This month, there are two cover stars, and they’re quite unconnected, unless you count the fact that they’re both brilliant: Led Zeppelin and XTC. The Zep feature catches the rock behemoths as they work on their colossal double-LP, “Physical Graffiti“. Zep author Dave Lewis examines the making of the album and remembers the day he bought it in February 1975. We present a double-page spread of PGmemorabilia while NickAnderson compiles a PG discography and David Stubbs assesses the LP’s sonic impact today.
The XTC feature, meanwhile, finds three members of the band routinely described as The Post-Punk Beatles talking in-depth to RC about their incredible run of albums from 1978’s “White Music” and “Go 2” through “Drums And Wires”, “Black Sea”, “English Settlement” to 1986’s “Skylarking” and beyond. Elsewhere, we meet Brit-reggae/dub pioneer, Dennis Bovell MBE, and one half of 80s baroque pop duo, Shelleyan Orphan, and we run down the 45 best 45s ever made by Sheffieldpop groups/singers.
Wussy is a four-piece rock band hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio. Fronted by ex-Ass Ponys frontman Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, the band formed in 2001 after Cleaver’s stage fright led to them performing together for a brief run of solo shows. The duo’s first show went well, prompting them to continue and expand their musical journey.
Joining forces with Mark Messerly on bass and utility man duties, as well as Dawn Burman on drums, Wussy released three full-length albums and one EP on their native Cincinnati’s Shake It! Records. Their music has garnered critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, SPIN, Village Voice, NPR, Washington Post, Uncut, and other press outlets.
The first single from Wussy’s LP Cincinnati Ohio, out November 15th on Shake It Records.
The band underwent changes when Burman left in 2009 and was replaced by veteran Cincinnati drummer Joe Klug. The revamped line-up embarked on an Eastern U.S. tour in 2009 while also recording two vinyl-only singles. Wussy continues to captivate audiences with their unique sound and are set to release their fourth full-length album.
Chuck Cleaver – guitar, vocals, piano / Lisa Walker – guitar, vocals, synth / Mark Messerly – bass / Joe Klug – drums, percussion, synth
Good old Suede. The first two albums were brilliant (particularly 1994’s “Dog Man Star”), “Coming Up” was a perfect pop reinvention and then it all went tits up with the what-were-they-thinking “HeadMusic” followed by “A New Morning”. The latter was so bad the band broke up then disappeared for seven years.
Because they skipped most of the ‘noughties’, when they came back Suede were shocked to see that while their audience still liked shaking their bits, there were no ‘hits’ to speak of anymore. ‘Woolies’ was out of business, Top of the Pops was finished and the UK singles chart was so disfigured Damn! Or maybe not damn, because Suede were suddenly no longer judged by their hit singles any more.
Ten years earlier, no hits meant you were dumper-bound, but now everyone else was not having hits too Also, you didn’t even need a record label anymore, you could engage with some kind of ‘label services’ company, own your own music and stick it to ‘the man’.
‘Flytipping’ was the new single from Suede’s eighth studio album ‘The Blue Hour’ which is released on 21st September 2018. Suede Ltd/Warner Music Group
If you believe the narrative, around 2012 Brett Anderson gathered the band together, furrowed his brow and said “let’s record a triptych of albums”. “Alright then…” came the response. “The Blue Hour” is the third in that ‘triptych’, after 2013’s “Bloodsports” and 2016’s “Night Thoughts”.
So the idea with the last three albums is to be conceptual, to embrace widescreen grandeur and to reach beyond the confines of the three-minute pop song, and with “Night Thoughts” – which came with a feature film and even the standard pop promo. So with that in mind, “The Blue Hour” opener ‘As One’ is all ominous Ave Santani-style chanting mixed with John Barry guitar lines and the anthemic “Wastelands” ends with a spoken word linking section. This is a good thing, obviously. During the atmospheric “Roadkill” a conversation ensues about a ‘dead bird’ then lo and behold there is a song called “Dead Bird” later on.
The five band members sat down to talk about how everything came together for ‘The Blue Hour’. Here’s part 2: ‘Wastelands’ but I do really like this album, even if it’s VERY ‘Suede’ in places. During “Beyond TheOutskirts” Brett sings of ‘small town dreaming’ (a recurring Suede theme), but it’s still quite moving and the payoff line at the end about having the “same blank feeling… I wonder where you are tonight” is quite moving. This song also benefits from a great and satisfyingly rocky middle eight section. ‘Flytipping’ gets very close to parody in places, with lines like “I’ll take you to the verges” and “careful as you go”. For a while, I was wondering if there was any metaphor here at all and perhaps this was Brett genuinely singing about a baggy-jeaned white van man with no sense of social responsibility but I think he just about gets there in the end because he sings of ‘shiny things that turn into rust’, so it’s probably about relationships decaying on the hard shoulder of life. Or something.
