The Fat Angel Sings

Bristol techno, noise and hardcore supremos SCALPING have announced details of their highly anticipated debut album “Void”. Much like their all-caps brothers in HEALTH, Bristol band SCALPING make music that splits the difference between rock in its classic form and a more experimental approach to electronic production. This results in songs like “Remain In Stasis” a highlight of the recently released debut “Void“. There’s a driving energy to the song that guest vocalist Grove uses to push even more momentum into the occasion. The result feels exultant, transcending the club or dingy rock venue and reaching for something higher.

Due out 29th April via Houndstooth, the record comes on the heels of an extremely exciting 2021 for the band, which saw them play to sold-out crowds at the Roundhouse twice in two weeks – both on tour with Squarepusher and at Pitchfork Festival London – as well as selling out their own headline date at Peckham Audio, and releasing two widely acclaimed EPs titled “FLOOD” and “FLOOD Remixed”, the latter of which featured treatments from producers Hodge, Azu Tiwaline, object blue, AQXDM and Laurel Halo, and Scottish instrumental rock legends Mogwai.

The news of the album is accompanied by a new single titled “Flashforward”, a slow-burning beauty made-up of atmospheric vocalisations, churning riffs, and propulsive, motorik basslines. The track also comes with a new video from visual designer and long-term collaborator Jason Baker.

As SCALPING’s sound becomes more adventurous, so has their aesthetic, the technically impressive animation uses richly coloured and textured sequences to compliment the bands darker narratives: of paranoia and surrender, with cinematic elements of science fiction, body horror and technology’s dominance over man.
“Void” will be put to the test, as the band kicks off an eight-date UK headline tour, culminating in a live performance at Fabric on May 5th. As live shows return in 2022, SCALPING will continue to prove themselves as one of the UK’s most impressive, ambitious, and original new live bands.

Taken from the debut album “Void“, out now on Houndstooth

Cult DIY London band High Vis could be on the verge of a breakout moment with their new album, due later in 2022. New single “Talk For Hours” matches a punk spirit with the swaggering confidence and deep groove of prime Oasis. The new track from London’s High Vis. Newly signed to Dais Records with an album in the works for later this year! A sobering reflection on endless conversations without resolution. Temporary chemical optimism and subsequent hopeless introspection. A song born out of late nights waiting your turn to shout your struggle that no one will listen to.’

High Vis play aggressive, gripping, artful punk that’s as hard as any hardcore record yet sonically opens beyond the parameters of any genre or scene. Breaking from the same London underground that spawned Chubby And The Gang, Higher Power and The Chisel, the band have quickly grown a devoted following for their intense live shows, immediate lyrics that tackle themes from class politics to the challenges of everyday life, and an unparalleled 2019 debut album, “No Sense No Feeling“.

Formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK’s best hardcore bands (Dirty Money, Tremors, DiE, The Smear), High Vis maintain a hardcore energy in their live shows – it’s not uncommon for cheerfully miserable, gold toothed vocalist/front person Graham Sayle to come away from a show with a bleeding forehead – but they’ve taken their aural cues from older UK bands like Gang Of Four, Crisis, Joy Division and Stone Roses. The intensity and passion of hardcore still stokes their fire, but in its post-punk inspired textures and moods lay a sonic adventurousness which suggests the members of High Vis are never going to be confined by any notion of what they should or shouldn’t be playing.

On “Talk For Hours”, High Vis fuse the bristling, frenetic energy of hardcore with the unabashed anthemia of the Madchester scene to stunning effect. Sayle reveals it to be, “a sobering reflection on endless conversations without resolution. Temporary chemical optimism and subsequent hopeless introspection. A song born out of late nights waiting your turn to shout your struggle that no one will listen to.”
“Talk For Hours” comes alongside the news that the band have joined the DAIS family and will be releasing their second full-length later this year. 

Released April 15th, 2022

“The Rise” is the first word in a conversation, the first step on a new, unkept trail. It’s the beginning of a new era for the Toronto trio, and the first of three pieces in a year-long puzzle, which will be constructed over three separate releases.

