Scallywags Yak are about to head out on tour with The Big Moon, on a seven-date trip taking them from Nottingham to London. Take a look at the dates below. To celebrate, they’re marking the jaunt with a joint tape release. Limited to just 100 copies, “Milked” will only be available on the groups’ tour and is released on Heart Throb Records. Yak’s side is a continuous 38-minute mix that features unreleased tracks and covers of the likes of King Crimson, Faust and Lonnie Donegan. The band performed the covers entirely from memory, meaning that they ended up creating some radically different versions of the originals. The Big Moon’s side of the tape, meanwhile, will contain three tracks, ‘Eureka Moment’, a “shit demo” version of ‘Nothing Without You’ and ‘This is the News’.
Hailing from Wolverhampton, childhood friends Oli and Andy began to make music when they realised that they probably weren’t equipped to do anything else. Fronting the band, Oli has the looks of a young Mick Jagger and the confidence to match, while Andy rules the bass. Relocating to London, the duo got their act together and recruited New Zealander Elliot on drums. In a time of predominantly electronic music, it is refreshing to find a band so skilled in their respective instruments performing live with all the energy, passion and volume of a bygone time. With two brilliant tracks Hungry Heart and Smile already. their debut EP Plastic People, will be out 25th May. Complete with artwork by Alexander McQueen’s friend and collaborator, Nick Waplington, hit play and get to know your new favourite rock stars.
This weekend I shall be in Leeds again for the Live at Leeds event, so to get ourselves so excited about the band Yak here they take today’s Track of the Day slot.
The first song released from their forthcoming EP ‘Plastic People’ Yak are starting to hit all the notes we said they could as they live up to the hype and murder the naysayers. ‘Smile’ Catalogue Yaknext toFat White Family but be careful, with that much grease, scuzz and electricity in one area you are bound to have a fire hazard.
‘Smile’ is a slithering sex-pest of a song as it snakes its way across the glass-shimmering dance-floor it reeks of cheap aftershave and the underlying stench of fear permeates the air. It then delivers like a blast of noise that would leave a pensioner in piss as we all gathered round to watch. Check their tour dates here
08/04 Birmingham, The Rainbow (w/ Superfood)
09/04 London, Heaven (w/ Superfood)
29/04 London, St Moritz
30/04 Nottingham, Bodega Social Club May
01/05 Manchester, Soup Kitchen
05/05 Newcastle, Cluny 2
06/05 St Albans, The Horn
08/05 Bristol, Louisiana
09/05 Exeter, Cavern
13/05 London, St Moritz
The Warlocks started because of the their mutual love of all things Rock and Roll. We love a lot of the 60s, 70s and some 80s inspired music. We are not a retro band though. We all always try new stuff and from time to time hit something great.
After forming in America during 1999, the ever-changing personnel of The Warlocks meant that the band had already featured nineteen different members before it was slimmed to the seven-piece outfit that they are today. Consisting of Bobby Hecksher (Vocals/Guitar), JC Rees (Guitar), Corey Lee Granet (Guitar), Bobby Martinez (Bass), Laura Grigsby (Tambourine/Keys), Danny Hole (Drums) and Jason Anchondo (Drums) – their two drummers with four guitarists formation produces a relentless, hypnotic wall of sound that suggests a collision between classic psychedelia, Krautrock and Velvet Underground style rock and roll. It’s just what the head doctor orders if you wish to be an underground stateside phenomenon and that’s exactly what The Warlocks became.
Front man Bobby Hecksher grew up in the swamps of Tampa Bay, Florida where he was practically raised at a radio station owned his Grandfather and where his mum also worked as a secretary. As a result Bobby was soon eating and breathing rock’n’roll on a daily basis.
Bobby recalls, “My granddad was an inspiration. He created the radio station out of thin air. And from it all these nuggets of rock’n’roll came toward me”.
At sixteen his family left the swamps and moved to LA where Bobby soon found kindred spirits. He jammed with Beck playing bass on “Stereopathetic Soul Manure”; he hung out in the in the decadent atmosphere of the ‘Mad Hatter’ club and moonlighted in the Brian Jonestown Massacre whilst also attending parties with legendary acid guru Timothy Leary, a potent cultural and creative mix that led to the formation of The Warlocks.
