CLT DRP - New Album 'Nothing Clever, Just Feelings'

Brighton-based feminist electro-punk trio CLT DRP have just released their second album Nothing Clever, Just Feelings which is out now via Venn Records. The track ‘Daily Affirmations’ is also out now, a tongue in cheek take on self improvement mantras that showcases the band’s unique mix of social commentary and dry humour to perfection, all soundtracked by their pummeling, idiosyncratic electro-punk. Commenting on the track, vocalist Annie Dorrett says: “Self-deprecation! Jealousy! Excessive drinking! Trying to make myself feel better by being overly-confident! All of the above!”

Recorded at Shaken Oak Studios in Oxford over the course of a week in March 2022, Nothing Clever, Just Feelings was produced by Alex Gordon (The Cure, Tigercub, Sea Power, Blood Red Shoes). With the studio based in a rural setting on a farm, guitarist Scott Reynolds enjoyed a morning trail run before starting each day, and the band cooked family-style for each other every day.

Nothing Clever, Just Feelings seamlessly merges various genres to create a unique sound that is both exhilarating and reflective. Focused on themes of queerness and heartbreak, each track explores the raw emotions that come along with these lived experiences, delivering a personal and poignant message at every turn—newfound feminism in vulnerability and gender fluidity; newfound femininity in humour and the fear of being alone.

CLT DRP’s winter 2023 UK headline tour dates are on sale now (see below for listings).

Live Dates:

08.09.23 - Brighton, Green Door Store (SOLD OUT)

15.09.23 - Sofia, BG - Wrong Fest

12.10.23 - Manchester, Beyond The Music

02.11.23 - Leeds, Oporto

03.11.23 - Glasgow, Hug & Pint

04.11.23 - Brighton, Mutations Festival

23.11.23 - Southampton, Joiners

24.11.23 - Bristol, Rough Trade

29.11.23 - London, Lexington

GIRL SCOUT UK TOUR DATES (WITH COACH PARTY) / NEW EP

Stockholm indie/pop four-piece - GIRL SCOUT - have announced an extensive run of UK shows this Autumn.

Jumping on the Coach Party bandwagon, the two bands will be embarking on a 13 date stretch together between 26th September - 13th October. With an additional stop at London’s Rough Trade East, Girl Scout will also be launching their brand new EP: ‘Granny Music’ en-route. Details for all dates can be found below - with tickets on sale now.

The ingeniously-titled ‘Granny Music’, the second EP by Girl Scout will be released on 29th September, and will be preceded by the sumptuous new single “Bruises” (out 13th September).

Recalling the tenderest moments of Alvvays, boygenius, or Soccer Mommy, upcoming single “Bruises” is a spectral, brittle indie-rock ballad to rival the best. Showcasing lead singer Emma Jansson's vocal spectrum hitting new heartbreaker heights, it’s a song that offers winsome reflection beyond their years on those feelings of getting older and seeing those closest to you in a whole new light. As guitarist Viktor Spasov explains of the track:

"'Bruises' is a song about reaching a certain age where you realise that the grown ups and people around you aren’t really grown ups but just kids stuck in older bodies. It’s a song about trying to understand and forgive the wrongdoings or faults that people close to you may have and, in some ways, the whole track is a reminder for myself to try and choose love and patience instead of anger and irritation".

“Bruises” is the latest track to be lifted from the band’s hotly anticipated second EP ‘Granny Music’ and follows recent singles “Boy In Blue” and “Monster”, both of which will also feature.

A collection that sees the Swedes honing their craft and breaking new ground both sonically and lyrically, the band say of ‘Granny Music’:

"There’s some heartland sounding stuff going on, and there’s a power-ballad, and then of course we have a couple rockers in there, too. We wanted to explore some new ground without abandoning the foundation we built with the first EP."

Moving away from the nostalgic yearning and anxiousness that defined their debut, this time Girl Scout have found inspiration in the nuances of childhood memories, family dynamics and romantic relationships, with the band opening-up on more personal stories across its five tracks. “The dynamic spectrum of Granny Music is wider; there are both softer and heavier songs on this EP" they add.

