Indie band Sun June toe the line between nostalgia and reliance in their new single “John Prine.” Released in September, the reflective ballad relays an uncertain beauty described through band member Laura Colwell’s sweeping vocals.
“‘John Prine’ is about appreciating something for the first time after it’s already over and struggling to let it go,” the band shares in a statement. “It’s also a shout-out to my father, who loves to say, ‘I’m not asleep, I’m just resting my eyes.’ The song was recorded in North Carolina by Alli Rogers and features Justin Morris (Sluice, Fust) on pedal steel. When Dan Duszynski mixed it, he morphed the pedal steel into something more haunting and more ghostly (and more sleepy).
“We wanted the video to capture the feeling of coming down after a long night or a short visit with someone you miss, the kind of daze that’s a mix of longing and appreciation,” they add.
“John Prine” is one of two new singles from the Texas-based group’s record, “Bad Dream Jaguar”, released in October. The Texas band release another mysterious and engaging preview of their third studio album.
“John Prine” by Sun June, from the album ‘Bad Dream Jaguar’ out October 20th, 2023 via Run For Cover Records
Indie sensations Adult Leisure, based in Bristol, unveil their eagerly awaited second EP titled “Present State of Joy and Grief”. Adult Leisure’s second studio EP, underwent a transformative journey under the expert hands of Ollie Searle at Humm Studios, with the finishing touch of masterful mastering by Grant Berry (known for his work with Boston Manor, Deaf Havana, and Lottery Winners). The four-track EP delves into the intricate realms of unhealthy relationships, heartbreak, loss, change, and self-reflection, showcasing Adult Leisure’s musical prowess and lyrical depth.
There’s something infectious about this band. With two EPs under their belt, “The Weekend Ritual” (2022) and “Present State of Joy and Grief” (2023), I feel that 2024 could possibly bring an album from the band. The foursome know how to craft hooky and catchy songs that are not only bangers but also booty moving. Plus their myriad of social activities feel as if they’re keeping the foot on the pedal from the moment of “Present State of Joy and Grief’s” release.
The band, consisting of Neil Scott (vocals), David Woolford (guitar, vocals), James Laing (bass), and Nathan Searle (drums),
Formed in Reading in 1987, Chapterhouse took the unusual step of rehearsing and gigging for well over a year before recording even a demotape. Initially, the band got lumped in with the British acid rock scene of the time, a mistake hardly rectified by the band’s early performances supporting the rather laidback Spacemen 3. Chapterhouse eventually escaped from one genre only to find themselves amongst the infamous shoegaze groups of 1991 such as Lush, Moose and Slowdive.
In 1991, English shoegaze band Chapterhouse released the single “Mesmerise”, which was a non-album single. The track was cited by Robert Smith of The Cure as an influence on their 1992 album “Wish”. “Mesmerise” was released on the same-titled EP which came out simultaneously with the single and contained three more non-album tracks, “Precious One”, “Summer Chill” and “Then We’ll Rise”. Another ignored awesome track from these guys…. This version & the 12″ mix were both ace. Don’t get why this wasn’t a hit for them.
The Darling Buds debuted a year too late for C86 Formed in Caerleon, Wales, in 1986, The Darling Buds quickly found an enthusiastic hometown audience. Taking their cues from the C86 scene, The Beatles, ‘60s pop and the post-punk DIY scene, and released their last album just before the U.K. press threw down the Britpop gauntlet. In a way, the Welsh band helped build all but the joints connecting NME’s pivotal cassette compilation to the Union Jack-waving movement that took hold in opposition to stateside grunge. They were grouped instead with a few peers by a journalistic neologism so frivolous — based on the hair color shared by singer/songwriter Andrea Lewis and her fellow frontwomen — that it isn’t mentioned in the sleeve notes of “Killing for Love”.
As demonstrated by this five-disc box, the Darling Buds were simply among the sharpest guitar-pop bands of their time. From 1987 through 1992, they put forward a clutch of singles and three albums brimming with a wide variety of sweet and sour love songs performed with ebullience to spare and a bit of attitude. Contrary to their name and melodic sensibility, they weren’t lightweight. The guitars were sometimes as dirty and cutting as those of the Jesus and Mary Chain and many Seattle bands, and Lewis’ voice rang through them as clear as a bell. Moreover, Lewis could issue a stern ultimatum and was bold enough to sing poetically about onanistic pleasure on an album titled “Erotica”, released weeks before Madonna’s like-named LP.