On its own, “The Rise” tells its own six-track story through Paul Banwatt’s thundering drums, Amy Cole’s hammered keys and crystalline harmonies, and Nils Edenloff’s furious acoustics and soaring, wheaty tenor. At times, it’s literal and visceral, like the blowing dust of “Lifetime,” or the hardy, galloping road trip post-mortem of “3 Sisters,” or the slow, naked march of “Late September Snow.” At others it’s hallucinatory and surreal, like the vivid, crashing dreamscape of “10Ft Tall”.

Discussing this first installment of new music, and The RAA’s return, Edenloff notes, “We just go only based on heart and gut and try to let our minds get out of the way, because more often than not those just trip us up.” Cole adds, “We’re so intrigued by the idea of different perspectives and memories in these songs, and then this ultimate view of ‘Is any of it anything?”

That dichotomy—between what is assumed to be objective, real and tangible, and what is not is explored by Alberta photographer Leroy Schulz’s work that accompanies the EP and lead singles “CANDU” and “AB Bride.” Schulz flew drones over Alberta landscapes and took photos from above, looking down on rows of fir trees, barns, crops, and grass. From this perspective, the settings look unrecognizable, even unreal, like some alien planet. The shapes, shadows, lines, and textures are foreign, yet these are scenes of home.

“3 Sisters” is an elemental track that reminisces about life on the road. Directed and animated by Jared Sales, the video features a likeness of The RAA’s actual touring van, features tickets stubs from some of the band’s most memorable performances, along with cityscapes from those locations, The past two years have upended all that we thought to be concrete. “The Rise“, like this period, is a complication of what we assume to be familiar and true and unchanging. It’s the start of something new. 

Released March 31st, 2022

The Rural Alberta Advantage – “3 Sisters” from “The Rise“

Porridge Radio seem primed for indie world domination with the release of their amazing second album, “Every Bad“, but then the coronavirus really took the wind and momentum out of their sails. Maybe this will be the year, though, and they also seem to have set their sights beyond just indie. “I kept saying that I wanted everything to be ‘stadium-epic’ – like Coldplay,” singer and songwriter Dana Margolin says.

The U.K. band Porridge Radio have already shared two excellent singles off their forthcoming album “Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky” (out May 20th via Secretly Canadian), “Back to the Radio” and “The Rip.” now they shared a third single, “End of Last Year,” along with an animated video for the track created by Maura Sappilo.

Porridge Radio frontperson Dana Margolin’s considered, heart-on-sleeve lyricism steers “End of Last Year” as she talks herself through what seems like the slow, painful collapse of a relationship she holds dear. “What you take from me / I don’t ever want it back / I don’t want to go back,” she chants over the rising crash of cymbals and the warm melancholy of horns that replace the chiming keyboards that rang out over the song’s intro, signalling that the situation will cave in on itself sooner rather than later. Though it feels and sounds gentler than the other two singles, letting itself gently unfurl rather than storming in and demanding what it’s owed, the song features some of the most devastating imagery we’ve ever heard from the band: “Cut off my shoes instead of taking them off / Cut off my hands because they’re itching so much / Talk to myself because it?s getting so bad / Do you know? / You break everything you touch.” Even when they attempt to be delicate, there’s a defiance to everything Porridge Radio create, taking what could’ve been a whisper of a song in different hands and blowing it up to an eruption that could shake the ground with how much they mean it.

In a statement, Margolin talked about the inspiration behind “End Of Last Year” and the process of making the animated video for the track:

The video is by my friend Maura Sappilo. I’ve been a fan of her work for a long time, and I wanted her to make the video for this song because whilst her work is playful and bright, she knows how to bring the dirty and painful and disgusting aspects of being a person and having relationships into her paintings. Her art is lyrical and sensual and painful and beautiful, and I love how she brought all that to this song.

