British alternative rock’n’roll band – loud guitars, melodic bass & heavy drums, or acoustic guitars & spoken word poetry in equal measure. Formed in Swansea, Wales and continued along the M4 to London. Independent’s Top 10 album Swansea to Hornsey. Indie trio Trampolene have announced details of their third album, ‘Love No Less Than A Queen’.
The record, which has been previewed over recent months via a series of singles, will come out on July 16th via Pete Doherty’s Strap Originals label. The band have also shared a new single called ‘Gotta Do More Gotta Be More’.
Speaking of the new album, Trampolene frontman Jack Jones, who also serves as the touring poet for The Libertines said: “The album was a way of me summing up my life so far. It made me search into myself and understand that life really is a gift after all and that being at peace isn’t wrong or something you don’t deserve and it actually makes things better that way.”
Of new single ‘Gotta Do More Gotta Be More’, Jones added: “We’re all told we can be better, we can do more. It’s not always true. Repeat it so often it becomes hypnotic and surreal and loses any sense or meaning. Then you’re free to relax and be yourself.”
The new single, a mind-bending maniacal mantra ‘Gotta Do More Gotta Be More’ is the fourth track to be lifted from ‘Love No Less Than A Queen’ along with ‘Oh Lover,’ ‘Come Join Me In Life’ and ‘Uncle Brian’s Abattoir.’
The album features 12 new Trampolene original songs and was produced by Mike Moore and Richard Jackson) & Jason Stafford and mixed by Dave Emery.
Trampolene’s new album is set to be showcased at three UK tour dates in August. See details of the shows below. August 2021Wednesday 18th – Manchester, Deaf InstituteThursday 19th – Cardiff, The GlobeFriday 20th – London, Moth Club
With a mere WEEK to go until Rose City Band release their radiant new album “Earth Trip”, the group offer up one of the albums more wistful and introspective moments, the beautifully melancholic “In The Rain”. Many of you preordered this record and know this jam already! Thanks to you early birds for your support and patience!!
Drawing deep on country music’s heart-on-your-sleeve emoting, “In The Rain” finds beauty in the melancholy and solace in the natural world. Guitarist and vocalist Ripley Johnson puts it best in his own words:
“My general operating outlook is optimistic, but what a tough year. This song is highlighting the beauty in the darkness and also leaning on love to make it through. To me this song is saying in part, “Things are tough, its dark and it’s raining, but isn’t the rain also beautiful? It’s cold but your love is keeping me warm.”
Only a handful of copies of the limited-edition Hot Box pack on our webstore, and mail order colored LP stocks are running low – make sure you grip this future classic before it goes.
Rose City Band is celebrated guitarist Ripley Johnson. A prolific songwriter, Johnson started Rose City Band as an outlet nimble enough to match the pace of his writing as well as to explore songwriting styles apart from Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo. Rose City Band allows him to follow his musical muses as they greet him and not be bound by the schedules of bandmates and demands of a touring group. On Earth Trip, Johnson colours songs with a country-rock twang and a melancholic, wistful undertone. Themes recur such as pining for summers spent in the company of friends to newer meditations on space, stillness and the splendour of the natural world. Johnson’s laid-back and classically West Coast songs communicate emotions entirely of the moment with both his lyrics, intimate vocal style as well as his elegant elongated guitar lines and astute use of counter-melodies on the pedal steel.
Earth Trip was written during the period of sudden shocks and drastic lifestyle changes of 2020, quite literally “called down off the road” as he sings in elegiac album opener “Silver Roses”. Home for an extended period for the first time in years, he was able to reconnect with simple pleasures of home life: hikes in nature, bathing outside and waking with the dawn. Johnson found hope and healing in forming a more mindful relationship with the natural world, from the simple pleasures of tending a garden to sleeping out under the stars. “Lonely Places” in particular captures the sheer joy and freedom of losing oneself in nature, an ode to the wealth of natural beauty the west coast provides, as well as the importance of appreciating wild, open spaces. “In the Rain” seeks beauty and hope in life’s darker moments, while “Dawn Patrol” finds solace in the earth’s natural rhythms.