Like its predecessor, the ‘Real Life Human Garbage’ EP, ‘Granny Music’ was produced by Ali Chant, with both set to be released as a special split vinyl together on 29th September (via made records).

Catch the Girl Scout touring the release at these UK venues as follows:

GIRL SCOUT - UK DATES​

26 Sept Rescue Rooms, Nottingham UK**

27 Sept The Cluny, Newcastle, UK**

28 Sept The Caves, Edinburgh, UK**

29 Sept Stereo, Glasgow, UK**

30 Sept Gorilla, Manchester, UK**

2 Oct Rough Trade East In-Store, London, UK

4 Oct Castle & Falcon, Birmingham, UK**

5 Oct Thekla, Bristol, UK**

6 Oct The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK**

7 Oct Hangar 34, Liverpool, UK**

8 Oct The Bullingdon, Oxford, UK**

11 Oct Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, UK**

12 Oct Scala, London, UK**

13 Oct Patterns, Brighton, UK**

** with Coach Party

BEST EX - Debut Album 'With A Smile'

BEST EX Teams up with Luxtides to address music industry misogyny on the new single 'Die For You' which is out now.

“I think the song can really be summed up by the lyrics in the bridge: ‘They don’t see the things you do behind the doors you opened that I walked through,’” says Mariel Loveland of NYC-based indie-pop band Best Ex on the new single.

Featuring NYC-based Luxtides (moniker of singer songwriter Danni Bouchard) Loveland adds that while she can’t speak for Bouchard, she feels that many of the (largely male) gatekeepers know newer artists would do anything to succeed and they use that. “It almost starts to feel normal because nobody really acknowledges it and you’re in this manufactured pressure cooker made to believe one wrong move will ruin your future.”

Commenting on her creative synergy with Luxtides on the track, Loveland says, “We’ve been writing together for years, and I’ve been absolutely dying to sing a song with her. We’ve both started in the music industry around the same time in a similar scene. I remember, she texted me on her very first tour (at that time, I was on like my second year of touring) just asking for advice about how to function as a woman in an industry where there are so few of us.”

Years later, they are both no longer touring in those bands that set the foundation for their music careers, and people are starting to be more aware about the sort of abuses of power that women in the industry have endured. “I used to always repeat this joke from [Amazon Prime series] 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,’ where she says something along the lines of, ‘I’m a female comedian, there’s nowhere I haven’t been groped.’ It wouldn’t be so funny if it wasn’t true,” Loveland says.

'Die For You' follows the album’s previous singles, the bright yet somber waltz of 'Tell Your Friends' and the bouncy tongue-in-cheek 'I Promise To Ruin Your Life', and, similar to the themes on the aforementioned tracks, the album as a whole speaks about the pressures society puts on women to smile through pain, injustice, love, loss, and uncertainty.

"There's this double standard where women are expected to always be pleasant and grateful, lest they come off like too much of a nag, too controlling, too emotional. The patriarchy tells us that a good woman is a woman who quietly carries the consequence of the actions of the men around her. Of course, there are other themes that are more universal—like feeling scared with the state of the world, falling in love, or dealing with mental health issues. I think this is an album anyone can relate to because, at the end of the day, it's about being human."

The follow-up to Best Ex’s 2020 sophomore EP Good At Feeling Bad, With A Smile marks a dramatic life change that forced her to re-examine her life. “I honestly feel like I entered the Covid lockdowns a girl and came out a woman—but maybe that’s the trauma of enduring an entire pandemic that really forced me to sit down and reflect on my life (a silver lining, for sure),” she explains. But life threw her some pivotal events that gave her balance and foundation.

"I feel like I’ve aged a decade in three short years, and I think that’s all reflected on the album," she realizes. "I met my husband, moved in with him almost instantly. We eloped. I became an aunt. I lost my grandma. I was diagnosed with OCD. When I listen, I literally hear myself coming of age.”