“Killing for Love” is a comprehensive and neatly organized anthology. Its first disc is based around the Darling Buds’ self-released first 7″ and two subsequent singles for the Native label. This indie phase was highlighted by early support from BBC DJ John Peel, for whom the band would record three sessions (unfortunately not included) before and after “Shame on You” landed on his Festive Fifty for 1988.
The second, third, and fourth discs respectively present “Pop Said…, Crawdaddy“, and “Erotica“, the band’s Sony-distributed LPs, as expanded editions filled out with B-sides and alternate versions. Scattered across those three discs are seven charting U.K. singles including the super-charged Top 40 entry “Hit the Ground,” followed by identity-retaining crossover dance singles “Tiny Machine” and “Crystal Clear,” and the driving “Sure Thing.”
Most of the previously unreleased material that comprises the fifth disc (and part of the first) is intriguing. It goes all the way back to an early three-song demo recorded by Mekons Jon Langford and Robert Worby to post-“Erotica” demos produced by the E StreetBand’s Roy Bittan. Finishing off the final disc is the whole of “Evergreen”, an inspired 2017 EP with Lewis backed by new Buds.
Packed with previously unheard recordings and photographs from the band’s own private archive; and accompanied by an insightful scene setting essay from Lewis Wilson, “Killing For Love” brings together thirty years of friendship and song writing.
On their debut and only album with band founder Nick Heyward, “Pelican West“, the group display all the skittery beats, deep-voiced crooning, plus pop smarts while adding more funk and saxophone. That Haircut One Hundred scored a bigger hit than Orange Juice the band they so clearly idolized but it’s clear from even one listen through “Pelican West” that Haircut One Hundred were more than just mere copycats. “Love Plus One” is that aforementioned megahit, and it deserved to be a timeless classic. Nick Heyward knew how to write pop hooks, and the band fills them in with brilliant subtlety.
There are siblings to that song scattered across the record: “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” “Marine Boy,” and the ecstatic “Fantastic Day” all have wonderfully snappy melodies and huge choruses; “MilkFilm,” “Surprise Me Again,” and “Snow Girl” have a refined pop sound that skews a little less gleeful and a little more melancholy, but the bulk of the album is first-rate ’80s sophisti-pop. Though very much of their time. “Love’s Got Me in Triangles” and “Calling Captain Autumn” are both quite British, with a sort of awkward kind of funk that’s almost quaint in its un-funkiness. Heyward’s attempts at rapping on the latter achieve beat poet-meets-Captain Sensible levels of uncoolness that circle back around to coolness in the end somehow.
The entire record is a little like that. From their corny outfits to their lighter-than-air sound, Haircut OneHundred were never going to be dangerous or sexy. The best they could hope for was escapist but never mindless fun, and on “Pelican West”, they bury their arrows dead centre in the middle of that target. [Edsel’s 2023 reissue of the album does the 2016 release on Cherry Pop one or two better. It replicates the first two discs of that set, adding the same four bonus tracks on the first disc — single B-sides and the post-album release “Nobody’s Fool,” which pointed to a guitar-heavy, sax-solo-free future the group never saw — and a second disc made up of 12″ versions of album tracks, extended versions, and a live recording of “Fantastic Day.” What makes this reissue special is the full live set from 1982, where a clearly on-their-game band joyfully romp through their songbook, even doing “Love Plus One” twice.
The real find here, though, is the first official release of the songs that band recorded for their second album but never finished because Heyward left; some are unfinished instrumentals, some are fully mixed and ready to go. The former tracks point to what could have been a great record, as songs like “I Believe in Sundays,” “Sunny Boy, Sunny Girl,” and especially “Whistle Down the Wind” are leaps and bounds ahead — melodically and emotionally — from the songs on “Pelican West”. The instrumentals show the same amount of playful energy and, with the addition of vocals, could have wonderful. it’s a shame this version of the band imploded before they could deliver that second album, and good that their efforts to that end have finally seen the light of day. Their presence makes an already fine reissue close to perfect.
Haircut One Hundred’s 1982 album “Pelican West” will be reissued in February next year as multi-disc vinyl and CD box sets. The album featured three top ten UK singles in ‘Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)’, ‘Love Plus One’ and ‘Fantastic Day’ and reached #2 in the UK album charts “Pelican West” would be the band’s only album with frontman Nick Heyward. He left in early 1983 and the band released one further LP without him (1984’s “Paint and Paint“), without success.
