The Fat Angel Sings

 The debut from Fat Dog, been buzzing off (I suspect it’s their frenetic and scuzzy art-rock-dance-punk-rave business; or maybe it’s just that one of their tracks is called “King Of The Slugs”).

 A wild and uncompromising mix of electroclash, industrial and rave aesthetics wrapped around indie instrumentation and garage rock production. Effortlessly fleeting from soaring synth atmospherics into snarling, driving mayhem. Wildly brilliant.

Fat Dog are the most exciting breakthrough band of the past few years, conjurers of the sort of frenzied and wild live shows not seen in the capital for years and now the creators of “Woof”., a brilliant and mind-bending debut album.

A thrilling blend of electro-punk, rock’n’roll snarling, techno soundscapes, industrial-pop and rave euphoria, WOOF. is music for letting go to or, in the words of frontman Joe Love, “screaming-into-a-pillow music”.

the upcoming album ‘WOOF.’ out 6th September on Domino Recordings.

The band’s first fully self-produced and recorded project, “Shake” features some of Sunflower Bean’s heaviest, most immediate, and loudest music to date. Influenced by the doom-laden, heavy metal sound of Black Sabbath the EP is an embrace of rock tropes and excess, and recalls the sonic of the band’s earliest work, “Show Me Your Seven Secrets” and “Human Ceremony”.

The New York trio Sunflower Bean – vocalist and bassist Julia Cumming (she/her), guitarist and vocalist Nick Kivlen (he/him), and drummer Olive Faber (she/her) release their new EP, “Shake“, via Lucky Number. The band’s first fully self-produced and recorded project, 

“Shake” was inspired by our first years as a DIY band, the spirit that birthed us and gave us the chance to have this enduring journey together,”

Sunflower Bean explain of the EP. “We wrote, recorded, engineered, and produced these songs so nothing was filtered through anyone else’s idea of us. We always felt like rock and roll was a feeling, not a sound. But sometimes there is no subverting it or explaining it. We’re now offering it exactly as it occurred to us.”

releases September 27th, 2024

Written by Nick Kivlen, Julia Cumming, and Olive Faber (Sunflower Bean)

After forming on a group trip to Blackpool, Manchester-based quartet Umarells have announced their debut EP ‘One More Day’ via Fear of Missing Out Records. The record circles peaks, plummets, and upside-down turns for a front-row seat on the emotional Big Dipper of life. The faded sparkle of the Blackpool seaside trails through five postcards of smouldering indie-rock on the EP.

via Fear of Missing Out Records

Umarells release their debut EP “One More Day” on 8th November,

Originally released in 1989, “Dr. Feelgood” was a significant step in the career of infamous Sunset Strip rockers Mötley Crüe. On November 22nd , A new lavish 35th anniversary edition of the album, which hit the top spot on the chart and went on to be certified 6x platinum in the United States, will be released via BMG.

Thirty-Five years after its release, “Dr. Feelgood” stands as one of the last great rock record’s of the 1980’s, and one of the greatest rock records of all time. To celebrate the anniversary of “Dr. Feelgood” we’re releasing a Limited Edition Box Set available on LP & CD with the remastered version of the original album, as well as rare demos and live tracks. The box set will also features a 24 page replica tour book with never before seen and never before published live and behind the scenes photos, a replica “Dr. Feelgood” Tour itinerary, poster, patch, backstage pass, live show handbill, press kit, medical envelope and guitar pick.

With five massive hit singles that kept radio and MTV request lines busy, the Dr. Feelgood World Tour saw MÖTLEY CRÜE on the road and in the air on their own private jet for over 2 years. First single “Dr. Feelgood”, with its instantly memorable opening, catchy chorus, and gritty music video set the tone by reaching the top 10 on the US Hot 100 singles chart.

Originally a Top 30 hit upon release, “Kickstart My Heart” went on to become MÖTLEY CRÜE’s most popular landmark track.

From the buzz saw intro to the cheating-death lyrics and music video shot in a rare return to a club show at the world famous Whisky-a-go-go in Hollywood, it has now logged well over 1.5 Billion streams and can be heard nearly every day in movies, commercials, video games and sporting events around the world! The Hot 100 hits kept coming as “Without You” hit #8, “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) reached #19, and final single “Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)” was accompanied by an music video capturing the fan excitement of a live CRÜE show.

