Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot

I’ve been following London based Clock Opera with considerable interest ever since I was sent their debut single ‘Once and For All’ back in November last year. Three singles later and the album I’ve been waiting patiently for is finally here, and I’m pleased to announce that the wait has been worthwhile. A masterclass in art pop courtesy of main man Guy Connelly, ‘Ways To Forget’ is an album that has been created by deconstructing sounds from everyday objects; pots and pans, glass, lighters springs etc. and, with the aid of band mates Che, Dave and Andy, reassembling and reforming them into piano led pop anthems, with Guy’s urgent vocals topping them off perfectly. As you’d expect all the singles to date are present and correct, including the stunning ‘Lesson No 7’, but the album tracks are just as strong. ‘Man Made’ and the ‘Lost Buoys’ with their strong melodies, stand out in particular but there isn’t anything here I don’t like. Occasionally overblown and frequently pretentiousness it may be, and the influence of eighties art pop stalwarts Talk Talk and The Associates is clear, but nonetheless ‘Ways To Forget’ is a strong debut. 8/10

Mark Cousens

Out now on Moshi Moshi

For today’s video we have the promo for the new single From Talibam! ‘Step Into The Marina’ from ‘#NOSCHOOL’, a special vinyl release for record store day.

The band’s Matt Mottel and Kevin Shea’s released this official statement:

“GONG ACCIDENT LEADS TO RAP ALBUM: If you went to rap school, you wasted your money. Talibam!’s #noschoolrap is the result of circumstance. They never studied old or new school rap. Rap found them. In 2009, a falling gong broke Kevin Shea’s bass drum foot in Torino, Italy. In a subsequent recording session, Shea adapted using his other foot on the bass drum. The ensuing beats, composed without samples or loops, inspired Mottel and Shea to flex their symbiotic verbal epiphanies within their self produced floral pop paradise.”

You may be familiar with the genre riddled wit epiphanies from Talibam!’s deep catalog but brace yourself for a real, sure-fire surprise when we reveal that their forthcoming album ‘Puff Up the Volume’ is their “No School Rap” debut.

The single “Step Into The Marina” takes us to a new melange where synth pop mixes with hiphop wordplay, heralding their new sound. ‘Puff up the Volume’ is the outcome of a recording session after drummer Kevin Shea’s big toe on his bass drum foot was crushed during a gong accident forcing him to play bass drum with his left foot for the rest of a tour and the subsequent recording session. The results of that session reach a new peak of creativity with “Step Into The Marina”, the vanguard release in their “No School Rap” style. Here, Matt Mottel’s synthesizers bounce joyously over Kevin Shea’s beats, while lyrical blasts are delivered to ‘Corporate World Wide Oligarchy’ and its devastating ecological impact. It’s a glorious thing to behold and on the B side things get even more catchy, raucous and downright weird with Party Like A Star. Piano jams smack up against hi-hat abandon and tongue-in-cheek rapper excess before the whole tune dissolves into amp buzz. How can you not love this?

Matt Mottel and Kevin Shea produced, arranged and performed all of the music and vocals on ‘Puff up the Volume’ making this their debut studio album sans guests.

Yes, well enjoy the vid

Torquay based The Morrisons first shot to fame in 1987 when John Peel played there debut single, flexi disk (ask your dad!) ‘Listen to Your Heart’. Since then the band, original exponents of the now legendary C86 era of indie guitar music, have, apart from the odd short break and occasional line-up change, continued where other bands long since got jobs in banks. At the beginning of the year the band released the critically acclaimed ‘Rainy Days’ EP, and now they’re back with long player ‘Southern Soul’.

Opening with the titular ‘Southern Soul’ the album offers little in surprises, but if you like your indie to be gentle, jangly pop, then there’s plenty here across the 13 tracks to keep you happy. Occasionally the lyrics can be a little cheesy; ‘the story’s a little hazy/I think her name was Daisy/though I might have made that last bit up’ sings vocalist Phil on ‘Flowers On A Tuesday’, while amazingly keeping a straight face and though It would be unfair to suggest this is an album about drinking, it’s certainly a theme that raises it head several times! When I first popped this in the CD player I was a little doubtful whether I’d play it through to the end. As it turns out ‘Southern Soul’ not only made it to the end but has been played several times since. An enjoyable, sing-a-longable album, clearly put together by people still in love with music, that goes to show the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ holds as true for music as it does for anything else! The highlight track is Butch Brooklyn but also checkout the psychedelic ‘Captured in a Jar’. 8/10

Mark Cousens
Out Now on Pastime Records

Today’s video comes from art punk outfit and Artrocker faves The Savage Nomads. The video is the official promo for ‘Tension In The Middle’, the lead track from the band’s new EP, due out on 28th May – enjoy!

Today, for your listening pleasure, we’re thrilled to bring you the new single from London’s finest punk rock band The Fades. The follow to ‘Meccano’, ‘Joy’ is officially released on 28th May but we have a sneak preview right here, enjoy!

News reaches us from the Chapman Family camp of a brand new EP release on the horizion. The band have signed to Best Before Records and are set to release their amazing EP ‘Cruel Britannia’ on 18.6.12 followed by more new material expected later this year.

The self-produced EP includes new tracks No More Tears, Cruel Britannia, English Life and Summer Song and ends with The Smiths cover ‘Every Day Is Like Sunday’.

Check out the striking video for The English Life:

The band are also about to embark on a UK tour to showcase their new expanded line-up change: Kingsley on vocals/keyboard, Pop on lead guitar, Owen on guitar, Scott on drums and Kevin on bass.

