The Fat Angel Sings

Canadian indie-rock outfit Ducks Ltd. continues to explore the balance between anxiety and joy on their second full-length album. Carrying on the good work of their debut “Modern Fiction” back in 2021,

“Harm’s Way” recalls the swoonsome, jangly indie-pop of bands like The Go-Betweens and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.

Ducks Ltd. make inviting and frenetic guitar pop for when life feels overwhelming. While the band’s songs are ostensibly breezy, a palpable anxiety boils underneath that communicates something deeper about everyday existence. On their latest album ‘Harm’s Way’, the Toronto duo of Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis hones in on interpersonal and societal collapses, urban decay, and the near-impossibility of keeping a level head when everything around you seems to be falling apart.

The band wanted to bring ‘Harm’s Way’ to life in a new city, with an outside producer, and with some of their favorite musicians. Working with producer Dave Vettraino, they enlisted a marquee cast of Windy City collaborators to round out the tracks on Harm’s Way, including: Macie Stewart (Finom); Marcus Nuccio and Julia Steiner (Ratboys); Jason Balla (Dehd); Nathan O’Dell (Dummy), Margaret McCarthy (Moontype), Rui Gabriel (Rui Gabriel/Lawn), and Lindsey-Paige McCloy (Patio).

‘Harm’s Way’ is Duck Ltd.’s most intuitive and organic album yet, the result of keen observation, self-possessed song writing, and a collaborative spirit. Building on the successes of their previous releases, the deeply relatable album displays a band operating at a nuanced, lyrical and musical best.

“Hollowed Out” is a lush, definitive evolution for Ducks Ltd.. Known for their brand of jangle pop and brilliant melodic guitar playing (a la Flying Nun or Sarah Records), Ducks Ltd., are in their fullest form here with Macie Stewart providing string arrangements and Julia Steiner and Margaret McCarthy on backing vocals. A song about living with decline (inspired by a Toronto sinkhole), its bright, indelible catchiness serves in contrast to its lyrical unease.

“The Main Thing” is out now on Carpark Records / Royal Mountain Records.

The American Analog Set were never quick movers. Hailing from Austin, one of the spiritual homes of American alt-rock, the songs from their debut album “The Fun of Watching Fireworks” onwards seemed to develop in a haze of their own making. Using similar indie-rock stylings to the likes of American Football, Modest Mouse and Yo La Tengo, the band made gorgeously tired dream pop that was always hushed and carefully considered. By the time of their 2005 swansong “Set Free” they had perfected a brand of almost Motorik pop that seemed to exist in a sonic field perfectly suitable for warm and lazy afternoon listening.

For listeners used to the nuanced delicacy of their old work, “For Forever” may come as a bit of a shock at first. Opener ‘Camp Don’t Count’ is built around a dirty old riff that is as near to opposite their earlier, fluffy, machine-washed sound as possible. By the time Andrew Kenny’s voice emerges it has a progressive urgency. On album highlight ‘Screaming For Vengeance’ his voice is slathered in reverb and fronts up a driving motorik track that, in another universe, could be Metallica or Black Sabbath. But in The American Analog Set’s hands it’s still, decidedly indie-rock. 

They still blend guitars with organs and Rhodes piano. And they still take their time over everything  – intros are long and dreamy, building up a bedrock of sound before Kenny deigns to grace us with his presence.  

According to the liner notes, the album was made between 2015 and 2019. By my calculations it is now nearly 2024 and so I’m not exactly sure of how this gestation period has worked. It figures, though, that a band that takes their time over their compositions may also be tardy in releasing them. Whatever is the case, American Analog Set have somewhat lost the box-fresh innocence of their early work and become a more troubled and moody proposition.

The similarity is that it holds this mood throughout. They never really cheer up, and if anything they grow darker as the album progresses. The title track makes everything around it sound concise  – a twelve-minute slow builder that heads deep into Codeine territory with its spindly, wintery guitars.

The American Analog Set  are such a nuanced band that it doesn’t take much to blow their sound slightly off course. Rather than a predictable lurch into electronica or an attempt at pop, they’ve simply toughened their sound up leaving everything else pretty much unchanged. Whether “For Forever” is strong enough to give them a second chapter as successful as the likes of American Football have enjoyed is for history to decide, but for fans of early late-90s / early-00s indie rock here is another band working out of time, doing their own thing, and coming up with striking, immersive results.    

Shane MacGowan, the lead singer and songwriter of trailblazing Celtic punk band the Pogues and one of the all-time great frontmen, has died aged 65 following a long period of ill health. A family statement said he died at 3.30am on 30th November, and was described as “our most beautiful, darling and dearly beloved”.

