The Fat Angel Sings

Since first forming in 2016, London’s High Vis have steadily polished their palette of progressive hardcore with shades of post-punk, Brit pop, neo- psychedelia, and even Madchester groove, mapping a middle ground between hooks and fury, melodies and mosh pits. Singer Graham Sayle describes their third album “Guided Tour” as an axis of competing forces: “It’s trying to be a hopeful record, while also being incensed.” Rounded out by drummer Edward ‘Ski’ Harper, bassist Jack Muncaster, and guitarists Martin MacNamara and Rob Hammaren, the band’s deep roots in the UK and Irish DIY hardcore scenes have kept them grounded but growing, inspired equally by restlessness and righteous anger. As Sayle puts it, “Everyone’s scratching, everyone’s working all the time, and their idea of relaxing is just getting fucked and avoiding reality. This album is an escape from that.”

High Vis’ anticipated third album “Guided Tour” comes out this Friday, and here’s its opening track and final pre-release single.

From its opening seconds of a cab door slamming, a car revving away, and a baggy rhythm swinging to life, “Guided Tour” sounds like a band reaching for new heights, bristling with energy. Recorded across a few weeks at Holy Mountain Studios in London with producer Jonah Falco and engineer Stanley Gravett, the results feel dynamic and dialed-in, like anthems burned into sense memory through sweat and repetition. Harper cuts to the chase: “We had a clear idea going in, every moment got used. Maybe when we’re 60 we can sit around and get a drum sound right, but for now it’s about getting things done.”

The album’s 11 songs span the spectrum of contemporary guitar music, sharpened by experience, camaraderie, and societal frustrations. From swaggering street punk (“Drop Me Out,” “Mob DLA”) to jangling indie sneer (“Worth The Wait,” “Deserve It”) to heavy alt (“Feeling Bless,” “Fill The Gap”) to shoegazey spoken word (“Untethered”), the group’s chemistry transmutes any style to their unique intensity. Sayle champions this evolving fusion: “For years coming from hardcore, we had pretty clear boundaries – other scenes were separate worlds. Now things are getting more blended, drawing from different places.”

Nowhere is this sentiment flexed more boldly than on “Mind’s A Lie,” a dance- punk anthem inspired by Harper’s love of house, garage, and pirate radio. Stabs of sampled female vocals (by celebrated South London singer and DJ Ell Murphy) build into a razor wire rhythm of low-slung bass, tense drums, and sparkling guitar before Sayle’s staunch voice starts barking harsh truths (“Face to face with all I’ve known / I can’t call these thoughts my own”). After a sudden breakdown, the track regroups and takes off, cruising into the horizon in a haze of chiming guitars and Murphy’s ascendant voice, from the streets to somewhere beyond.

Silverlites are a new supergroup featuring Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Barrett Strong (Screaming Trees), Rich Robinson (Black Crowes) and singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur. The band’s self-titled debut album will be out November 15th. Martin revealed how the album came about: “Hi everyone, I’d like to announce a new recording project called SILVERLITES, which I recorded and produced during the pandemic and is soon to be released. “It started in a Nashville hotel room in 2019, where I recorded the initial acoustic guitar tracks, and it features some truly exceptional musicians: Joseph Arthur on lead vocals, Peter Buck on acoustic guitars, Rich Robinson on acoustic and electric guitars, and myself on drums, upright bass, vibraphone, and backing vocals.

This is the first single  ‘Don’t Go, Don’t Stay’ is out now on all digital platforms, and the entire album can be previewed and preordered as well. We hope you like the songs, as we spent the pandemic years doing various recording and mixing sessions, and we used a classic song writing form, which is often forgotten in this day and age. That is, acoustic guitars (with a little electric guitar in there),with superb lead vocals, catchy backing vocals, and a soulful backbeat in the rhythm section. It’s old school song writing, just like us.”.

