The Fat Angel Sings

Charly Bliss have returned with a second single “Waiting for You,” its another taste of their forthcoming album “Forever”, out on August 16th via Lucky Number. The power-pop track sends listeners straight back to the early ’90s, with sugary sweet guitar solos and melodies as sticky as taffy. The song is a delightful ode to the camaraderie of bands, a tribute to life on the road and the bliss of crafting the perfect moment. It is a follow on from our first single “Calling You Out” is the best song of all time, and it just so happens to be accompanied by the hottest music video ever made

Singer Eva Hendricks explained it as: “A love song for my bandmates. While I was separated from Sam, Spencer, and Dan during the pandemic, I remember watching videos of us playing shows and thinking, ‘How could I have taken this for granted?’ I couldn’t see how beautiful everything really was and how lucky we were. It was agonizing to be apart for that long but helpful, because I don’t think I’ll ever let myself forget that again.”

The Brooklyn group’s third album will arrive on August 16th.

I don’t know what “Horse Jumper of Love” means, but I will tell ya what: I know this band rips, and that’s really all that matters. Their new single “Today’s Iconoclast,” which pays tribute to filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini (ever heard of Criterion, bro?), only furthers this well-researched hypothesis. The single will be featured on the band’s new album “Disaster Trick”, set to arrive on August 16th via Run for Cover Records. On the track, crunching guitar chords and a shuffling drum groove provide room for singer Dimitri Giannopoulos to ruminate on the fleeting nature of, you guessed it, today’s iconoclasts.

Regarding the track, Giannopoulos said: “I was watching a Pasolini film and read someone describe him as an iconoclast. I became obsessed with that word and idea. In order to make something good, you have to destroy a belief in some way. You can’t stay static, you have to accept change and be able to adjust. I was thinking everyone should try to be as iconoclastic as they can because a lot of people end up being unhappy or unsatisfied. I think we all could be happier if we made an effort to destroy what we believe to be true about our own desires.”

The trio’s fourth album ‘Disaster Trick’ is set to arrive on August 16th via Run for Cover Records,

Dublin six-piece Silverbacks have returned with a new song, ‘Selling Shovels’. Recorded with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox, it marks the band’s first new music since their 2022 LP “Archive Material”.

Discussing the single, vocalist Daniel O’Kelly said in a statement: “The idea for these lyrics came from a habit I have – maybe everyone does it? When reading a historical figure’s wikipedia page I often lose interest and so I jump straight to the ‘personal life’ and ‘death’ part of the page to see how they died and the circumstances they were in at the time.

The lyrics flicker between mundane distractions and fairly horrific images of war. “Selling Shovels” is a reference to ‘selling shovels during the gold rush’.

Celebrating the 15th anniversary since its original release, we’re reissuing the “Farm” LP with jagjaguwar Records. This special anniversary edition on limited edition lime coloured vinyl features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release: ‘Houses’, ‘Creepies’ (Instrumental), ‘Show’, and ‘Whenever You’re Ready’ (The Zombies Cover), Now available for Pre-Order ahead of its August 16th release, :

When Dinosaur Jr. reunited, more than 20 years after their formation and legendary dissolution, the worry was that these guys were just flogging the back catalogue, taking the old show on the road as a marketing gimmick. But the 2007 release of “Beyond” gave a hearty Marshall-driven “FUCK YOU!” answer to those inquiring ears. Restoring the sound established by the unassailable hat-trick gambit of their first three albums – “Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me”, and “Bug – Beyond” continued the band’s march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. 

And then came “Farm“, the 9th full length record by the original line-up: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. If “Beyond” was Dinosaur Jr.’s return to form, “Farm” is proof that Dinosaur Jr. could (and still do, to this day!) deliver timeless, exhilarating rock music. “Farm” encompasses Dinosaur Jr.’s signature palette: soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, honey-rich melodies.

At times wholly 70’s guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, these songs get into your head and stay there, bouncing happily around. The ear-catching “Plans” is nearly seven minutes of classic whipped-topping rock dessert, while “I Don’t Wanna Go There” is a meat-and-potatoes main dish, mixing unapologetic lead guitar with straight-ahead delivery a la James Gang or Humble Pie. 

This expanded deluxe edition of “Farm” features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release: “Houses”, “Whenever You’re Ready” (The Zombies Cover), “Creepies” (Instrumental), and “Show”. “Whenever You’re Ready”, a cover of classic pop-rockers The Zombies, is impossibly good for a hidden gem; Murph stomps in with a sledgehammer to the kit, J and Lou layer low-end and fuzz like two halves of one brain, and right when things feel biggest, airy and colossal, there’s J with a lightning bolt of a guitar solo.

Pure electricity and melody like only he can make. Recorded in J Mascis’ Bisquiteen studio in Amherst, Massachusetts, “Farm” was produced by J Mascis himself, and delivers the singular, unique energy of one of America’s greatest living rock bands. 

For their 26th album, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard swap the widescreen concepts of their recent albums for the intimacy of six good friends collaborating on the most bonhomie-laden set they’ve yet committed to wax. For “Flight b741”, bandleader Stu Mackenzie says King Gizzard “wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut’ – just people in a room, doing what feels right. We wanted to make something fun.”