Debut album With A Smile is released 6th October 2023 via Iodine Recordings/Alcopop! Records

With A Smile tracklist:

1. With a Smile

2. Tell Your Friends

3. Give Me a Break

4. Salt On Skin

5. I Promise To Ruin Your Life

6. Stay With Me

7. Die For You

8. Cut Me Out

9. What The Hell

10. Joyride (Glad You Found Me)

11. The End

12. Daylight

Mannequin Pussy - New Single 'I Got Heaven'

Mannequin Pussy have just relased their ferocious new single I Got Heaven, with a haunting video directed by Mason Mercer and Anthony Miralles. The song, produced by John Congleton, is the first taste of new music by the band, with more on the way soon.

“‘I Got Heaven’ is a song intended to merge the sacred and the profane and to serve as a reminder that we are all perfect exactly as we have been made and that no one gets to decide how a life should or should not be lived,” Dabice explains. “Heaven is here on a planet that gave us everything we needed to survive. Heaven is in the plants and in the water and in the animals who we share this world with. Heaven is inside of me and inside of you. The weaponization of Christianity for political means, for individual profit and power, as a tool to intentionally divide us is one of the greatest threats to our modern world and a threat to our ability to find solidarity through love. To allow the hatred and the violence and the noise to rise is to reject our sacred purpose as individuals, which is simply to love.”

Photo Credit: CJ Harvey

Last week the band launched Romantic Records, a new imprint that will release the band’s long out of print debut album Romantic. The reissue is available for pre-order now.

Mannequin Pussy also today announce Spanish and Portuguese shows in November, including the Primavera Sound Weekender. All dates below.

EU TOUR DATES 

17th November - San Juan De Alicante, ES @ Magic Robin Hood
18th November - L’hospitalet De Llobregat, ES @ Primavera Sound
19th November  - Lisboa, PT @ ZDB
20th November - Porto, PT @ Maus Hábitos

HEAVY LUNGS - New Single 'Head Tilter'

Bristol punk/noise rock quartet HEAVY LUNGS reveal the video for their new single ‘Head Tilter’ check it out here:

The single is the latest to be taken from their long-awaited debut album, All Gas No Brakes, which will be released on 29th September 2023 via Alcopop! Records on acid green limited edition signed vinyl.

Commenting on the song, front man and vocalist Danny Nedelko says: “Head Tilter is about the piercing sense of guilt that comes with repeating the same mistakes and the resolve to break that cycle. It’s driving, it’s vibin’ and it’s a hypnotising bit of kit. Three is a lucky number, they say, and this is our third single so I guess listening to it will bring you luck. They also say age is just a number. People really think about numbers a lot. Maybe a bit too much. Anyway, Head Tilter goes hard for 3 minutes 54 seconds and it’s 83,518 minutes 29 seconds until our album comes out.”

The track comes with an official video produced and directed by the band themselves, who took their inner demon for a fun day and night out on the shoot. Inspired by second verse lyric ‘my head's so big I can feel it tilt’ the band came up with the idea of building an exaggerated, oversized head to represent the worst possible version of yourself, using animator Joe Cappa’s visuals in the movie Frank as a jumping off point.

“The head was built by our good friend and collaborator Rosie Lea, who's also the cover star of our upcoming album,” say the band of the concept. “We decided to shoot the video ourselves so that we could get as close as possible to what was in our heads—pun intended. It was fun and challenging but ultimately rewarding as hell. We shot it all in one fun-filled day that spilled over into the night, when reality became blurred with the video itself.”

“We shot the whole thing on a mounted 360 camera, which came with its own pros and cons. Trying to conceal it without destroying the head or sacrificing the shot was the main issue, but this approach allowed us to create different perspectives and play around with shots to give it a central focus but also an almost nauseous overtone, using one shot to centralise the head and then warping that perspective later to change the environment into a vertigo-inducing stream of nonsense. Forget the Mattel cinematic universe and immerse yourself in the HeavyLungsverse!”

Recorded at Holy Mountain Studios with additional production at Humm Studios by producer Chris Fullard and assistant engineer Stanley Gravett, the album was mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Audio.

Across the record—and especially on singles ‘Dancing Man’, ‘All Gas No Brakes’, ‘Head Tilter’, and ‘Plagiarism’—the band examine topics of anxiety, guilt, and mental health, but they’re never too far away from that healthy dose of Heavy Lungs humour. Be it redefining plagiarism and really making it their own, or musing on the inevitability of growing old and uncool, there’s a sense of mischief throughout.