“It’s very depressing to me that we are still dealing with the same issues we were dealing with 40 years ago,” says singer Matt Johnson says, noting that many of the themes on classic THE THE songs – alienation, feeling powerless in the face of corporate greed & governments who don’t have the good of the people in mind, the search for connection in an increasingly distanced world – are as relevant today as they were in the 1980s. With the turmoil of the last decade, it’s good to have Matt & The The back.

‘Ensoulment’ is the first The The album in a quarter century & comes 8 years after Johnson reactivated the band following 17 years of hibernation. Those recent years have been both tumultuous & prolific…

Matt’s brother, Andrew (Andy Dog), whose artwork has graced many The The albums, died in 2016 and inspired 2017 single “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming.” More activity followed: “The Inertia Variations” documentary, Radio Cineola broadcasts, and then the 2018 The Comeback Special world tour. With a stable line-up of The The, including long time collaborators James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Earl Harvin (drums), and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar),

Johnson began work on the new album only to be sidelined by 2020, which, in addition to the COVID pandemic, found him in the hospital with an acute throat infection that gave him a “close shave with the grim reaper” that could’ve also taken his voice.

All this, plus Brexit and many UK and US elections, added to the flavor of “Ensoulment.” Working again with producer Warne Livesay, with whom he made “Infected” and “Mind Bomb”, it has all the hope, humour, and paranoia, the scope and intimacy, and the way with melody you expect from a The The album. “Left is right / black is white / inside out / hope is doubt,” he sings on the album’s opening song “Cognitive Dissident,” and it’s like nothing has changed.

Matt Johnson said via Zoom this summer about about “Ensoulment”, The The’s upcoming tour, his relationship with New York, climbing out onto one of The Chrysler Building’s iconic eagles for the “I Saw the Light” video in 1995, and how the more things change the more they stay the same. It should also be noted that, while specifics of the upcoming US election were not mentioned,

The lyrics for this song were written from Matt Johnson’s hospital bed under the influence of morphine, whilst recovering from a life-saving operation. As fate would have it, Johnson’s weeks in hospital had nothing to do with Covid, but occurred at precisely the time Covid reached crisis proportions, making for an even more surreal ordeal. The discordant interplay between horns and fiddle is redolent of Johnson’s hallucinogenic, surreal experience, which he tried to emulate by asking the musicians to improvise over the track, without hearing the other’s contribution, as he manipulated the sounds in real time. ‘Linoleum Smooth To The Stockinged Foot’ is unique in that it does not feature any of the core band members apart from Johnson on vocals, guitar and bass, plus guest musicians Sonya Cullingford on fiddle, Terry Edwards on horns, Gillian Glover providing backing vocals, and hand claps from percussionist Danny Cummings. Co-produced by Matt Johnson and Warne Livesey.

‘Some Days I Drink My Coffee By The Grave Of William Blake’ is the 3rd single from “Ensoulment”, The The’s first studio album in a quarter century. It is a song Matt Johnson had been trying to write for many years but never managed to finish – until last year. It belongs to the family of songs he has written about London, including ‘Perfect’, ‘Flesh & Bones’, ‘Heartland’, ‘The Beat(en) Generation’, ‘Helpline Operator’, ‘Pillar Box Red’ and others. The song is co-produced by Matt Johnson and Warne Livesey and features Matt Johnson on vocals and acoustic guitar; Barrie Cadogan on electric guitar and backing vocals; DC Collard on keyboards; James Eller on bass; Earl Harvin on drums; Sonya Cullingford on fiddle; Gillian Glover on backing vocals. “I have often drunk my coffee by the grave of William Blake “– though these days there are actually two gravestones dedicated to him in the small dissenters’ cemetery that he was thrown into when he died. On and off over the last 40 years I have lived close by and have always found it an inspiring place to sit and meditate upon life. Nostalgia is part of the human condition and change is inevitable in our lives and in the world around us. Large capital cities such as London often amplify the sense of change, although one thing that never seems to change is the cynicism of those in power”– Matt Johnson

“Ensoulment” will be released on 6th September (Cinéola / earMUSIC)

Prolific singer songwriter Glenn Donaldson is back with a new album as The Reds, Pinks & Purples. It’s titled “The World Doesn’t Need Another Band” and it’s out now as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp. Donaldson notes it’s made up of “mostly brand new songs and a few remixes of previous singles that felt like they fit with this set.”