The album has been remastered and expanded for a 40th anniversary reissue and 4CD and 4LP vinyl box sets will be available, initially with prints signed by all members of the band (750 copies worldwide).
The large format 4CD set offers the remastered album, a disc of 12-inch mixes and B-sides, the demos for their unfinished second album with Heyward (which was given the provisional title “Blue Hat For A Blue Day“) and a live set from Hammersmith Odeon from the spring of 1982. 24 of these 54 tracks are previously unreleased, including early versions of later Nick Heyward solo hits ‘Whistle Down The Wind’,‘Blue Hat For A Blue Day’ and ‘Sunny Boy, Sunny Girl’.
The 4LP vinyl box offers the same content across four records minus the Hammersmith Odeon show. This 38-track offering features the album half-speed mastered (this is also available separately). This is newly mastered by Phil Kinrade and cut by Barry Grint at AIR Mastering. Like the 4CD box set the 4LP vinyl package is also available with a signed print (750 copies worldwide).
The 4CD set features a 44-page booklet with a new 10,000-word sleeve note featuring an oral history of the time with all six members interviewed by the set’s curator, Daryl Easlea. The booklet also includes memorabilia and exclusive photographs from the personal collection of Haircut guitarist Graham Jones and bassist Les Nemes. The vinyl set also offers the notes.
“Pelican West” will be reissued on 24 February 2023 via Demon Music. The signed editions are currently only available via the official Haircut One Hundred shop.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary, Nick Heyward, Les Nemes, Graham Jones & Blair Cunningham will be performing a very special one-off show at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on 12 May 2023.
English band Blueboy were part of the Sarah Records roster, making a style of indie rock that was usually toned down and emotionally nuanced but sometimes shot through with enthusiastic jangle. A strict label policy for Sarah was that singles were not included on LPs, but were a separate space for songs to be experienced with exclusive focus. Blueboy took this edict to heart, releasing eight singles in addition to three studio full-lengths during a run that lasted the majority of the 1990s. The compilation “Singles 1991-1998” collects all of the band’s non-album singles and their respective B-sides, presenting them in chronological order and all in the same place for the first time.
It’s an excellent singles comp in the tradition of Singles Going Steady, Louder Than Bombs, or Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, offering up some of the group’s best tracks in a long playing format but also showcasing how much Blueboy evolved as the years went on. The earliest singles are spare, often led by lilting acoustic guitar and finding vocalist Keith Girdler evoking the same soft melancholy that the Zombies’ Colin Blunstone found on his solo albums.
A Colourful Storm presents Blueboy’s singles collection and the band’s final retrospective release. Beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Sarah Records’ own Matt Haynes with original artwork insert, postcard and liner notes by Paul Stewart.
“One Sunday afternoon in 1990, I had a phone call from Keith saying that Sarah Records had received the demo cassette the two of us had recorded on a 4-track in a friend’s shed and were interested in putting out two of the songs as a single. They were “Clearer” and “Alison“.
Delighted by this news, we booked some recording time with a studio we’d regularly used in our previous incarnation as Feverfew, the White House in Weston-super-Mare. This was the first time we’d ever played a note of music that was using someone else’s money, so the pressure was being felt. We recorded “Clearer”, “Fearon” and “Chelsea Guitar”, with “Clearer” becoming Sarah 55, the first of eight singles for the band across two labels.
This is especially true on slight spacious tracks like “Chelsea Guitar” and “Stephanie,” but the band picks up the energy with the addition of chiming guitars and peppy drums on relative rockers like “A Gentle Sigh” or with the bright cello and vocal harmonies of “Meet Johnny Rave.” As the compilation goes on, Blueboy try on some different styles, experimenting with drum machines and synths on “Hit” and “River,” delving into ambient formlessness on instrumental track “Nimbus,” and eventually resembling something more like Britpop on later songs like “Looney Tunes,” but they never fully let go of their melancholic indie pop core.
“Singles 1991-1998” is an excellent primer for Blueboy, with no shortage of tracks that stand on their own, but the songs also fit together for a continuous listening experience as good as (if not better than) some of the band’s official albums.