Their debut album ”Rise & Fall’ (Bomp 2000) set out their template allowing The Warlocks to build upon their reputation as a forceful live act but it was the band’s signing of a worldwide deal with Mute (in conjunction with City Rockers in the UK and with Birdman in America) that led to the release of “Phoenix” (2003) a record that raised their profile significantly. The album’s varying moods and atmospheres range from the driving power of “Shake the Dope Out” to the 14-minute, hallucinogenic opus “Oh Shadie”. “Baby Blue”, the pretty and deliciously retro 7″ and CD single taken from the LP arrived awash with sitars, a touch of feedback and a melody that sounded like it had blown in from the West Coast of pop. The single’s extra tracks featured two songs from the album recorded on their British tour, “Hurricane Heart Attack” boasting a guest appearance from ex-Spaceman 3 front man Sonic Boom that together with “Inside Outside” successfully conveyed a sense of the band’s gigantic live sound.
Having left those who have experienced the sheer power of The Warlocks hungry for more, “Phoenix” is sure to be the first step on a ladder that could escalate the band to some lofty heights, a fact that Bobby Hecksher seems highly aware of.
“All that concerns me is making The Warlocks the best I can possibly make it. I want to move people. If they walk away from a show feeling something, or just experience a feeling that they didn’t feel before then we’ve achieved something. We’ve been through chaos and now, finally our destiny is whatever we want it to be…”
Genre Psychedelic
Members Bobby Hecksher
JC Rees
George Serrano
Earl Miller
Chris DiPino
Here is a partial List of the Musicians that have played in The Warlocks over the years. We will update this thing as we go along.
Ryan McBride: Guitar
Bob Mustachio: Drums
Jana Risher: Bass
Mimi Sato: Bass
Corey Lee Granet: Guitar, Piano
Jeff Levitz: Guitar
Jen Chiba: Bass
Caleb Sweazy: Bass, Acoustic Guitar
Laura Grigsby: Tambourine
Hunter Crowley: Drums
Bobby Tamkin : Drums
Anton Newcombe: Drums
Theresa Saso: Drums
Danny Hole: Drums
Tanya Hayden plays cello on Whips of Mercy
Rachel Hayden sings backing vocals on Cocaine Blues
Julie Hermelin plays violin on Dilauded
Ileen Goldsmith sings on Dope Feels Good
During her internship at Electrical Audio studio, Bully lead singer Alicia Bognanno seriously impressed the oft-acerbic producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey). “She was a fucking joy,” he told NME. Her analog recording homework paid off when it came to assembling the Nashville quartet’s full-length StarTime/Columbia debut,Feels Like, a knuckle sandwich of pop-punk hooks and grunge heft. Through broken arms, poisonous memories and other lyrical baggage, Bognanno balances vocal clarity and a throat-ripping rasp. Equally potent is the tight, occasionally sludgy, frequently anthemic work of guitarist Clayton Parker and drummer Stewart Copeland — both vets of Saddle Creek garage rockers Pujol — alongside bassist Reece Lazarus. Currently on the road with fellow Music City heavies Jeff the Brotherhood, Bully shift to supporting Best Coast later this year.
They Say: “I think I did ‘I Remember’ in three takes,” says Bognanno. “I just nailed it out. A lot of that stuff is just emotional, and it’s not hard for me to replicate what I originally did live. It feels really good for me to scream about things like that. It’s like a stress reliever. There’s certain nights where I just really have an off day and we’ll play a show. It happened the other night and it was like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s so good to get up here and scream it out.'”
“I would love to meet Paul Westerberg from the Replacements. I’ve Googled interviews with him, and I really like the way he writes his lyrics. Someone should make a book of them. Just the little things that he says. ‘Skyway’ or ‘Achin’ to Be,’ they’re so sweet. If I could write a word as good as he’s written a whole song, I would be pleased. The music is awesome too, of course.”
Hear for Yourself:Bully’s new single “Trying” flips between honey-coated verses and an acid-streaked chorus.
http:// Canadian newcomers Heat’s debut EP flourishes with touches of Jesus & Mary Chain giddiness, with the whole thing underpinned by singer Susil Sharma’s weird, baritone vocals. He sounds a little like Lou Reed, which is perfectly fine with us.
The band will be headlining co supporting Spring King through May in the UK
07/05/15 – Sebright Arms, London, UK
10/05/15 – Belgrave, Leeds, UK *
11/05/15 – Start The Bus, Bristol, UK * 12/05/15 – Bodega, Nottingham, UK *
13/05/15 – Bungalows and Bears, Sheffield, UK *
16/05/15 – The Great Escape Festival, Brighton, UK
17/05/15 – London Calling Festival, AMSTERDAM, NL
Catch Bully with Kid Wave at the scholar Bar at the Leicester 02 Academy,
Having interned at Steve Albini’s studio, Bully frontwoman Alicia Bognanno is a musical force to be reckoned with – writing, singing, playing and recording all of Bully’s material. And yes, Albini is a fan of the Nashville-based band too. He told us he’s “rooting” for them in 2015. We can’t argue with that.