Tapping into the country-fried 70s American rock on which they were all raised – along with the ornery garage-rock roots from which their mighty discography sprang – “Flight b741” is lightning caught inside a bottle. Across its 10 ragged, glorious barnburners, King Gizzard flesh out rough skeletons of songs with their inspired improvisations, inimitable grooves and a unique pass-the-mic approach to vocals that saw every member of the band raise their voice and sing.

“We’re having a lot of fun, but we’re often singing about some pretty heavy shit,” Mackenzie adds, “and probably hitting on some deeper, more universal themes than usual. It’s not a sci-fi record, it’s about life and stuff. But the record is like a really fun weekend with your mates, you know? Like, proper fun.”

King Gizz are back in their funk bag with “Hog Calling Contest,” the second single off their forthcoming 26th studio album “Flight b741”. The track chronicles exactly what’s shown on the album cover: pigs flying. This absolute pork puller of a tune sees Stu Mackenzie and co. stretching their technical abilities to the absolute limit with complex vocal harmonies and a bassline that refuses to quit. Complete with ad-libbed pig squeals, “Hog Calling Contest” sets up what will surely be a standout record from the ever-prolific King Gizzard discography.

Amby: Harmonica, Sax, Vocals Cavs: Drums, Percussion, Vocals Cookie: Organ, Vocals Joey: Guitar, Vocals Lukey: Vocals Stu: Bass, Guitar, Vocals

“A huge thing for this record was to make it feel as close to our live show as possible,” says Tom Sharkett of W.H. Lung’s latest album. “We didn’t want it to sound live but we wanted to capture the excitement of the live performances.”

This is something that has become paramount to the group in recent years as they have undeniably blossomed into one of the most joyous and arresting live bands in the country. “The reason I’m in a band is to play live music,” says singer Joe Evans. “For me, music is live music. That’s what it’s for, to be played with people.”

The five-piece band, also featuring Chris Mulligan, Hannah Peace, and Alex Mercer-Main, decided to try something new on their third album after two incredibly successful collaborations with previous producer Matt Peel. In order to capture the energy, spirit and dynamism of their live shows, they relocated to Sheffield to work with Ross Orton (MIA, Arctic Monkeys, Working Men’s Club) who was able to harness this side of the band to remarkable effect. “Ross is the Sheffield Steve Albini,” says Evans. “He’s the king of not overthinking it and trusting the process of the art of recording songs. He was always there to stop us fucking around with cerebral stuff and get it down.” Sharkett echoes this too: “He was the exact producer we needed without us even realising. His productions and mixes are bombastic, lively and in your face and that’s exactly what we wanted.”

However, while this album is rooted in a sense of capturing a moment and a sparky liveness, that’s not to say it’s a raw or ragged record. It is still a meticulously composed, delicately layered and pristinely produced piece of work that, in true W.H. Lung style, runs the gauntlet from dance to pop to indie while still capturing that distinctly unique quality that is unquestionably their own. “It was a really big thing for me to realise what made us sound like us on this record,” says Sharkett. “I think the album sounds a lot more confident and self assured because of it. Some songs sound just so much like Lung and I’m really proud of that. I’m not sure we’ve done that as consistently across the other records.”

While the band have drilled deeper into finding their own singular identity, it’s not a record resting on its laurels. It’s a significant leap forward, expanding on their solid foundations while also breaking new ground. “The big difference with this record is its directness in every sense,” says Sharkett. “The song writing is more upfront. Previously we’d focused a lot on vibe and production as opposed to just writing songs. The overall mission here was to revert to a classic song writing structure and for the production to come afterwards.” And so what you have on this record are deeply considered and well-crafted songs, then recorded with blistering intensity in the moment, and then given a touch of experimentation afterwards. Then throw in Orton’s contributions to the band and it’s proven to be a real winning formula. “He brought a real dose of magic to the songs we’d written,” says Sharkett. “And brought an extra bit of wonk and quirkiness each time.”

The band’s ability to write more traditional and conventional songs is clearly a skill they’ve taken to with ease, at times there’s an almost Springsteen-like quality – but if he’d ever had an ecstasy period – to tracks such as ‘Thinner Wine’ and ‘Bloom and Fade’. While ‘How to Walk’ was constructed with one thing only in mind: that it would absolutely slay on stage. “I can’t wait to play this live,” says Evans. “We wanted a song to represent our live set, a new big one, and this is it.” Once again it leans towards the anthemic, with its driving, propulsive charge complete with incandescent synths and vocal melodies so irresistible you can already hear them being sung in unison by a crowd.

It’s an incredibly difficult feat to pull off a record that is more rooted in traditional songcraft while also capturing the power of a live performance, as well as pushing sonics into experimental new directions while working with a brand new collaborator. But here the band has managed to do just that.  And the album’s closing song ‘I Will Set Fire To The House’ is a perfect example of such a thing. It’s a song that feels immaculately constructed but also very much alive and of the moment as its radiating synths engulf from the off, and Evans’ vocal is silky but powerful and in perfect symbiosis with Peace’s. It’s a song that captures the endless joys of music playing long into the night. “It may be a bit of a bloody bombastic way to end an album saying ‘and we’ll dance into the sunrise’,” says Evans. “But fuck it.”