Recorded primarily at his home in Portland and mixed by Cooper Crain (Bitchin’ Bajas, Cave), the songs on Earth Trip make deft use of space through their lean arrangements, guest Barry Walker’s shimmering pedal steel, open and elongated guitar melodies, and upfront and intimate vocals. Johnson describes the arrangements this way; “I was trying to capture that feeling when you take psychedelics and they just start coming on – maybe objects start buzzing in the edges of your vision, you start seeing slight trails, maybe the characteristics of sound change subtly. But you’re not fully tripping yet. Cooper got the idea right away and his mix really captures that feeling.” Johnson’s lithe guitar playing treads an equally fine line between country and cosmic, melodies blooming into long reverb trails and solos evocative of radiant summer warmth.
Earth Trip’s message of interconnectedness with the environment expands on a long country music tradition that draws a symbiotic relationship between storyteller and the land, celebrating the beauty of the natural world without forgetting our responsibility to preserve it for future generations. It cements Johnson’s place as a musician and songwriter of inimitable skill.
Following up on recent single “Orwell’s Idyllic Future”, Portsmouth based post punks Hallan drop new single “Reruns” – a subversive deconstruction of self-help which will feature of their upcomingReporting Live From The Living Room Floor EP which is set for release on Wednesday July 16th via Swan Records.
“I like to think that between the four of us, there’s not a thing we haven’t had a crack at during our “year of self betterment”. And thus over the last year we have become experts on the mundane. We know the things you’re meant to enjoy are not the pleasures they may seem, and we know for certain you’ll get more joy out of watching a watermelon being crushed by a hydraulic press at 30,000 frames per second (at 2AM), than you ever will sweating on an exercise bike. ‘Reruns’ embraces the mundane and we like to think the track is us finding our true calling as self-titled “preachers of mundanity”.
We’re proud to announce the release of our debut EP ‘Reporting Live From The Living Room Floor’ via Nice Swan Records . A prologue chapter within the world we call Hallan, RLFTLRF introduces the 21st century to the Gumshoe Boy. The boy is always the man for the job. He’s the man on the inside. He’s the Agency’s number one frontman and he’s armed with a tape provided by an anonymous source. An undercover operative in a satirical, Orwellian world, RLFTLRF paints a semi-abstract but tangible image of the new decade, holding a mirror up to not only our modern society but our individual selves.
The time is now right. From the corner of his bleak bedroom the boy plans his plan, and from the corner of ours we do the same.
Track Listing:1. Reruns 2. Hands Up 3. The White Boys 4. Orwell’s Idyllic Future 5. Television Show 6. Prime Time Lullaby (Vinyl Exclusive)
See Hallan show off their new EP Reporting Live From The Living Room Floor when they play Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham on Saturday 28th August. More Dates to be added.
Signed to Fat Cat Records, Breathe Panel’s self-titled debut album was released on July 13th 2018.
Meeting at University, Josh Tyler, Nick Green and Benjamin Reeves sprung out of a vibrant scene of musicians playing and gigging together. Between writing in a shared house basement and taking long walks on the South Downs, Breathe Panel have crafted their own sound based around the intuitive song writing partnership of Josh and Nick.
Recalling thoughtful days spent outdoors, Nick’s vocals wash across bright, shimmering guitars and intricate drum patterns to create something beautifully expansive yet highly introspective. They combine writing about topics including anxiety, colours, people, memories and the cure of nature with capturing a sound that makes them feel good.
Breathe Panel have announced that their new album will be released on September 17th via the sharing of title track ‘Lets It In’. With members divided between London and Brighton, Breathe Panel come together to produce music that is as effortless as their name suggests. Recorded live to tape by esteemed producer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, PJ Harvey, Katy J Pearson), Lets It In was recorded with no agenda other than the enjoyment of making music together. The resulting album is ultimately positive in outlook, centreing around themes of falling in love, moments in places, light, breathing, walking, urban living and finding beauty in a sometimes heavy environment.
