceable rock-and-roll record. It suggests that healing begins not when grief disappears, but when we recognize how deeply connected we have always been.

released October 9th, 2026

Liverpool post-punks Clinic released a new album, “Wild in the Streets”, today via their longtime label Domino Recordings. Earlier this week they shared its third single, title track “Wild in the Streets.”

Clinic’s tenth album, sounds as if someone crossed the animation of a Halloween cartoon from the nineties with a cheap animatronic skeleton at the amusement park. Even after almost 30 years, this band from Liverpool has not lost its desire for the weird. This description doesn’t sound nice at first, but it’s meant as a compliment, because that’s exactly where the record gets its wonderful retro kitsch from. The inspirations are quite upscale in nature.

Singer Ade Blackburn and his school friend Jonathan Hartley, who was already enthusiastic about electronics and drum machines as a teenager, have recently discovered Exotica for themselves. In addition, there was dub, cabaret Voltaire and early rock’n’roll because of its immediacy. In order to create more forward momentum, a whole verse was even thrown out on some songs.

Accordingly, the 12 pieces are mostly short and carry distinctive synthesizer lines, organ, glockenspiels and flutes, plus fuzzy drums. In between, science fiction sounds whine, and nature sounds interfere. Surf rock meets world music, art-pop looks in the direction of psychedelia. The title song lures into the album with a wandering organ melody and stoic beat. “Model Citizen” then rings like a slot machine and sings about a model citizen, censors himself in the middle of his own song and demonstratively outrages himself about obscenity.

In between, it gets exhausting: In “You And I”, Blackburn’s voice sounds even more wafting and annoying than it already is, and electronic gimmicks pile up all around. In general, he moans and whispers, makes strange noises, but mostly complains shaky, almost bored. This is nerve-wracking, but it fits the overall picture.

“The Gardener” compensates for this with a little trip around the world: A wobbly synthesizer chases guitar and distorted flute, and suddenly you end up sonically first in Japan, then in Hawaii and finally back in Liverpool.

“The Time Has Come” finally pushes kitsch completely into the horror circus, before “Well Wisher” sings about carousel rides and spreads dreamy dream pop to it. In its half-hour running time, the album seems like a fantastic dream sequence. Echoes and bell arpeggios, which are already known from the last album “Fantasy Island” (2021), put listeners in a trance again and again.

But this time the band goes a different way: Instead of ironically appropriating tropical aesthetics, they stick to a sound world that suits them much better. This dark, imaginative world suits Clinic extremely well, even if colourful sprinkles break it up. There is nothing groundbreaking about “Wild In The Streets”, but the album seems coherent from the first to the last minute and fits pretty perfectly into the season. And like almost everything from Clinic, it doesn’t do exactly what is hot at the moment.

It sounds mysterious, retro and wonderfully out of time, right on the edge where there is too little going on anyway.

Previously they shared the album’s first single, “You and I,” Then they released its second single, “Energies,”

Clinic’s last album was 2021’s “Fantasy Island”, which followed 2019’s “Wheeltappers and Shunters” (which was their first new album in seven years). Clinic formed in 1997 and used to be a quartet, but since “Fantasy Island” they’ve been the duo of Ade Blackburn and Jonathan Hartley.

“We’ve known each other since school,” says Blackburn in a press release. “Hartley was always interested in electronics and drum machines, even as a teenager. He’s into rhythms, whether it’s reggae and funk or more conventional guitar music, whereas I was always into songs and melodies. I think that’s why Clinic works so well.”

Of the inspirations for “Wild in the Streets”, Blackburn says: “Something we’ve got into more recently is exotica, especially the colourful percussion. People like Martin Denny and Les Baxter. Some of that stuff is amazing. For what was often considered easy listening music, it has some very strange undercurrents. We’ve also been listening to dub reggae and things like Cabaret Voltaire. And a lot of early rock‘n’roll, for that immediacy. For many of these songs, we wanted an extra sense of propulsion, so we’d sometimes take out a whole verse to push it along.”