Nashville rockers Bully, who were in Austin for SXSW, are currently on a tour with JEFF the Brotherhood which wraps up mid-April. , but Bully are set to tour the UK stopping here next month for their first UK tour, playing
After their UK tour, Bully will be back in NYC for the Northside Festival, playing the big 50 Kent show on June 13 with Best Coast, Built to Spill and Alvvays.
Like all good parables Jane Weaver’s sixth solo album, a concept album called The Silver Globe, is as multifaceted as it is beguiling. Part coming of age/part cautionary tale and part romantic peon, this synth ridden post-apocalyptic prog pop opus is based on tightly embroidered, non-linear recurring themes and inspired by esoteric stories, cosmic imagery and refiltered past experiences. Written from the optimistic vantage of a long-standing female independent artist, in an desperately evolving industry, Jane’s latest set of self penned pop abstractions combine mechanical rock/recycled European cinema/empyrean vocalisations and an arsenal of rescued vintage synths to create a futurist narrative backdrop of a allegorical post apocalyptic landscape.
Assembled from disparate studio sessions recorded sporadically since the release of the critically acclaimed Fallen By Watchbird LP The Silver Globe explores new collaborative relationships featuring tracks co-produced by David Holmes, guest appearances by Australian vintage space rockers Cybotron, a recycled chunk of an 80s Hawkwind track, an intricate Damon Gough guitar solo, some Suzanne Ciani waves and post production/remix flourishes by Andy Votel. Enjoying her most fertile period to date Jane’s reactions to the music of Italian synth starrs Daniela Casa and Doris Norton with local DIY artists like Una Baines’ The Fates (released on her own Bird imprint) provide yet another launch pad for Janes latest musical trajectories.
Australian folk-pop trio Little May have announced a new single called “Hide”,
The band, comprising Liz Drummond, Hannah Field and Annie Hamilton, released debut single “Dust” last year to international acclaim, and are following it up with the unabashed glory of “Hide”. It twinkles with fret buzz and the gentle pluck of country-western guitar; far from the shores of Oz, this sounds like something crafted in the honey-sun wilds of Tennessee. “Hide” is set for release by Island Records on 13th April. Their self-titled debut EP is out now. The Band will be at the Dot To Dot festival in Nottingham.
Check out the single below. The band’s upcoming UK/Ireland dates can be found afterwards.
A one-man band who records and mixes together amazing songs that sound better than a lot of bands with four or five members. From Derby, England, Grawlix the one-man band helmed by musician James Machin (formerly of My Psychoanalyst), does just that.
Not even a year since founding Grawlix, Machin fittingly dropped his debut album, “Good Grief”, in mid February. This is an album all about love and heartbreak, full of raw emotion and despair and the inevitable contradictions of the foolish heart , Its an accomplished album,
Good Grief‘s sonic journey is full of fuzzy, warm guitars, hauntingly beautiful piano melodies, and Machin’s wonderfully pained vocals that morph from moments of whispery, hushed melancholy into uplifting and flourishing choruses that quickly wash away any remnants of despair or discord, providing hope to a world that is too often plagued by darkness. Grawlix lovingly blends all of these elements with sounds of ambient folk, shoegaze and dream pop on tracks like “Run Forever” and “Atlas Bear”
You can hear James Machin’s self-professed musical influences in these songs Bon Iver, Perfume Genius and Panda Bear, among others – are clearly beckoned, and well represented, but never imitated; Machin is a gifted songwriter, and a talented musician, Good Grief is a fine release, the band will be at the Maze on Mansfield Road in April.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly five years since Ruban Nielson — the mad genius and mastermind behind Unknown Mortal Orchestra — first started mysteriously posting his music on Bandcamp. In the years since, Unknown Mortal Orchestra have released two increasingly amazing (and at times totally confounding) full-length records of kaleidoscopic psych-pop that not only wowed critics, but garnered an almost cultishly devoted fanbase. This May the band will release its third record — the sanguine and surprisingly funky Multi-Love — and head back out on the road.
Super excited to show you the new video for Multi-Love made by the multi-media artist Lionel “Vinyl” Williams. The video, gorgeous in itself, is an introduction to a playable interactive software environment you can explore in your own time, wandering around getting lost in the weirdness, taking more time to enjoy each part of it and trying to unlock the various behaviors that occur.
The Fat Angel Sings 