“Don’t Go, Don’t Stay” will be included on SILVERLITES‘ upcoming self-titled debut album, which is due on November 15th via Sunyata Records. And the full length, self titled debut comes out November 15th

With another single “Dark And Magic Sky” due November 1st The album cover was made by Rich And the utmost concern was invested in making sure that we all weren’t wearing sunglasses.

Dehd have covered “Mr Grieves,” a “weird ass deep cut” from Pixies’ 1989 album “Doolittle” (which has also been covered by TV on the Radio). Dehd dropped the cover of The Pixies’ “Mr. Grimes” today, so I downloaded it on Bandcamp for a dollar. When I opened it, it is in-between to other songs, “Go” and “Without You,” which have previously been released on a 7″ single. The single was originally released prior to “Flower of Devotion”, and contained a card with seeds inside. I suppose other folks on here have said single, if so, then did you plant the card and grow the flowers? (I couldn’t bear to part with the card.) If you have, then what kind of flower(s) was it? Devotional, I suppose. If you don’t already have it, then three songs for a buck can’t be beat.

released October 16th, 2024
Produced by Jason Balla.
Written by Frank Black.

Emily Kempf – vocals and bass
Eric McGrady – drums
Jason Balla – guitar and backing vocals

“’Beautiful Child’ has been turned into a minor key song because, well, it really should have been one in the first place!” So says Bill Callahan of his cover of Fleetwood Mac’s classic, recorded as part of a Smog Peel Session which is officially coming out as “The Holy Grail” on December 10th via Drag City.

December 2001, Maida Vale: Bill Callahan’s “Smog” perform with demonstrative zeal for their British witness at the BBC, shimmering and hissing with a Lynchian vibe of U.S. darkness in the invariable shadows of the fallen towers. Callahan & band (Jessica Billey, Mike Saenz and Jim White) cover Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed and Smog with grey, ashen resolve and tour-torn flexibility, amassing a bruised, plaintive essence of humanity with their efforts.

Chelsea Wolfe has announced a stripped-back, acoustic EP and the first single is this sombrer piano version of “Place In the Sun.” Chelsea Wolfe‘s stripped-back, acoustic side has always been one of her most appealing sides, so it was exciting news when she recently announced a run of “stripped-back” shows for this December, and it’s exciting that now she’s announced “Unbound”, an EP with acoustic versions of four songs from this year’s electronics/trip-hop-infused “She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She” plus a cover of Spiritbox‘s “Cellar Door” that she performed for BBC Radio 1 earlier this year.

It follows her recent remix EP “Undone” and it comes out November 15th via Loma Vista Recordings

The EP features Chelsea with either just her guitar or piano, and the first single is the piano-fuelled version of “Place In The Sun.” It’s a gorgeous rendition 

Drop Nineteens, who released their first album since the ’90s last year, have unearthed a lost album they’ve titled “1991“, which will be released February 7th via Wharf Cat. The album is made up of demos that were sent out to labels with hopes of getting signed. When they eventually signed to Caroline/Hut they decided to write all new material, which would make up their debut album, “Delaware”.

Following the release of Drop Nineteens’ first album in 30 years, “Hard Light” and the re-issue of their 1992 shoegaze masterwork “Delaware”, we are excited to announce the official release of Drop Nineteens’ “1991”. This LP comprises the band’s first two demo sessions which were mailed out via cassette to labels in “1991” finding their way to the UK music press and generating instant buzz and an ensuing feeding frenzy to sign the band. After signing with Caroline Records Drop Nineteens decided to write an entirely new record, “Delaware“, for their first official release, leaving the songs on 1991 behind, frozen in time.

Swells of layered guitars and buried vocal harmonies adorn these tracks, displaying Drop Nineteens when the comparison to their UK contemporaries like Slowdive and Ride were apt. 1991’s songs, recorded with a low fi charm, show an ambitious young band capable of writing songs filled with texture and hooks, on the eve of their breakthrough with “Delaware”.