Since Clinic’s 2000-released debut album, “Internal Wrangler”, the band have always bucked trends and done their own weird little thing. “We’ve always run in the opposite direction to what’s happening,” says Blackburn. “So if anything gets too close to sounding like something else, then we’ll take a different route.”

He adds: “We’ve always had this absolute faith in what we do. It’s relatively outsider-ish music, but that’s something that’s motivated us to keep going, because it’s good to have things that are a little out on the fringes. There’s just not enough of that kind of music these days.”

Clinic – “Wild In The Streets” is out now on Domino Record Co.

Peter Gabriel stars in the new issue of MOJO!

Available to order now, in the new issue of MOJO, we immerse ourselves in the alternative universe of the original Genesis frontman, solo one-off and thinking-person’s musical maverick, Peter Gabriel.

In an exclusive interview, Gabriel reflects on what he’s learned from his extraordinary career, shines a light on new album o\i, and chews over his plans for the future. “I like the idea of following your nose…” he tells MOJO’s Mark Blake over bowls of homemade soup and cups of strong builder’s tea.

Plus! Peter has handpicked songs for an exclusive covermount CD featuring classics, live tracks, mouthwatering rarities and fascinating collaborations.

Also in the issue: the best albums of 2026 unveiled in our bumper review of The Year; The Animals uncaged; R.E.M.’s darkest, and finest hours; going dotty for Angine De Poitrine; Steve Diggle’s Buzzcocks odyssey; The Womack Sisters’ soul dynasty. Plus: Love, Morphine; Shane MacGowan; 10cc; Judy Collins; The Rezillos; Ryley Walker; Pretty Things; The Cramps; Gram Parsons’ sci-fi movie; and more!

The new issue of MOJO is in UK shops from Tuesday 10th November

Little Grandad release their debut album “Speak Softly, Son” produced by Kev Jones (Wunderhorse).

Just a few months after launching their debut tracks, the London four-piece waste no time at all, taking rare, precious days off the road to put down their debut album.

The band has made quick work of creating a buzz since forming just over a year ago. Gigging relentlessly and picking up new fans everywhere they play. It’s a story as old as time.

Their songs sound like a sort of Venn diagram of rust-belt Americana, Brooklyn-informed slacker-rock, and warm yet ramshackle British indie guitar rock. It also sounds nothing like those things. It’s chaotic, teeters on the brink of collapse, but somehow hangs together. It’s properly exciting because you can’t put your finger on what it is, and neither can they.

“Speak Softly, Son” is a timely approximation of where Little Grandad are at, and an excellent advertisement for those live shows. Here’s where the story really starts…

‘Speak Softly, Son’, released January 22nd 2026 on Communion Records.

Uncut Magazine’s ultimate Review Of The Year is here!

2026’s 80 Best New Albums, 30 Best Reissues, best films, music books and documentaries – plus a spectacular 15 track Class Of 2026 CD starring Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts, Bill Callahan, Boards Of Canada, Lambchop, Julia Jacklin, Lucinda Williams, Panda Bear and Sonic Boom and more!

We take a deep dive into Paul McCartney’s intense 2026 and there’s new chats with Phoebe Bridgers, Mick Jagger, Ian McCulloch, Courtney Love, Flea, Kevin Morby, Courtney Barnett and The Tubs. Print copies come with stunning McCartney Collector’s cover and a giant, fold out Maccazine brimming with the very finest Macca facts…

Plus: on tour with Led Zeppelin, Sparklehorse hymned, Jason Isbell and Drive-By Truckers reunite, Steven Wilson’s prog horror opus, Peter Gabriel’s full moon fevers, Billy Bragg & Wilco return to Mermaid Avenue, unheard Coltrane, Rush’s Neil Peart remembered, Bob Dylan’s tempestuous ’76, Madra Salach break-out, Record Store Day Black Friday essentials, Asha Pulthi, some Dead arcana and more!