“End of Last Year” is a love song for my bandmates and for myself. It?s about not trusting my intuition, not trusting my body to heal itself, not trusting the people closest to me, but it is also an ode to all those people, and to difficult platonic love. It came out of a particularly painful period of communication breakdown and high pressure that hurt a lot, but ended in reconciliation and understanding.

October 24th – Nottingham, UK @ Metronome

The forthcoming album ‘Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky’ out May 20th on Secretly Canadian.

Metric have announced the release of a new album, Formentera, which will be out on July 8th. They have also announced a tour and have shared a video for a new album single, “All Comes Crashing.” View the Justin Broadbent-directed video below, along with the album’s cover art and full list of tour dates.

“Not everyone has a conventional life with conventional relationships,” states frontwoman Emily Haines in a press release. “‘All Comes Crashing’ is a love song that goes beyond romantic love, it’s an expression of solidarity with whoever it is you would want to have beside you in the event of catastrophe. It might be your best friend, it might be your blood brother or your dog. The song is dedicated to those you consider your family, whatever that looks like for you.”

Metric’s previous album, Art of Doubt, came out in 2018 via MMI/Crystal Math Music.

The Afghan Whigs announced their first studio album in five years: It’s called “How Do You Burn?” and it’s coming out September 9th via Royal Cream/BMG. The band revealed that two tracks on the album feature backing vocals from the late Mark Lanegan. “It was Mark who named the album,” frontman Greg Dulli revealed. The 10-track album also features Susan Marshalls, Van Hunt, and Marcy Mays.

They’ve also released the first single called “The Getaway” and a video for it directed by Philip Harder and Patrick Pierson. The visual depicts the band in silver astronaut suits. Are they on Earth? Are they on a newly discovered planet? It’s all a bit unclear. The sun blazes as The Afghan Whigs jam in a desert. “Sitting on a wire, hiding on display / Waiting for the night, as I destroy the day,” Dulli sings. But wait! There’s another astronaut and they walk toward an eerie space station with a rocket. The rocket has the letters “USA” on it. Maybe they’re on Earth, or maybe it’s an abandoned ship on another planet? Who’s to say.

“How Do You Burn?” is out September 9th on Royal Cream/BMG.

Jethro Tull live audio at the Los Angeles Forum June 23rd1972. This is one of my favourite bootlegs of the “Thick As A Brick” tour with great sound and a very enthusiastic audience, so I dressed it up with lots of photos. I especially like how Jeffrey’s bass playing comes to the front in the mix.

Among my favourite Jethro Tull show. Which is difficult to gage when considering the shows the band performed “A Passion Play” in 73 and The “Warchild” tour in 75.
This though was highly anticipated and a landmark in terms of rock concerts of the day, as funny as it was surprising and electrifying.

Setlist:

0:00 Introduction 2:48 01A. Thick as a Brick part 1 (opens with a few seconds of Only Solitaire) 7:11 Telephone Interruption “It appears there is a very urgent telephone message for a Mr Mike Nelson if he’s in the audience tonight – I think there might be a dover sole on the line” 7:39 01B. Thick as a Brick part 1 (continued) 16:48 02. Keyboard Instrumental 22:26 03. Thick as a Brick part 2 25:08 04. Flute Instrumental 26:27 05. Flute Solo (includes God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Bourée) 37:24 06A. Thick as a Brick part 3 40:32 Jeffrey: Ian is now playing a rhythmic link sequence . . . 41:26 06B. Thick as a Brick part 3 (continued) 46:59 07. News and Weather 52:22 08. Thick as a Brick part 4 54:05 09. Drum Solo 1:05:50 10. Thick As A Brick Jam (We are geared toward the average rather than the exceptional) 1:12:23 11. Thick as a Brick part 5 1:17:14 Applause 1:18:04 “And now for our second number”, Introduction to Jeffrey, Jeffrey introduction to Cross-Eyed Mary 1:19:36 12. Cross-Eyed Mary 1:22:36 “What’s the name of that song they used to play” . . . 1:22:58 13. A New Day Yesterday 1:37:45 14. Aqualung 1:44:36 Thank you, applause 1:48:09 Introduction 1:49:50 15. Wind-Up 1:54:46 15. Instrumental 1:59:31 16. Guitar Solo 2:06:19 17. Locomotive Breath 2:12:53 18. Hard-headed English General 2:14:00 19. Instrumental 2:15:50 20. Wind Up (reprise) 2:17:56 Applause