The previously released singles include “My Toxic Friend” and “New Market Space,” and other charmingly glum songs include “Unloveable Losers,” “Don’t Dream Alone” and the title track. Glenn’s been allowing a little more noise, not to mention real drums, into his strummy sound earworms, and on first listen it’s sounding quite good. “Statues in the park,” Glenn sings on the opening track, “They always look sad to me.”

Some brand new songs and a few remixes of previous singles that felt like they fit with this set.

released September 5th, 2024

This month the cover stars are Genesis– the prog legends as they were circa summer 1974, captured at Headley Grange, the rundown manor house in Hampshire where they convened to write much of their sixth album, “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway“, their final LP with Peter Gabriel. We speak to band members and associates about this crucial period in their evolution.

Elsewhere this month we continue with RC’s ongoing celebration of our 45th anniversary with Chime A Dozen, in which RC’s staffers each pick their favourite 12 singles since the magazine was founded in 1979. Alison Moyet is in the RC Interview hot-seat, discussing her solo career and brief tenure with successful synth duo, Yazoo. There are further close encounters with Vegas veteran Engelbert Humperdinck and 60s soul-psych outfit The Rascals as well as features on The Byrds’ Gene Clark and Talk Talk and their creative mainstay Mark Hollis.

In our authoritative Album Reviews section, our writers examine the latest releases (both From The Vaults and New) from Bob Dylan & The Band, Paul Williams, Mercury Rev, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Ezra Collective. In Books there are new tomes on Suicide’s Alan Vega, Wishbone Ash and Robyn Hitchcock among others, while JR Moores assesses the best new Singles including ones from Lone Justice and The Clientele and in Lives there are reports on gigs by Foo Fighters, Love and Idles (plus attendant Gig Guide).

Our numerous sections are having a busy month. In News we focus on The White Label Auction, and we find out where Fairground Attraction’s Mark Nevin has been these past 37 years. The Vinylist has all the release dates you need. RC Investigates takes readers on music-themed holidays. The Collector is Harlem Apollo archivist Brad San Martin. Value Added Facts is a special on harpist Dorothy Ashby. Diggin’ For Gold finds out what happened to 80s synth duo 50/50 (and makes a connection between the latter and the Genesis of The Lamb Lies Down…). The 10 Of The Best this month is on New Zealand punk. Marco Pirroni of Adam & The Ants picks his life-changing records. We spend 33 1/3 minutes in the company of Ian Hunter. David Quantick waxes lyrical about farewell songs. Alan Parsons, among others, is in Talking Heads. We go Under The Radar with French rock band Indochine and into The Engine Room with Francis Monkman. In Competitions & Crossword you can win Tony Iommi/Glenn Hughes and Fanny vinyl/CDs. Finally, we pay tribute to godfather of British blues, John Mayall, who recently died.

The sun is shining for what appears to be a bit of an Indian Summer but already we’re working on our November issue aka RC 563 with articles on our usual wide range of artists from Bryan Ferry and Laurie Anderson to Magazine and Focus, as well as a new regular feature on British cities’ best-ever single releases, starting with Liverpool 45s.

Don’t forget the RECORD COLLECTOR Presents, special editions: Hawkwind and King Crimson are out now with Siouxsie & The Banshees following soon.