The band will hit the road later this year for their October 2023 album headline tour dates in celebration of the album, with tickets on sale now (see below for listings).

“Tinnitus. You can definitely expect tinnitus,” grins Nedelko, on what fans can expect from the Heavy Lungs live experience. “Playing live brings us such a visceral and cathartic release. It's about forming a personal connection with the audience that is quite special. But also it's a hell of a lot of fun. Bring ear plugs, seriously. Bring us ear plugs as well please…the ringing is haunting.”

HEAVY LUNGS Live Dates:

25TH AUG - JVAL FESTIVAL - SWITZERLAND

5TH OCT - EDINBURGH - SNEAKY PETE'S

6TH OCT - GLASGOW - BROADCAST

7TH OCT - NEWCASTLE - CLUNY 2

11TH OCT - LEEDS - HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB

12TH OCT - SHEFFIELD - SIDNEY & MATILDA

13TH OCT - MANCHESTER - YES PINK ROOM

14TH OCT - NOTTINGHAM - THE BODEGA

18TH OCT - BIRMINGHAM - HARE & HOUNDS

19TH OCT - BRISTOL - THE FLEECE

20TH OCT - LONDON - MOTH CLUB

21ST OCT - BRIGHTON - HOPE & RUIN

Skating Polly - New Album Out Today

Today Skating Polly release their sprawling, combustible and uncompromising new double-album 'Chaos County Line' via El Camino Media. 

Over the past decade, few artists have embodied the unbridled freedom of punk like Skating Polly. Formed when stepsisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse were just 9 and 14, the band have channeled their chameleonic musicality into a sound they call “Ugly Pop,” unruly and subversive and wildly melodic. With Kelli’s brother Kurtis Mayo joining on drums in 2017, they’ve also built a close-knit community of fans while earning the admiration of their musical forebears, a feat that’s found them collaborating with icons like X’s Exene Cervenka and Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson, touring with Babes In Toyland, and starring as the subject of a feature-length documentary.

On their new double album 'Chaos County Line', Skating Polly reach a whole new level of self-possession, ultimately sharing their most expansive and emotionally powerful work to date. The follow-up to 2018’s 'The Make It All Show', 'Chaos County Line' finds Skating Polly showcasing the depth of their growth, both as songwriters and personally. Whether they’re opening up about matters internal (identity, disassociation, unhealthy coping mechanisms) or external (obsession, deception, gaslighting), Skating Polly imbue that outpouring with an unfettered emotional truth.

Working again with Brad Wood, the acclaimed producer behind indie-rock classics like Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville, ‘Chaos County Line’ sees their songs journey from art-punk to noise-rock to piano-driven power-pop, matching that musical complexity with a sharply honed narrative voice that manifests in countless forms (ultravivid poetry, diary-like confession, fearlessly detailed storytelling, etc.).

Over the course of its 18 kaleidoscopic tracks, ‘Chaos County Line’ embraces the kind of combustible emotion that comes from fully uncompromised self-expression. “I think on this record Kelli and Peyton were really confident in being more honest and more experimental at the same time, whereas in the past they might’ve made the lyrics more poetic in order to cloak that honesty a bit,” says Kurtis. And as their songs shift from devastating to exhilarating to gloriously cathartic, Skating Polly hope to provide the same sense of solace they found in creating the album. “I’ve had people tell me we’ve helped them get through a breakup or an abusive relationship or the death of someone they loved, and all these other heavy obstacles everyone goes through,” says Kelli. “I feel like I’m not necessarily the best person to draw a map on how to live the happiest life, but I like the idea that our songs can make other people’s lives better in some way. I want our music to be like armor.”

Listen to the album here:

K.Flay - New Single & Headline Tour

LA based multi-platinum two-time GRAMMY-Award nominated artist K.Flay has released her new single ‘Raw Raw’. The song is her first new music of 2023 and first since confirming that she has gone completely deaf in her right ear. ‘Raw Raw’ is accompanied by the official music video which offers a psychologically chilling visual that taps into the disorienting effects of her real-life physical disability.