His wife Victoria Mary Clarke wrote in a statement on social media: “Shane will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life … I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him.”

In December 2022, MacGowan was hospitalised with viral encephalitis, and as a result spent several months of 2023 in intensive care.

The Irish songwriter was a one-of-a-kind presence onstage with a poet’s flair for lyricism, MacGowan sought to bring the power of Irish folk music to the rock scene, with his writing drawing from literature, mythology and the Bible. “It became obvious that everything that could be done with a standard rock format had been done, usually quite badly,” he told the NME in 1983 as were getting off the ground. “We just wanted to shove music that had roots, and is just generally stronger and has more real anger and emotion, down the throats of a completely pap-orientated pop audience.”

He frequently wrote about Irish culture and nationalism and the experiences of the Irish diaspora, reclaiming the racist “Paddy” stereotype – or reinforcing it, depending on who you asked. Early in his career, he often performed in a union jack suit – but in Julien Temple’s 2020 documentary, Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan.

His dedication to his craft earned him the Ivor Novello songwriting inspiration award in 2018, following five albums with the Pogues and various solo releases. The Pogues’ highest-charting song, “Fairytale of New York”, a duet with Kirsty MacColl, reached No 2 in 1987 and became a yearly Christmas classic.

Irish president Michael Higgins was among those paying tribute, writing: “His words have connected Irish people all over the globe to their culture and history. MacGowan was born on 25 December 1957, near Tunbridge Wells. His parents were Irish immigrants residing in Kent who moved around the south-east of England. His whole family was musical: MacGowan said he learned a song a day from family on his mother’s side and gave his first performance aged three. “They put me up on the kitchen table to sing and the song went down very well,”

The young MacGowan was noted for his literary gifts and received a scholarship to Westminster school but was expelled for possessing drugs in his second year. As a teenager he considered joining the priesthood – but then he found punk. “I was happy during punk. Incredibly happy,” MacGowan told Vox. “You call it chaos. I don’t regard it as chaos. I regard it as natural living.”

He began drinking as a child when his family gave him Guinness to help him sleep, and suffered from the effects of drug and alcohol abuse, but argued in 1990: “Self-abuse, or whatever you wanna call it, is also incredibly creative.”

He first gained recognition in 1976 when a photograph of him with a wounded ear at a gig at the ICA in London was printed in the NME with the headline: “Cannibalism at Clash gig”. Then known as Shane O’Hooligan, MacGowan formed his own punk band, the Nipple Erectors – later the Nips – and made a demo for Polydor produced by Paul Weller.

MacGowan and late-joining Nips member John Hasler, formerly of Madness, would break away from the fracturing group in the early 80s to come together with members of the Millwall Chainsaws to form Pogue Mahone – a corruption of the Gaelic póg mo thóin, or “kiss my arse”. They changed their name to the Pogues partly as a result of BBC censorship, and gained a reputation for their fierce live performances.

The band drew rave reviews for their debut album, 1984’s “Red Roses for Me”, but the group struggled to capitalise on its success owing to its highly combustible line-up – which sometimes saw the Clash’s Joe Strummer fill the absent MacGowan’s shoes. They released two more classic albums in 1985’s “Rum Sodomy & the Lash”, produced by Elvis Costello, and 1988’s “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”.

“Hell’s Ditch”, released in 1990, was the band’s fifth album and the last to feature MacGowan as a member. After collapsing en route to support Bob Dylan in 1988, he was diagnosed with hepatitis and told he would die if he did not stop drinking spirits.

MacGowan moved from Thailand to Tipperary and formed the band Shane MacGowan and the Popes, who recorded two studio albums. He would rejoin a full Pogues reunion in 2001, which lasted until 2014.

In the late 2000s, “Fairytale of New York” began staging a perennial resurgence in the Christmas singles chart thanks to the rise of downloads and later streaming.

MacGowan’s last album was the Popes’ “The Crock of Gold” in 1997, although since 2015 he had been working on an as yet unreleased album of covers and originals with the Irish band Cronin. Among his final artistic output was The Eternal Buzz and the Crock of Gold, a lavish art book which was praised by critic Waldemar Januszczak for MacGowan’s “demented, wild, fascinating, scabrous kind of energy”. Copies of the book were sold for £1,000 each to raise money for MacGowan’s care.

MacGowan is survived by Clarke, whom he married in 2018. They met when MacGowan was 24 and she was 16. He also once said he fathered a son, born around 1991. “I wouldn’t wish myself on any kid as a father,” he told the Telegraph. He is also survived by sister Siobhan and father Maurice.