‘Cold Hands’ is a great rocker, ‘Chalk Circles’ has some more of that chanting and ‘Life Is Golden’ is a mid-paced song with some sunny positivity. Arguably, “The Blue Hour” lacks a really massive standout track (and probably isn’t home to anything quite as good as Night Thoughts‘ ‘Outsiders’ and ‘NoTomorrow’) but with these thematic concept albums that can easily be flipped into a positive. It’s the sum of the whole and not about individual songs grabbing the spotlight.
Brett sings beautifully throughout and “The Blue Hour” is largely a triumph. It really suits them. Suede seem to have found their calling with these kinds of albums, 2018’s “The Blue Hour” feels like a sonic cousin to “Dog Man Star” and approaches the majesty of that record; sort of Suede 2.0’s version of that style and sound. “The Blue Hour” is great.
Live album from The Jesus and Mary Chain, feat. tracks from ‘Psychocandy’, ‘Darklands’, ‘Automatic’, ‘Honey’s Dead’, ‘Stoned and Dethroned’, ‘Munki’ and ‘Damage and Joy’.
Recorded at the Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles in 2018, ‘Sunset 666’ is a live aIbum from The Jesus and Mary Chain, In 1990, a young American band, full of a precise kind of noise and darkness, were special guests on the US tour being undertaken by a group who had noise and darkness, poise and catharsis of their own. The young band: Nine Inch Nails. Those headliners: The Jesus and Mary Chain. Almost thirty years later, an invitation was extended. Would the Reid brothers care to reverse the roles and open for Nine Inch Nails on their own North American tour? Trent Reznor had been a fan of the Mary Chain, and influenced by them since hearing ‘Psychocandy’, so it felt a good fit and the Reid brothers accepted.
The resulting tour ended with a run of six shows at LA’s Hollywood Palladium and the seventeen tracks captured on the ‘Sunset 666’ double album were recorded from the desk on two of those nights. Those twelve songs were the full set that night, in sequence, meaning the show began with the here-we-f*cking-go drums of ‘Just Like Honey’ and ended with the ferocious euphoria of an eight-and-a-half minute ‘Reverence’. The final side serves almost as a mini-showcase of the ‘Automatic’ album, featuring versions of ‘Blues From A Gun’, ‘Between Planets’ and ‘Halfway To Crazy’.
Sides A, B and C are from the final show, December 15th. Side D of the vinyl record is taken from the December 11th show
Track-list: 1 Just Like Honey, 2 Sometimes Always (feat. Isobel Campbell), 3. Black and Blues (feat. Isobel Campbell), 4 Amputation, 5 All Things Pass, 6 Some Candy Talking, 7 Head On, 8 The Living End, 9 Cracking Up, 10 Teenage Lust, 11 I Hate Rock ‘N’ Roll, 12 Reverence, 13 Blues from a Gun, 14 Far Gone and Out, 15 Between Planets, 16 Halfway To Crazy, 17 In A Hole
Available on gatefold 180g double LP and CD. The black w/ white splatter version is limited to 2000 copies and exclusive to the Fuzz Club and Mary Chain stores.
Iggy Pop is an avant-garde icon and a punk pioneer. The Montreux Jazz Festival is a boundary-pushing event that brings the best of all musical genres to one gorgeous location every year. “Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 captures the dazzling Iggy Pop performance that could only happen here.
First in a series of earMUSIC releases from the festival, this concert marked Iggy’s third appearance at the 57th edition of the MontreuxFestival. Backed by a seven-piece band, Iggy breathes new fire into Stooges classics like “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “T.V. Eye” and ignites the adoring crowd with visceral run-throughs of “The Passenger” and, of course, “Lust for Life.”
2023 marked Iggy’s return to the top 10 in major territories with his album “Every Loser.” It was the perfect moment to showcase his classic songs and share new ones (“Modern Day Ripoff,” Frenzy”) at the venerated Stravinski Auditorium.
With the artist going from strength to strength in this new phase of his career “Live At Montreux JazzFestival 2023 is the perfect mix of vintage Iggy and new Iggy with pristine 4K visuals and astounding audio (recorded in multi-track). It’s a singular moment in a singular career and we are pleased to share it with you.
Formed by singer/guitarist Stuart Adamson in 1981 after leaving his previous group Skids, the Scottish rock band Big Country were hugely successful in the UK and US, scoring four UK Top 10 albums including ‘The Crossing’ (a UK platinum, US gold record) plus a further 2 UK Top 30 albums.
‘Driving To Damascus’ features the classic Big Country line up of Stuart Adamson (vocals/ guitar), Bruce Watson (guitar), Tony Butler (bass) and Mark Brzezicki(drums) and was recorded in the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales.
Album highlights ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘Devil In The Eye’ were co-written by Ray Davies of The Kinks. Eddi Reader is guest vocalist on the single ‘Fragile Thing’.
Driving To Damascus’ (1999), also includes the live-in-the-studio ‘Nashville Sessions’, single versions, alternate mixes from the US release ‘John Wayne’s Dream’ and two discs of demos.
Ian Grant (Big Country manager from 1981 to 2013) has written the sleeve notes, giving a personal insight into the album’s genesis. 4CD Deluxe Edition of Big Country’s eighth and final album with Stuart Adamson.