COVER STORY – GENESIS – It’s 1974 and the prog pioneers reconvene at a country house in Oxfordshire to start work on their most ambitious project yet: a double concept album. However, personal problems and musical differences are threatening to spell the end of an era for the band
CHIME A DOZEN – We’re still celebrating our 45th birthday, so here’s the RC staff’s favourite 12 singles from the last 45 years
ALISONMOYET – The formidably voiced Essex chanteuse takes us through the many personal and professional challenges that have brought her to her current career renaissance
ENGELBERTHUMPERDINCK – Still touring at 88, the Leicester crooner born Arnold Dorsey also still takes pride from keeping The Beatles off the No 1 spot
GENECLARK – Why the man who played a key role in birthing The Byrds’ inimitable sound is belatedly being recognised for his often outstanding solo work
TALKTALK – Five years since his passing, we present new glimpses of the band’s enigmatic leader Mark Hollis via a series of revealing photos from an acclaimed biography
RASCALS – These New Yorkers found chart success with colourful beat pop but their heart was in more adventurous, progressive material – and that’s where the trouble began…
FROMTHEVAULTS – Reissues and box sets from Dylan & The Band, Paul Williams and Johnny Marr dissected and assessed
NEWALBUMS – Mercury Rev, Ezra Collective and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have new LPs to bend an ear to
BOOKS – Volumes by and about Alan Vega, Wishbone Ash, Robyn Hitchcock and others
SINGLES – including Lone Justice
LIVES – Performances by Foo Fighters, Love and Idles are among those witnessed

The War On Drugs have announced a new live album, ‘Live Drugs Again’ the band took to social media to announce the live record, which is due for release on September 13th. The album will be available on streaming platforms, as well as on 2x LP.  the live album was recorded throughout their tours of the United States, the UK, Europe and Australia between February 2022 and December 2023.

The album consists of 11 live tracks including ‘Harmonia’s Dream’, ‘Burning’, ‘I Don’t Wanna Wait’, ‘In Chains’ and ‘I Don’t Live Here Anymore’.

Recorded on tour between February 2022 to December 2023 in America, UK, Europe and Australia. Blissful, Uhinged and Hugely Rocking performances of songs from the last 4 studio albums pulled from over 30 shows. “Live Drugs Again” chronicles the evolution of these songs from the studio to stages all over the world; documenting our continued growth as a live band. This series ensures that these versions, and some of our favourite moments on stage, will live on. The limited edition 2xLP vinyl with poster

 The fourth in a series of limited edition Definitive boxsets celebrating their classic albums, A deluxe box set reissue of their 1986 studio album ‘Brotherhood’. Originally released via Factory Records, New Order’s fourth album saw them further delve into both post-punk and electronic, dividing each side of the record with two distinctively different sonic atmospheres. The reissue includes a vinyl LP of the original album, as well as two CDs one featuring a re-mastered version of the original album and one containing nine unreleased tracks and demos from a 1985 recording session in Japan. New Order’s “Definitive Edition” of their fourth album, “Brotherhood“, is out in a couple weeks and one of the many bonus-tracks is this previously unreleased demo of non-LP single “State of the Nation.”

Fans will also have access to two DVDs with TV appearances, including a 1987 performance on Top Of The Pops, and live sets from Brixton Academy in 1987, G-Mex in Manchester in 1986 and Glastonbury in 1987, among others.

The band have also included 12″ singles of hits ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ ‘State of the Nation’ and ‘Touched by the Hand of God’.

The limited-edition box set — called ‘Brotherhood (Definitive Edition)” will celebrate the seminal album, and is set to be released via Warner Music on November 22nd.

This marks the fourth limited edition box set the band has released to date. Last year, they celebrated the 40th anniversary of their seminal track ‘Blue Monday’, and announced reissued editions of their classic compilation ‘Substance 1987’ to mark the milestone the band’s biggest-selling album to date.

The previous year they announced an expanded edition of their 1985 album ‘Low-Life’, and in 2020, they released a special boxset for their seminal second album ‘Power Corruption & Lies’. Released in 1983 via Factory Records, the LP features the tracks ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Age Of Consent’ and ‘Your Silent Face’, and was hailed as New Order’s best album back in 2018.

Peter Hook said: “They were really heady days. You felt like you were changing the world. Looking back on it, I think that Joy Division and New Order did change the world – culturally and musically.

“‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ was our honeymoon period. It’s quite heartwarming to realise what you’ve achieved together. It makes the shit worthwhile.”