Breathe Panels sonic arsenal with dreamy, reverb-laden vocal hooks and jagged duel guitars. Of the track, the band say “It’s a comment on how the unpredictable changes in nature can be beautiful and sometimes frustrating, and a reflection on how that can mirror in relationships between humans. We decided on this theme as we thought the guitar lines sounded like blooming flowers or plants with a constant underlying tension, so we went from there.”
Breathe Panel by Breathe Panel on Fat Cat Records.
Liverpool indie rock songwriter Zuzu combines her influences from gaming and comic book culture into her music, and today she releases new single “Timing” which paints a vivid picture of the greatest ever romance that never was.
“This song is about what could have been – meeting someone you have an instant connection with but the timing was never right. It’s about those lonely late nights / early mornings when the sun is rising and that person creeps into your mind. You wonder where they are, if they’re thinking of you too. I wanted to capture the nostalgic but also melancholy feeling brought on by those sad longing thoughts for somebody you loved.”
The first single off my debut album is coming out this Friday and is available to pre-save now! It’s called ‘Timing’ and I’m beyond excited to share it with everyone.
This song is the oldest on the album but I’ve never had a version of it that felt right until now. It’s been with me throughout a lot of ups and downs in my life and felt like the natural place to start. It’s about wondering what could have been, meeting the right person at the wrong time.
Kurran and I recorded this track here in our studio in Birkenhead with some of our best friends in the world. I feel so lucky to be doing all this after the year and a half we’ve all had. You guys have kept me going at moments when I felt like I couldn’t anymore and I’ve got so much love and admiration for you all holding on throughout the chaos too. I can’t wait to snuggle you again, I’ve got lots of love dates coming soon I promise!
Rising star Zuzu plays support for Courteeners when they play a huge homecoming outdoor show at Manchester Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday 25th of September. Plus, you can see her making appearances at 110 Above Festival and NEIGHBOURHOOD WEEKENDER!
“Timing”Planet Z Records Released on: 11th June 2021.
UK South coasters, relocating from West to East: Katja Rackin and Sam Stacpoole have been grafting and honing alone, away from the expertise of music producers and other governors since 2016. The result is unadulterated and unclean, unabashed and uncom- promised. Through their love of artists such as The Kinks, Alex Chilton and The Nerves or any other artist who spends less time with the polishing cloth and more time with the power shower, Holiday Ghosts make music with a lean and primitive rock n roll spirit. Drums are stripped naked to the point of metronome status and no stomp boxes, nor cahons or didgeridoos are found to obscure the energy of guitars at their rawest.
In stories of landlords, steady jobs, wrong turns, short straws, sunny moods and city life, Kat and Sam share lead vocals alongside returning band-mate and song writer, Charlie Murphy, and a host of other musicians from Falmouth, Cornwall where the band began.
Two albums in with Punk Slime Records and a casually bandcamped EP, Holiday Ghosts are back with their 3rd full length – “North Street Air” on FatCat Records (May 2021) – 12 songs of love, hate and everything in between.
Social Haul first exploded onto the scene just three months ago, announcing their arrival with rip-roaring single “Wet Eyes”, followed by further incendiary songs “The Ease and “This Is All I Need” which quickly attracted a cult fanbase and was the first taste of their upcoming debut album – which has just dropped today!
We were so excited by them, The band leader consists of Leigh Padley, AKA bassist from TRAAMS, Social Haul‘s track ‘This Is All I Need’ is out today and the album is soon to come – out June 11th!
Produced by Daniel Fox from Girl Band, the ten blistering hot tracks are a flurry of rapid riffs (only one song exceeds the 3 min mark!), sped up disco beats and frenetically shouted slogans. Each song is a collection of vignettes illustrated the drunken descent of a central character, broken by a existential crisis.
“‘Social Haul is a collection of songs to get to know us by. The album loosely depicts a protagonist challenging perceived negative aspects of character, particularly in others, attacking in stages or episodes. Not dissimilar to that unfinished Bruce Lee movie.