Regarding the single K.Flay says, “‘Raw Raw’ is the start of my next chapter. After losing half my hearing last fall, I was faced with a sudden and intense episode of fear and vulnerability. Like, could I even make music again? Once I got into my recovery and started writing and recording, I knew that I could. And what I wanted to create was music that felt properly rock but also properly future oriented. Uninhibited and different.

“With ‘Raw Raw’ I wanted to capture what vulnerability really feels like. Outwardly it might seem tender, but on the inside it’s messy and bloody and somewhat terrifying. It’s a chainsaw buzzing at your throat.”

The new single is her second for new label GIANT Music and the first from a new full-length studio album coming autumn 2023. The video was directed by Griffin Olis (Nicki Minaj, The Aces, Ozuna) and the song was produced by K.Flay, Jason Suwito (Imagine Dragons, COIN, Sir Sly) and Brad Hale (Now Now).

‘Raw Raw’ comes with news of a UK and European autumn headline tour where K.Flay will perform in London, Manchester, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and beyond. It follows a massive US Spring/Summer co-headline tour with grandson kicking off in May.

News of the live shows is welcome for fans who learned via Instagram on September 8th 2022 that K.Flay was losing her hearing due to a rare condition called SSNHL (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss) and Labyrinthitis and had to cancel her fall tour plans to deal with the medical emergency. Always vocal about her personal struggles, K.Flay has shared her journey trying to restore and ultimately learning how to accept and live with her disability.

Originally from Illinois, K.Flay, born Kristine Flaherty, started rapping and writing songs on a lark while attending Stanford University, and soon began releasing her self-produced mixtapes. Not long after the arrival of Every Where Is Some Where (her major-label debut), she took her kinetic live set to arenas around the world as support for Imagine Dragons, in addition to earning her GRAMMY nominations in the categories of Best Rock Song (for ‘Blood in the Cut’) and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Through the years, she’s also brought her genre-bending sensibilities to an eclectic mix of collaborations, working with everyone from Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda to Louis the Child to skate-punk bands like FIDLAR and Dune Rats. But despite that deliberate shapeshifting, K.Flay’s output remains rooted in her undeniable lyrical skills, an element she attributes to her innate love of language and its infinite possibilities.

K.Flay continues to forge her own path as a songwriter, producer and singer. Keep an eye out for news of her new album and in the meantime, listen to her latest single ‘Raw Raw’ here:

UK / EU Tour Dates

Sept 20 @ Hybrydy in Warsaw, Poland

Sept 22 @ Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany

Sept 23 @ Melkweg MAX in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sept 25 @ Meetfactory in Prague, Czech Republic

Sept 26 @ Luxor in Cologne, Germany

Sept 28 @ Flex in Vienna, Austria

Sept 29 @ Heimathafen in Berlin, Germany

Oct 2 @ Gorilla in Manchester, UK

Oct 3 @ Brixton Electric in London, UK

SAFARI INN 'Drexl Spivey' - Debut Single

After fronting and backing the garage rock band The Franklys for nearly a decade, and with a shared and nearly obsessive love for the film ‘True Romance’, Jen and Lexi dusted off their guitars and sticks in 2022 and got back into the rehearsal room to form their brand new venture: Safari Inn.

Unlike their previous popier Franklys material, Safari Inn has much darker and moodier undertones, built on thundering drums and bass lines, fuzzy and vibrating guitars and eerie vocals to create a psychedelic musical venture inspired by Tarantino’s script that stretches from the UK south coast all the way to the California deserts.

Their debut single ‘Drexyl Spivey’ is a fuzzy slice of pie with a delicious filling of drums and a topping of thunderous bass and eerie vocals … best served with a coffee so packed with sugar that you won’t be satisfied until the spoon stands straight up!

LIMP BIZKIT + SPECIAL GUESTS PENDULUM - LONDON, GUNNERSBURY PARK

LIMP BIZKIT have just announced a UK headline show at London’s Gunnersbury Park on SUNDAY 13 AUGUST.