Throughout June the band will be stopping at:

02/06 STAIRWAY, GLASGOW
03/06 VOODOO ROOMS, EDINBURGH
04/06 HOXTON BAR &KITCHEN, LONDON
07/06 THE VICTORIA INN, DERBY
08/06 HOW THE LIGHT GETS INFESTIVAL, HAY-ON-WYE
09/06 MAD FERRET, PRESTON
15/06 ELLIOT’S, ABERDARE
16/06 DANBY VILLAGE HALL,DANBY
21/06 MIMA, MIDDLESBROUGH
22/06 ESQUIRES, BEDFORD
23/06 THE STUDIO, HARTLEPOOL
25/06 THE MACBETH, LONDON
26/06 THE SHIPPING FORECAST,LIVERPOOL
27/06 THE NEW ADELPHI, HULL
28/06 DV8 FESTIVAL, YORK
29/06 THE CRAUFORD, MILTONKEYNES

The EP will be available for pre-order, along with many other TCF goodies at:
http://www.pledgemusic.com/artists/thechapmanfamily

As their current single, ‘sheena is a t-shirt salesman’, continues to enjoy radio play across the airwaves – including Radio 1’s Daniel P Carter, Huw Stephens as well as XFM, 6Music and Kerrang! Radio – Future of the Left have announced details of a headline tour in June covering the UK and parts of Europe as well as summer festival appearances:

JUNE
1 Diksmuide, 4AD Belgium
2 Paris: La Maroquinerie, France
3 Lille, La Peniche, France
5 Brussels, VK, Belgium7 Cheltenham, Frog and Fiddle (2000 Trees “launch” party)
8 Nottingham, Bodega
9 Manchester, Deaf Institute
10 Newcastle, Academy 2
11 Glasgow, King Tuts
13 Brighton, The Haunt
14 London, XOYO

JULY
14 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham
21 Sheffield Tramlines Festival
29 Off The Cuff Festival

AUGUST
5 Matlock YNOT Festival
9 Croatia, Zagreb Terraneo Festival

The shows coincide with the release of the band’s hotly anticipated album ‘the plot against common sense’, which is to be released on 11th June in the UK and Europe and 12th June in the USA, check back for a review nearer the time!!

With all the genres and sub genres out there right now, pretty much every style of music you can think of is covered, except that is, the crooner, and I love a good crooner! Sure, Richard Hawley has a go, and he’s not bad, but he’s no Roy Orbison or Matt Monroe. So when I first heard Crybaby it was with great anticipation that I awaited the release of their debut long player.

Skilfully blending the old and the (not so) new, the easiest way to describe Crybaby is Roy Orbison fronting the Jesus and Mary Chain, produced by Phil Spector. Skilfully blending the old and the (not so) new, the easiest way to describe Crybaby is Roy Orbison fronting the Jesus and Mary Chain, produced by Phil Spector. As with all good crooners, Crybaby’s songs revolve around love ,but in a melancholic kind of way; ‘What Am I Supposed to Do with You Now’ explores the pain of having a partner who is stricken with Alzheimer’s (I am the stranger / I live day by day / watching you piece by piece / fade away), while ‘When the Light’s Go Out’ is about saying goodbye to a loved one. Singer Danny Coughlan’s voice is perfectly suited to this style of music and when he sings it sounds like it’s coming from the heart. Musically the band hit the target too; recreating authentic reverb soaked backing tracks and adding a modern flavour. A real surprise and one of my favourite albums so far this year, ‘Crybaby’ is loaded with exceptionally charming and well crafted songs that you can’t help but sing along too unless your throat is hoarse. None more so than the brilliantly titled ‘I Cherish the Heartbreak More Than the Love I Lost’ clearly a song for those of us who find a perverse comfort from heartache. Fantastic! 10/10

Mark Cousens

Out now on Helium Records

If Florence Welch is the Greatest Woman In Rock of All Time, as voted by the cloth eared, imbecilic listeners of XFM, you could be forgiven for assuming that all the genuinely talented female musicians from this fair isle must have all given up and pissed off somewhere, leaving us to rot in the Florence/Jessi J/Lady Gaga hell that we undoubtedly deserve. Fortunately for us then, multi-instrumentalist Laura Kidd has decided to stick around with her solo project She Makes War to show us the error of our ways.

The result of a pledge music campaign, ‘Little Battles’ is the second album from She Makes War and features a plethora of instruments including ukulele, piano, autoharp, melodica, violin and sax, not to mention her captivating vocals which are frequently looped to provide backing. For the sake of comparison I would look to Blood Red Shoes, but She Makes War is a unique proposition. The 15 track (yes, 15 tracks!) album itself opens with ‘Intro’, an intricate little guitar number that doesn’t really go anywhere but from then on things pick up significantly. From the rocky ‘Minefields’ to the pretty 70’s balladry of ‘Butterflies’ to the sample laden ‘Delete’ Little Battles is an album full of twist and turns, but always manages to stay on the right track. Highlights would be the aforementioned ‘Minefields’ for its awkward melodies and the atmospheric ‘In This Boat’. The whole album has a feel of melancholy and vulnerability juxtaposed with strength and independence and in some cases even menace, and it’s this maelstrom of emotions, reflected in the diversity of the songs, that makes Little Battles such an interesting album. I just wish she’d dropped that ‘Intro’! 9/10

Mark Cousens

Out now on My Big Sister Recordings

For today’s mp3 we have Pillow Talk from manchester 3 piece Shinies. One side of the band’s upcoming double A sided single, pillow Talk is backed with ‘Shola’. The single is released by Dirty Bingo on 16th April. Enjoy the track!