The Underground Youth reveal details of their new album ‘Décollage’ and share the lead single and opening track ‘You (The Feral Human Thunderstorm)’ Their 12th LP to date arrives on April 4th 2025 and you can now stream the opening track and pre-order on coloured vinyl/CD now!
Self-written, recorded and produced by Dyer, ‘Décollage’ is an exercise in artistic deconstruction in both name and form, marking a decisive musical shift for The Underground Youth: “‘Décollage is the art of creating an image by ripping, tearing away or removing pieces of an original existing work’.
My idea was to apply this technique to music. I built walls of static coated hip-hop drum samples, layers of Lee Hazlewood style string arrangements and Serge Gainsbourg inspired mellotron melodies, then I began tearing away at these beautiful, chaotic walls of noise.”
The result, Dyer says, is “a trip-hop infused soundtrack to a collection of lyrics dealing with adoration, ancestry, originality, hallucinations of revolution and a hope that something better can be born from the ashes of the horror that exists in our world.” From moments of ghostly minimalism to sweeping crescendos of noise and melody, there is a shadowy, dreamlike quality to the songs.
The Underground Youth’s new album ‘Décollage’ out April 4th 2025 on Fuzz Club
“Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo” is a 2-disc album by Yo La Tengo, consisting of rarities, alternate versions, and out-takes, spanning 1988 to 1995. The album was originally released on Matador Records in 1996
Back in print for the first time in over 20 years, the compilation assembles more than two hours of hard to find and unreleased Yo La Tengo music from 1988 – 1995. If there’s anything Yo La Tengo have in spades, it’s a superb music taste. This collection of outtakes and demos guides you through the inspired moments of creativity that they share. ‘Cast A Shadow’ covers K Records head honcho’s group Beat Happening brilliantly. ‘Speeding Motorcycle’ goes one further – it has the actual Daniel Johnston featuring on it as well as being a cover. The latter came from his fifth self-released cassette tape, Yip/Jump Music. There’s also a Ramones, Wire “Too Late”. and John Cale“Hanky Panky Nohow” cover.
We think you get our point – astounding references. Of their own material, ‘Sunsquashed’ – a 26-minute jam that emphasizes their experimental and improvisational nature is a must. Free from the shackles of producing an album in the traditional sense, what you end up with is a fantastic and imaginative collection, which hammers home just how brilliant Yo La Tengo are for indie rock.
The second disc consists entirely of instrumental pieces. Included are songs previously recorded by the group (such as an 8-second drum solo), and covers, such as the Urinals’ “Surfin’ with the Shah,” and a wedding-band-like rendition of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
This new collection brings together classic radio sessions from Television Personalities, the masters of DIY post-punk and indie pop. Featuring two 80s BBC sessions that aired on John Peel and Andy Kershaw, along with a super rare 1992 WMBR set, this double LP features covers of Buzzcocks, The Raincoats and Daniel Johnston with previously unreleased songs and a bonus download WFMU session from 1993. “Catchy hooks and schoolboy wit are in abundant supply.” Pitchfork
The Television Personalities’ splendid DIY skills and loveable ramshackle persona led them on many a subversive trip both on record and playing live. But it was the radio that first introduced them to the world in a whirlwind of repeated spins. John Peel let outsiders everywhere tune in to their altered world.
And, at the height of punk they parodied the new revolution, their single ‘Part Time Punks’ becoming a Peel staple, and the clamour to hear more eventually resulting in a session in 1980. Through the 80s, Daniel Treacy had matured into a gifted storyteller turned pop culture narrator who placed the modern world in his own hazy shade of focus. His songs were loveable, immediately identifiable and pin prick sharp; they were tidily observational, and often magically acute. This was a gifted raconteur, an inspiration and an essential alternative to the hiss and flutter of “normal” radio, a medium that by the late 80s had just about abandoned them. ‘Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out’ captures this pilgrim’s progress to pop nirvana, a psychedelic wonderland shaded by dark and brooding memories, all played out through a crackling transistor radio secreted under the pillow so that these sketches of society remain perfectly personal, a direct line into Dan’s psyche.
Produced by Graham Sutton (These New Puritans, Bark Psychosis), ‘Birthmarks’ is New York band, Bambara’s, fifth, and best, studio album. A wild, musically adventurous suite of songs that follows a host of lost characters caught in a multi-generational cycle of love, violence and rebirth.
An extraordinary, nocturnally-inclined modernist rock band drenched in Southern Gothic, Bambara have evolved their macabre vision to perfection with their fifth album “Birthmarks“. Created in collaboration with co-producer Graham Sutton from UK experimental pioneers Bark Psychosis (a man also heavily responsible for the ground breaking These New Puritans records), it’s not so much a concept album as a stunningly complex work of narrative fiction, featuring memorable characters including the aforementioned C&W karaoke-bar siren with halo-braided hair and a one-eyed murderer begging for the electric chair – all not exactly set to music, but actually born from it.
The Fat Angel Sings 