Genn are an Anglo-Maltese quartet whose multi-national background has inevitably shaped their sound and style. This was evidenced by their debut album, “unum”, released in 2023 which draws on all their collective influences and experiences as well as channelling their unfazed attitude of mixing personal issues with the political amidst their constant push towards championing more minorities within the music industry. “unum” the Latin word for oneness, unity, a sense of being whole. The debut album of Ġenn is a hard-earned statement of evolution, woven from the band’s four distinct threads of influence and identity to reveal an arresting tapestry of ambition. It follows on from their 2021 debut EP “Liminal” which was born of isolation, a fragmented jigsaw puzzle put together at a distance in the pandemic era. The project triumphed against all odds, but Ġenn knew that the EP walked so that something far greater could run. “unum” is the product of that long-awaited togetherness; it captures that lightning in a bottle which strikes when four distinct strains of talent – four best friends – are free to create. Ġenn have never sounded so limitless.
Their sound moves from the abrasive to the quiet and subtle as they deliver an eclectic mix of sounds which cover post-punk, art-pop, psych-rock, noise rock all the way through to jazz and folk. It’s a sumptuous mix which caters for all tastes and with a UK headline tour planned for February 2024, the stars seem to be aligning to finally bring Genn into the wider public consciousness
Leona (vox), Janelle (guitar) and Leanne (bass) are originally from Malta and moved to the UK to complete their lineup with drummer Sofia.
Listen closely, and you can hear a melting pot of cultures, genres and timings in one sitting, as this sisterhood of psychadelic textures takes you on a veritable listening journey.
The Gas Kunst are a cracking new band that put the fun back into the music scene with their blend of surf rockabilly, EODM, QOTSA, The Cramps and the sadly disbanded C33s. Newly added from said band Judy has transferred her own arsenal of backing vocals and powerhouse drumming. A breath of fresh air from the brilliant Rare Vitamin Records. Label boss J Davies recently quoted – “If I was any more DIY I’d be fuckin’ B&Q”
Music Video for the song “PCSO No No No (You’re Wrong)” by Gas Künst.
Wild, weird apocalyptic lounge music – a twisted amalgamation of angular art rock and transgressive post-punk populated by grotesque imagery and vivid symbolism. They are going to be as adored and revered as cult bands the Cardiacs and Virgin Prunes whilst having the potential to be Muse or (early) Queen (saleswise). Debut album “Mondo Maleficum” is scheduled for release in January 2024 and is a masterpiece,
‘Utterly Rudderless’ is the next single from the upcoming album “Mondo Maleficum”. The song plunges into your sensory organs on 4th January.
Dark and frantic, the track was inspired by this quote from author Alan Moore:
“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theories, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Illuminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening – Nobody is in control. The world is rudderless.” Dark and frantic is what we do best.
the debut album “Mondo Maleficum” releases January 25th, 2024
“Old Death” is a seven minute odyssey/autobiography disguised as a pop song, in which Charles Bissell (of indie rock heavyweights The Wrens) reflects on the opportunity cost of two decades spent perfecting, yet never releasing, the sequel to The Wrens’ near-mythologically revered 2003 album “The Meadowlands”. The ensuing years brought a battle with cancer, mental health struggles, the breakup of a band of brothers, and the underestimation of Father Time. Bissell released some music during that time, but promised a lot more. “Old Death” is worth the wait.
Like any great protagonist, our hero is relatable, vulnerable, courageous, broken, whole, and lovable. And like all great epics, the parable of “Old Death” is one I’ll keep close to heart. I’ll sing this song from the top of my lungs, I’ll remember to put away my futile devices, and I’ll hold my kids tight while they’re still young.
About The Song: First, I’m joined here by Jeff Lipstein (original wrens drummer(!), Mercury Rev, Sandy Bell etc.), who played & recorded the drums on this song and others – fantastically. “Old Death” is, like the rest of the album (coming 2024), sort of a sequel to the meadowlands and like that one, is about time, how one chooses to spend it, what those choices cost. That means for me, the song (and album) is also about making the album itself. It’s about death, maybe obviously, but it’s really about my dumb life. And because so much of that life, over the last decade especially, lined up weirdly well to the Odyssey, it’s all sorta hung on Homer’s narrative framework (unlike say, Ulysses, in my case it’s all very non-fictional/auto-biographical). However like Ulysses, every song is written in a stream-of-consciousness mode. Or for me, really more of a stream-of-memories: that time this happened, that other-time-this-reminds-me-of happened etc. Hence, the parenthetical dating throughout the lyrics as those memories pop in&out.
The Fat Angel Sings 