The Fat Angel Sings

Toronto punk bank PUP – comprised of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski – have announced the release of their forthcoming album Who Will Look After The Dogs?.

“Within days of announcing our last album, coincidentally titled “The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND”, my life unexpectedly imploded. I wrote the lyrics for ‘Hallways’ while all that was going on. It was a weird fucking week,” says Babcock on the new single, “Hallways”.

“The title of our new record, “Who Will Look After The Dogs?“, is what I wrote at the top of the page, the very first thing written for this album. I think it’s devastating, but in a ‘holy shit this is overdramatic’ kinda way. At least in context of the line that comes before it. That’s what makes it funny to us. That overblown stuff we all say in our dark moments can be hilarious once you’ve cooled off a bit. I don’t know if anyone else thinks it’s funny, but sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself. It’s the only way out of the abyss. Trust me.”

“Who Will Look After The Dogs?”, was made in Los Angeles with producer John Congleton over the course of three weeks, and it’s the culmination of PUP’s past decade of constant touring. Frontman Stefan Babcock excavates his life’s relationships – romantic, with his bandmates, and most ruthlessly, his relationship to himself. While PUP historically are at one another’s throats during the album process, this time they scrapped their tedious perfectionism and rediscovered the joy of making loud music together.

PUP will return to the UK and EU for a headline tour in May, with dates in Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, London, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam,

The Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell has shared new single “apple green ufo”, taken from his third solo album, “pinball wanderer”. ahead of debut solo acoustic shows, “I had this riff on an acoustic and it was kind of like one of those Led Zeppelin folk bangers, but I brought it into the Serge Gainsbourg world and gave it a glass of absinthe,” jokes Andy Bell. “The lyrics imagine if I met an alien and had to show them around Earth, what would I want to show them? It also references The Simpsons’ Mr Burns (“I bring you love”) and ET (“If you’re lonely, phone home”).”

Andy will be playing a series of acoustic solo shows for the first time, forming part of a tour of independent record shops in February and March, kicking off London’s Stranger Than Paradise.

To accompany the Stranger Than Paradise instore, there will be a free ‘pinball wanderer’ release party featuring DJ sets from Andy, alongside Justin Robertson, Richard Norris, Simone Marie and Arveene, plus visuals from Innerstrings.

Beirut detailed their forthcoming album, “A Study of Losses“,  is the 18-track odyssey commissioned by Swedish circus Kompani Giraff for an acrobatic stage show of the same name. Accompanying the album’s announcement is new single “Guericke’s Unicorn” together with a video showcasing Kompani Giraff’s stunning choreography, shadow puppetry and stage design.

“Guericke’s unicorn is a supposed reconstruction of a fossil unicorn which was actually created from the bones of a bunch of different animals like the woolly mammoth and a narwhal. It’s worth looking up the image”, says Zach Condon. “I’ve always been fascinated by these kinds of bizarre chapters and odd side notes of history, and I wanted to reflect the unorthodox / eccentric madness of that ‘unicorn’ in a more playful song that is somewhat disjointed from the rest of the album. I think my music can have that disjointed / chaotic tendency in general, but with the whole album otherwise being somewhat uniformly baroque inspired, ‘Guericke’s Unicorn’ really makes for an outlier on this record, having its origin in an old modular synth experiment of mine.”

As a free interpretation of Verzeichnis einiger Verluste, the novel by German author Judith Schalansky, “A Study of Losses” journeys through eleven songs and seven extended instrumental themes, named after the lunar seas and inspired by the chilling tale of a man obsessed with archiving all of humanity’s lost thoughts and creations. Like Verzeichnis einiger Verluste, “A Study of Losses” finds Condon writing about disappearance, preservation and the impermanence of everything known to us – extinct animal species, lost architectural and literary treasures, the process of aging and other abstract concepts.

“A Study of Losse”s will be released on 18th April via his own Pompeii Records.

The new single, “Back In The Game”, is the second time these two musicianshave collaborated on record, following the acclaimed “Beautiful People”, which appeared on Mark Pritchard’s “Under The Sun” solo album for Warp Records in 2016.

The song is paired to a video by Jonathan Zawada, a visual artist who says, “On first hearing the original demo of “Back In The Game” I was immediately struck by the deranged bass line that made me think of the final scene of Staying Alive where John Travolta is cockily strutting through the New York streets but I saw it with a more sinister overlay.

Slowly a version of that visual arose around a character wearing a kind of giant parade head with a fixed expression of mania stuck on their face, such that you couldn’t tell if their endless march was one of aggression or celebration”

“Back In The Game” is out now via Warp Records.

The Misunderstood must rank as one of the greatest cult bands of the 60s psychedelia era. ‘Children Of The Sun’ assembles The Misunderstood’s entire known output from 1965-1966 onto one package, remastered by Alec Palao.