Newly announced today, on this session the Perth-based rock n roll machine Psychedelic Porn Crumpets rip through a full platter of their high-speed tunes, shot in two locations and heralding their new LP, Night Gnomes. The Perth-based psychedelic rock n roll machine rip through a full platter of their high-speed tunes, shot in two locations and heralding their new LP, Night Gnomes. A kaleidoscopic array of crunchy riffage, addictive melodies and no-holds barred psychedelia, all on tap to feed your head.

A mix of sprawling, exploratory, psych-pop, prog rock, and heavy garage riffs, Australia’s Psychedelic Porn Crumpets rose out of Perth’s indie underground, earning a devoted fan base through hard touring and releases like 2016’s “High Visceral, Pt. 1” and 2019’s more muscular “And Now for the Whatchamacallit“.

releases May 13th, 2022

Vocals/Guitar: Jack McEwan
Guitar/Backing Vocals: Luke Parish
Guitar/Keys: Chip Hazard
Bass: Wayan Biliondana
Drums: Danny Caddy

The Fuzz Club Edition comes on Fire Galaxy Vinyl and is limited to 300 copies.

Girlpool – the Los Angeles–based duo of Avery Tucker and Harmony Tividad – have followed up 2019’s “What Chaos Is Imaginary” with a new album called “Forgiveness“. Out now via ANTI-Records, the record was previewed with the tracks ‘Dragging My Life Into a Dream’, ‘Faultline’ and ‘Lie Love Lullaby’. “A lot of my songs on this record are about relationship dynamics where I experienced frustration and pain, and struggling to hold a lot of complexity in my emotions,” Tucker said in press materials. “Writing “Forgiveness” helped me fit all those pieces into an acceptance: that my fate pushes me exactly where I need to go.” Tividad added: “A lot of life feels like unavoidable experiences to me.

To me, “Forgiveness” is about accepting that concept. It’s about forgiving reality for having to be exactly what it is all the time.”

When Girlpool released their fourth LP at the beginning of 2022, it would have been hard to predict that by the end of the year, the folk-turned-synth-pop duo would have disbanded for the foreseeable future. That this may be the last statement from Avery Tucker and Harmony Tividad makes what was already a career high feel all the more poignant, from the forward-thinking industrial-pop of “Nothing Gives Me Pleasure” to the dreamy, folk-leaning farewells of “Butterfly Bulletholes” and “Love333.” It’s the sound of a longtime duo finding thrilling new paths forward, even if it means starting over anew.

Released April 29th, 2022

Written by Girlpool

There’s a line from the first Melody’s Echo Chamber album where French psych-pop voyageuse Melody Prochet confesses “in the calm I find my truth”. Ten years on, that same principle bears some pretty heavenly fruit with “Emotional Eternal“, a more grounded and complete record than what has come before.

Melody’s Echo Chamber has released her third album, “Emotional Eternal”, via Domino Recordings. Like 2018’s “Bon Voyage“, the LP was initially recorded in the outskirts of Stockholm with Reine Fiske Fredrik Swahn of The Amazing. The singles ‘Looking Backward’, ‘Alma’, ‘Personal Message’ preceded the record. “I hope the record has that uplifting quality,” Melody Prochet said in a statement. “I wanted to be more grounded and mindful through the process. I guided the sessions with simplicity—a contrast with the maximalism of “Bon Voyage” and the wilderness of my delusions.

I made some big and impactful decisions and changes to my life. It took me to where it is peaceful, and I think the record reflects this. It’s more direct.”
 While admittedly not as adventurous or wildly experimental as her last release, “Emotional Eternal” supplements that with a much sharper focus and much more consistent sound.

released April 29th, 2022