In one of his final interviews, with the Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone, MacGowan insisted that despite his reputation for having a death wish, he wanted to live. “Of course I like life,” he exclaimed.

Expect in-depth interviews with the greatest artists, articles on your favourite records and memorabilia, the most comprehensive reviews section, as well as RC’s unique listings pages of items for sale.

This month’s cover stars couldn’t be more stellar and tinselly for Christmas, being the glam class of 1973: Slade, Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Elton, Bowie, Bolan and Wizzard. Over 16 pages, we celebrate the 70s glamsters in all their flamboyant, colourful glory and discover their more monochrome 60s roots, via interviews with some of the members of the bands about the time Before They Were Famous. Plus, we present a “pre-glam” discography from when the household names operated under such strange monickers as The Elastic Band and At Last The 1958 Rock And Roll Show.  

As well as including a fantastic vinyl-related calendar it’s a seasonally hefty doorstopper of an issue this month, with a bumper crop of features. We reassess Kate Bush’s second album, on its 45th birthday, and deem it worthy of reinspection. We meet the Last Monkee Standing, Micky Dolenz. Cat Power tells us about her new Dylan covers album. Slowdive talk shoegazing and becoming critical faves. We enter the whole wide world of Wreckless Eric, rehabilitate croon prince Bobby Darin and present a book of paintings of Britain’s record shops. 

We also list RC writers’ recommended albums – new and reissued – of 2023, the ones to spend your Xmas tokens on. And we review new albums and reissues from R.E.M., Bryan Ferry, John Wetton, Peter Gabriel, Trevor Horn and last month’s cover stars, Madness, plus new books from Glen Matlock and JJ Burnel, films on John Lennon and The Birthday Party, singles by Dave Davies and Johnny Moped and concerts from The Hollies, Hawkwind, Deacon Blue and more. 

Simple Minds and Icehouse have come together to celebrate their upcoming Australian Red Hot Summer Tour dates to record a song that influenced them both: the classic ‘Get It On‘, written by Marc Bolan and originally recorded by his band T. Rex. The two iconic acts beloved throughout the 80s until now (and likely beyond), Icehouse and Simple Minds, came together to pay tribute to a band they both love, T. Rex. Not only did they cover the hit single “Get It On” with grace and energy, but the new release also serves as a promotional number for the two bands’ upcoming co-headline run on the Red Hot Summer Tour.

Regarding the UK context, a lot of people of his generation said that everything began when David Bowie appeared on Top Of The Pops. For Jim Kerr, the hold music has on his life began two years earlier when T. Rex, led by Marc Bolan, fronted a string of great singles and great albums.

Music video by ICEHOUSE, Simple Minds performing “Get It On” Diva Records Pty Ltd.

Scottish post-punk duo The Jesus and Mary Chain are set to return with a new album in 2024. “Glasgow Eyes” will arrive March 8th 2024 and coincide with the band’s 40th anniversary, along with an autobiography to be published by Orion/White Rabbit.

“Glasgow Eyes” will be Jim and William Reid’s eighth album together as the Jesus and Mary Chain, and a follow-up to their 2017 LP “Damage and Joy”. The latter was a project inspired by Suicide, Kraftwerk and the improvisational disciplines of jazz, but “Glasgow Eyes” is a look back to take the duo back to 1984.

“…don’t expect ‘the Mary Chain goes jazz.’ People should expect a Jesus and Mary Chain record, and that’s certainly what “Glasgow Eyes” is,” Jim says of the new project. “Our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes. And there’s a telepathy there—we are those weird not-quite twins that finish each other’s sentences.”

The Jesus And Mary Chain’s critically acclaimed new album ‘Glasgow Eyes’ has been flying out since its release in March and the second pressing, Marking 40 years of The Jesus And Mary Chain, ‘Glasgow Eyes’ was recorded at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom studio in Glasgow. Debuting at #7 in the UK Album Chart – their highest position since ‘Darklands’ – it finds one of the UK’s most influential groups embracing a productive second chapter, their maelstrom of melody, feedback and controlled chaos now informed more audibly by their love for Suicide and Kraftwerk.

This iconic Brooklyn-based band has rocked thousands of rooms across the globe, and they’re back to blow minds once again. What makes this year extra special is that it’s all about the music. The band is putting the spotlight back where it belongs — on the incredible sounds and unforgettable moments that The Hold Steady creates. No more talk about the past; it’s all about the present!