With Special Guests PENDULUM

Plus KENNYHOOPLA , JOEY VALENCE & BRAE, DEIJUVHS

Tickets are on sale 09:00AM FRIDAY 21 APRIL:

Following a triumphant show at London Wembley OVO Arena, preeminent American rock band LIMP BIZKIT have announced they will return to the capital for their UK headline show at London’s Gunnersbury Park on Sunday 13th August.
 
Very special guests Pendulum – undoubtedly one of the biggest electronic rock crossover bands of all time, have also been confirmed for London. Opening will be the fast-rising KennyHoopla, Joey Valence & Brae and Deijuvhs - all set to put some bounce into the mosh pit at the landmark Gunnersbury Park show.

With three platinum albums to their name including renowned debut ‘Hold Your Colour’ and a UK #1 and #2 for ‘Immersion’ and ‘In Silico’, Pendulum the Australian drum and bass / rock band has sold over a million albums in the UK alone. Selling out global arena tours and huge festival appearances, the band returned with their new EP ‘Elemental’ in 2021 and following a surprise set at Reading & Leeds and a sold-out Ally Pally this year, they have teased new music on the way.
 
Kenneth La’ron, known by his stage name as KennyHoopla, is a Wisconsin-based recording artist and songwriter. Born in Cleveland, he grew up absorbing a diverse variety of music, art and breakdancing; The Drums, Funeral Suits, Common and Teen Suicide are credited as some of his greatest influences. His music is intimate, thoughtful and self-labelled as “new wave nostalgia.”
 
State College, PA rap duo Joey Valence & Brae dropped their debut EP, ‘The Underground Sound’. The larger-than-life MCs continued to skyrocket with bombastic tracks like "Punk Tactics’ and ‘DROP!!’. Valence and Brae's unique vocals, production, style, and high-energy antics that harken back to '80s rap supergroups of yesteryear combined with a masterful use of social media firmly solidify the duo as an act to watch in 2023 and beyond.

Hailing from the bowels of East London Deijuvhs is an artist who continues to resonate with a rapidly increasing number of people drawn in by his tenacity to break the wheel when it comes to strict genre norms and unabashed authenticity. Taking inspiration from Punk, Metal, Drill, Jungle and many more otherworldly genres.

CLT DRP - Latest Single 'New Boy' OUT TODAY

Brighton-based CLT DRP have just announced that they have signed to Gallows’ label Venn Records (Bob Vylan, Witch Fever, Meryl Streek) and to celebrate the news, the band have revealed the official video for explosive new genre-defying single, ‘NEW BOY’, which is out today.

The new single is taken from their forthcoming new album and comes ahead of an extensive run of Spring 2023 UK/EU headline dates and festival appearances from the band including a support slot with fellow label-mates Tokky Horror and appearances at Takedown Festival and The Great Escape, where the band play an official showcase at The Hope & Ruin (see below for listings).

Commenting on the frenetic, experimental track, vocalist Annie Dorrett says: “‘New Boy’ reflects a very manic immediate post-break-up brain. As if I was sitting in therapy desperately trying to figure out why it didn't work. I was switching from hyper-independence to then trying to find love literally anywhere else around me. A lot of questioning my gender, sexuality, and past painful history. Hence 'New Boy'—hoping for a new love interest but also me coming out of the heartbreak era a 'New Boy'."

The track’s slick new video was directed by Harry Steel and showcases the dynamic, confrontational live energy that has left CLT DRP as the name on alternative tastmakers' lips as a must-see live act whose star is quickly ascending.

"The three of us have never actually featured in a music video together so we thought it was time to get a high energy group music video to really show the force that is the three of us playing live,” says Dorrett. “The playfulness and energy that comes with the excitement of the recorded sound. Harry Steel did an incredible job of capturing our natural performances, both as a team and individually. The video beams personality and attitude—it's a perfect insight of what to expect from our band live."

Formed in 2017, CLT DRP released their rave-reviewed instant classic debut album Without The Eyes on Small Pond Records in August 2020 which led to support slots with some of the most vital and exciting alternative bands on the live circuit including JOHN, Saint Agnes, Clipping, Svalbard, Witch Fever, Heriot, Tokky Horror, De Staat and Warmduscher as well as appearing at a host of festivals including Strangeforms, PORTALS, Tredfest and more.