With incisive sleevenotes from Mike Stax (Ugly Things) and involvement with various original band members, plus a handsome design from Andy Morten (Shindig!), this is truly the definitive document of a legendary underground band, assembled by those who love their music.

The band began forging their innovative sound in Riverside, California, where they were discovered by DJ John Peel (then working in the US as John Ravenscroft). Having cut a few recordings locally, the band relocated to the UK on Peel’s recommendation.

In London, The Misunderstood signed to Fontana Records to cut what are considered six landmark tracks. Issued that December, ‘I Can Take You To The Sun’ remains a high watermark of the original psychedelia era and was backed by an explosive version of Bo Diddley’s ‘Who Do You Love’, but the band broke up soon afterwards when singer Rick Brown was drafted. A second single, the blistering psych rock of ‘Children Of The Sun’ (backed by the anti-war gem ‘I Unseen’) was belatedly issued in February 1969 when a new line-up of the band re-signed to the label.

In 1982, Cherry Red released the landmark compilation LP, ‘Before The Dream Faded’, which not only unveiled two further Fontana recordings, the high octane ‘Find The Hidden Door’ and ‘My Mind’ but also collated seven archive tracks from the band’s Riverside days. Since then, additional recordings have surfaced on various retrospectives.

Genesis and more in the latest issue of MOJO! We Know What You Like (In Your Magazine)… Genesis’ the classic line-up reconvene for the new MOJO, with moving interviews from Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, and a CD of Prog Rock Nuggets!

Also in the issue: Marianne Faithfull – MOJO bows in tribute to the band ; Television – the lost album; Graham Nash – on Crosby, Stills and Young; Bob Marley – behind the icon.

Plus: Kim Deal David Bowie;  Salif Keita; Steven Wilson; Pentangle; Hawkwind; Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy; Boz Scaggs; farewell;s to Garth Hudson; and… Todd Rundgren sings Bacharach!… 

“Peacemaker” follows Vera Sola’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut “Shades”. It marks a dramatic shift from the shadowy, enclosed nature of her first recordings, to a sweeping new sonic landscape and renewed focus on her remarkable voice. Recorded predominantly in Nashville over the fall of 2019, Vera Sola, ever the orchestrator, opened herself up to the magic of collaboration, working alongside co-producer Kenneth Pattengale, to bring in dozens of musicians to embellish the sound. The record is at times bold and orchestral while retaining some of the dirt and grit that was present under the fingernails of “Shades”, realising a whole world while managing to also find remarkable detail in snapshot vignettes. Influences range from New World Symphony – Antonín Dvořák’s exploration of American history and landscapes – to the rattling percussion and distorted guitar of 80s era Tom Waits.

The lyrics are at times surreal, at others tender, unflinchingly bold and revealing or touching with jolts of everyday mundanity.  This album just gets better with each listen. The production and, of course, Vera Sola’s voice is wonderful. It has an old fashioned, romantic feel which really enhances the whole mood of the music. 

All songs written by Vera Sola.

released February 2nd, 2024 “Peacemaker” is to be released on City Slang, in partnership with Spectraphonic Records.

Leading the charge are Sweden’s anarchic Viagra Boys, who will ignite the gardens with their chaotic, gritty, and absurdist punk energy. Joining them is The National frontman Matt Berninger, whose velvety baritone and lyrical elegance will sweep you away in a haze of poetic brilliance. Meanwhile, shoegaze dreamers DIIV make their End of The Road debut, bringing a swirl of fuzzed-out guitars and wistful melodies.

Elsewhere, Christopher Owens – of Girls fame – will bare his soul with raw vocals and warm, fuzzy tones, reminding us why his music continues to resonate. Indie darling Katy J Pearson returns with a refreshed sound—her signature intimate songwriting now infused with electronic textures and chopped-up vocals, offering a bold new direction.

 Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory and shape-shifting auteur Youth Lagoon will kick things off on Thursday, whilst electronic pioneer Caribou return to Larmer Tree Gardens this time taking the billing reins on Friday.

They top a faultless supporting cast including GOAT, Bombino, Joy Orbison and These New Puritans as well as Garden Stage headliner, and The National frontman, Matt Berninger, and Irish folk experimentalist Lisa O’Neill.

Saturday is topped by fearless pop brilliance from Self Esteem, who will follow Mount Kimbie, Sofia Kourtesis and Jim Ghedi. Viagra Boys, Geordie Greep and Emma-Jean Thackray grace the Garden Stage, whilst DIIV bring their noise-rock romance to the Big Top. Down at The Folly, bdrmm, Ducks Ltd and jasmine 4.t will warm up the stage for your usual high-energy late-night Surprise Shows.