As always, we’re bringing you our unique Be in the Stream experience. Your energy, your passion, and your faces will light up Brooklyn Bowl’s bowling lane screens, allowing the band to connect with you throughout the show.

Ahead of the first show on Wednesday, November 29th, the band sat down with Brooklyn Bowl founder Peter Shapiro and The Gospel Of The Hold Steady author Michael Hann for a live version of frontman Craig Finn’s That’s How I Remember It podcast at The Wythe Hotel.

The Hold Steady was then joined by Sincere Engineer, the first of four surprise openers. Thursday saw an opening set from Katy Kirby; Friday Scott Lavine opened; and Real Young and Lazy Horse rounded out the lineup on Saturday.

The band played a unique setlist each night with over two dozen songs from throughout the band’s 20-year career, though one thing remained consistent: Each night’s encore concluded with “Killer Parties”. Saturday’s finale also featured a surprise appearance by The Horn Steady horn section and crew member Mosh Pit Josh, who sang “Stay Positive” on both Thursday and Saturday.

MGMT have unleashed a new music video for their single “Bubblegum Dog” off their upcoming album, “Loss of Life”. Directed by Tom Scharpling and Julia Vickerman, the visually arresting production pays homage to iconic alternative-rock videos of the bygone era.

The video stars Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser in a light hearted and nostalgic setting. Hanging by a faux fire, sporting cowboy hats, and delivering a performance that would fit right in on MTV Unplugged, the duo embraces the spirit of the ’90s with cheeky homages, including soul patches. Actor Mark Proksch, recognized for his roles as Colin Robinson in What We Do in the Shadows and Nate in The Office, adds an extra layer of delight with a cameo appearance.

Vickerman and Scharpling, in a joint statement, revealed the creative vision behind “Bubblegum Dog.” They saw the video as an opportunity to blend the charming, do-it-yourself, surreal, cardboard craft aesthetic reminiscent of shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and The Mighty Boosh with the ultra-serious grunge videos on MTV that shaped their youth. The directors aimed to juxtapose the heavy, brooding angst of the grunge era with the absurd and childlike fun associated with classic children’s shows.

The directors commended VanWyngarden and Goldwasser for their comedic prowess, expressing excitement at the duo fully embracing their acting roles. They lauded the musicians for their willingness to experiment with various wigs, costumes, personas, and facial hair, contributing new ideas throughout the creative process.

November 28th, Paul McCartney took part in a surprise appearance at the 500-capacity Brazilian venue Clube do Choro in Brasília. The original Beatle cut into a 24-song set during the performance, teeming with classic material from his time with the Fab Four and Wings. Notably, the club performance represented the smallest venue McCartney has performed at in Brazil. 

Rumblings of a surprise appearance began to spread on Monday, November 27th, and were confirmed through ticket sales on Tuesday. The smaller concert affair arrived before the musician’s billed follow-up at ​​Mané Garrincha Stadium on Friday, November 30th on his current Got Back Tour. The club gig began with the Beatles’ classic “A Hard Day’s Night,” followed by a number from the Wings archive, with the arrival of “Junior’s Farm.” 

From one piece of Wings material to the next, McCartney and his backing band soared into “Letting Go” before resuming Beatles content with “Got to Get You Into My Life.” The group of seasoned players picked up “Come On to Me” before “Let Me Roll It,” which included a tease of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” Notably, the cover was performed the night after what would have been Hendrix’s 81st birthday. 

Fittingly, McCartney dedicated “My Valentine” to his bride, Nancy Shevel. After, added material that stroked the artist’s extensive history in the spotlight ensued, including “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” A segment of classic Beatles material unfolded next, consisting of “From Me to You” and “Blackbird,” which sandwiched “Fuh You” followed by another return to favourites with “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Get Back,” “Lady Madonna,” “Let It Be” and set-ender, “Hey Jude.” 

For the night’s encore, McCartney continued to add heat to the fire with the arrival of “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He continued by performing “Helter Skelter,” “Golden Slumbers,” and “Carry That Weight” before a fitting conclusion to the night with a last play of “The End,” a song that has historically ended his shows.

Paul McCartney at the Clube do Choro – Brasília, Brazil November 28th, 2023

Set: A Hard Day’s Night, Junior’s Farm, Letting Go, Got to Get You Into My Life, Come On to Me, Let Me Roll It (Foxy Lady tease), Getting Better, My Valentine, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, Maybe I’m Amazed, I’ve Just Seen a Face, From Me to You, Blackbird, Fuh You, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Get Back, Lady Madonna, Let It Be, Hey Jude

Enc.: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Helter Skelter, Golden Slumber, Carry That Weight, The End