Porridge Radio have given us one more early taste of their anticipated new album ahead of its release on Friday. About “God of Everything Else,” Dana Margolin says, “After a horrible relationship I felt like a piece of shit on someone’s shoe, like I was so unimportant and completely drained of any power I once had. Lying to myself in order to get that power back. You did this to me, but I’m the god of everything else. Fuck you.

The beauty, the angst, the rage, the pain always comes through …another beautiful powerful song from a band that just gets better

A song about dissociating constantly and being in pain constantly, wandering the streets for hours with nowhere to be, never stopping to face the void, always running from it, never healing, trying to find myself in other people, not having a clue where to put my next step forward. Also a song about femininity, wondering how to be a woman, watching someone else do it so effortlessly, wondering if I could be like her would it be easier. Of course not.”

“’Grim Symmetry’ is actually one of our older songs,” says Ducks Ltd guitarist/vocalist Tom McGreevy. “We wrote it early on in the ‘Modern Fiction’ writing process, and the demo was a favourite among the people we shared those with, but we didn’t quite get it right when we tried to record it for that album. We always liked it though, so we kept it around and tried it again when we were tracking ‘Harm’s Way.’ It didn’t end up quite fitting the vibe of the album, but we did manage to get it to where we wanted it to be, so it’s exciting to finally share it.”

“Grim Symmetry” is out now on Carpark / Royal Mountain Records.

London duo Sorry are back with their first new music in two years. “Waxwing” feels like a step up, with dark, gleaming synths and a searing solo. It also finds inspiration in an unusual place: Toni Basil’s new wave cheerleader classic “Hey Mickey.” SORRY uses that song’s lyrics to their own devices, painting a brooding portrait of desire and obsession.

Say the band: “Mickey is desire? Mickey is the bomb? Mickey makes me money? Mickey makes my songs? Mickey makes a poem? Mickey in the drugs? Mickey is liar? Mickey making love? Mickey is desire?” 

Rising U.K. rockers the Wild Things have announced “Afterglow“, a new concept album that, fittingly enough, is co-produced by The Who’s Pete Townshend.

The ambitious album “tells the story of the residents of the fictional town of Valentine amidst a paranormal phenomenon,” according to the announcement, which is accompanied by the single ‘Come Around’. Townshend (pictured above with the band), who has acted as a mentor for the Wild Things, says, “I loved working with the Wild Things on the music that became “Afterglow“. The songs are rocking, but also full of nuances and witty cleverness. They are a fireball of energy and creativity and having supported The Who a few times I know they are spectacular live. Every one of them is so talented.

“Syd is a sort of rock star triumph,” Townshend says of Wild Things vocalist Sydney Rae White. “She is a great singer and actress. I’ve known her since before she was kicking off the band with her brother [Cam]. She played the part of Jimmy’s love object in my touring production of Quadrophenia. Rob [Kendrick], her husband, also in the Wild Things, was also in Quadrophenia UK tour. And he and Syd fell in love. So I am not only their record producer I am also their CUPID.”

Townshend also plays on the album’s track ‘Drunk Again’, incidentally playing a Lowrey Berkshire Deluxe TBO-1 organ, the same instrument he played on The Who’s classic ‘Baba O’Riley’. At the end of the sessions, Townshend gifted the organ to the band.

The album, which is set for release on 13th September, isn’t just conceptual musically: Its “unique format allows listeners to program their own listening experience,” the announcement states. “With this album, the given tracklist is simply a suggested roadmap to the town of Valentine, and listeners are encouraged to adjust the song list to unlock deeper nuances of the storyline.” The album will be accompanied by a vintage-gaming-inspired choose-your-path text game connected to the narrative of the album.

“Afterglow” is the culmination of years of evolution of the band,” the Wild Things said in a joint statement. “We couldn’t have ever dreamt that we’d be able to create this expansive project as we truly envisioned, but with the help of some incredible mentors, a lot of determination and belief in each other…here we are!”