Including bouts with ignorance, through to rebellion, disassociating, spiritual bypassing, indifference and eventually light-enlightenment. ‘Social Haul’ centres around themiddle distance, the place in which we realise that no matter how insignificant or excluded we may feel, we all have something worthwhile to say”.
‘Wet Eyes’ by Social Haul. Taken from the self title debut album on Fat Cat Records
Jeff Tweedy shares a new song written for ‘Parks and Recreation’ band Mouse Rat, ‘Cold Water’ features Duke Silver, the sax-wielding alter-ego of character Ron Swanson,
Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy has shared a new song as Scott Tanner, his character from his Parks and Recreation cameo.
In the show, Tanner was the frontman of local band Land Ho! which Chris Pratt’s character Andy Dwyer successfully reunited for a benefit concert. Tweedy (as Tanner) has now released ‘Cold Water’, a track written for ‘The AwesomeAlbum’, the recently-announced debut album from Dwyer’s fictional band in the show, Mouse Rat.
Featuring on the song is Duke Silver, the saxophone-wielding alter-ego of the show’s character Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman)
‘The Awesome Album’ is a 15-track record and will arrive on August 27th through Dualtone Music Group and Entertainment 720 (the company founded by Aziz Ansari’s character Tom Haverford in the show). The album will also be given a limited edition vinyl run.
“Any creative business coming out of Pawnee is tied to Haverford,” Dualtone president Paul Roper said in a statement.
“From Rent-a-Swag to Tommy Fresh cologne and Tom’s Bistro, not to mention his business ideas not yet formed like the scented phone, talking tissues, contact lenses that display text messages, and the glitter-infused laundry detergent Sparkle Suds, partnering with Entertainment 720’s hype machine was essential. The man is an idea factory.”
In the lead-up to the album’s arrival, Mouse Rat have released the lead single, ‘5,000 Candles In The Wind’, which Parks and Rec fans will recognise from the funeral of Pawnee’s celebrity miniature horse Li’l Sebastian. Two more singles, ‘The Pit’ and ‘Two Birds Holding Hands’, were also recently shared to preview the record.
Back in his real life music, Jeff Tweedy last week shared a cover of Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen’s new collaboration ‘Like I Used To’ with his son Spencer.
Before he became Patti Smith’s bass player, Lenny Kaye compiled the 2 album set, “Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era”. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from the years from 1965-1968, and was a major influence on punk rock. Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total. I’m profiling and rating each of these 118 tracks, working backwards.
Iowa teenager Craig Moore formed a high school band, The Pagans. The band’s bassist, he initially learned two songs – ‘Last Night’ by The Mar-Keys and ‘Steppin’ Out’ by Paul Revere and The Raiders. He added a third song to his repertoire -‘Gloria’ by Them – but inadvertently spent the first six months playing the three note riff backwards. Nicking some members from another local band, The Rogues, The Pagans changed their name to GONN. Why? Guitarist Rex Garrett’s mother didn’t approve of the name The Pagans.
As with many bands featured on Nuggets, the compilation features their signature song. The title was inspired by a 1942 mystery thriller by J. B. Priestley, The Blackout At Gretley. There’s a thrilling opening – Moore intones “The universe is permeated with the odor of kerosene” over creepy organ. The rest of the song doesn’t quite match the introduction, but it’s an enjoyable bluesy riff-rocker that recalls the mid-1960s Rolling Stones. The shaggy dog story of the lyrics is a nice touch.
GONN seemed destined to land in obscurity – a second single, ‘Doin’ Me In’, wasn’t released. They courted controversy by playing in front on a large Nazi flag, didn’t progress far beyond playing Iowa state fairs, and they broke up in 1969.
‘Blackout of Gretely’ belatedly gained a following, especially after it was featured on the CD reissue of Pebbles, Volume 1 in 1992. By the mid-1990s copies of the original single were selling for US$1,000. The band reunited in the 1990s, and recorded their only studio album, Gonn With the Wind, in 1996.