By 2022 the band were being hailed as one of the most abrasive, innovative new artists in the UK, and most-recent singles ‘TORX’ and ‘Aftermath’ saw them collaborate with New York’s FLOSSING (Brace Yourself Records), the material marked a further evolution of their eclectic, experimental approach to fusing electronic and punk music in boundary breaking fashion.

JAMIE LENMAN - New Single 'Crazy Horse'

Revered alt-rock songwriter Jamie Lenman has just revealed a special animated video for his new single ‘Crazy Horse’, which is released on 29th March 2023.

The track is the latest to be taken from his forthcoming new EP, Iknowyouknowiknow, a surprise new collection of material set for release on 5th May 2023 via Big Scary Monsters.

The EP serves as a companion release to his latest album The Atheist and is designed to fit inside the same album sleeve.

Commenting on the track, Lenman says: "’Crazy Horse’ is one of those songs that didn't really sound like me—in fact it sounds a lot more like my buddy Frank Turner—but then this whole project is about songs that don't really sound like me, so perhaps ‘Crazy Horse’ is the best example of that."

"A lot of my songs are about death and how small we all are in the big scheme of things, but I don't think I've ever managed to make that concept sound happier than I have on ‘Crazy Horse’, and for me that's a big achievement. The whole point of The Atheist and now this EP is about accepting that your life is finite, that there probably isn't anything afterwards, and accepting that fact in a positive light. So that's what ‘Crazy Horse’ is: they're gonna keep carving that statue after you're gone, and it's going to be beautiful."

The single comes with a gorgeous animated video by the multidisciplinary artist himself, which utilises New York Times illustrator Michael Parkin’s beautiful album and EP artwork.

"I had a whole shoot planned where we were going to go up to a mountain and film with a drone and I was going to sculpt my own version of the statue,” explains Lenman, “but it just kept getting more and more complex, and on the other hand I was secretly bummed out that I hadn't done any animation work in a while, which I really enjoy. So in a lightning-rod moment, I realised that if I sacked off the film shoot and made an animated video myself, that would solve both problems. I'd had it in the back of my mind ever since I saw Parkin's lovely illustrations that I'd like to make them all move somehow, but I forgot about it when everything got going, so revisiting that idea was a total joy."

Hot on the heels of his acclaimed fifth album The Atheist released in late 2022, the new track follows on from the EP’s lead single ‘Words of Love’ which was released earlier this year.

With tracks variously produced and mixed by Mark Roberts at The Old Chapel in Chichester, Chris Coulter at Decimal Studios, and Jamie Lenman at home, Iknowyouknowiknow was mastered by Tom Langrish at E1 Mastering.

“These six songs (and the acoustic mix of one of the album tracks) are a funny little gang,” explains Lenman of the new release. “They're all the odd ones out. ‘Crazy Horse’ and ‘The Last Supper’ were recorded just after Shuffle, when I was casting around trying to find a new sound...then King of Clubs and the pandemic sort of got in the way, but once that was over I went in and did ‘Words of Love’. That was when it really came together, so we went in and did the rest - ‘I Done Things I Ain't Proud Of’ came about during the album sessions proper, and any one of those four could have gone on the main record.”

“We made the acoustic version of ‘This Town Will Never Let Us Go’ during the mixing stages, purely because there were a lot of textures (accordion, guitar solo) that were scrubbed from the original version that I wanted to hear in a softer setting, and I thought it would be nice to put it on the end of the EP as a little connective tissue to join it to the LP. Then finally, ‘Run Right Home’ is a track I wrote for a local arts project right after all the other work was finished, but it's so much of a piece with the others that I thought it belonged with them. So maybe the EP is a little less cohesive than the album, but I think it has its own identity, and I think it functions as a worthy companion in terms of style and certainly content. I love it!"

Iknowyouknowiknow EP tracklist:

1. Words Of Love
2. Crazy Horse
3. Run Right Home
4. The Last Supper
5. I Done Things I Ain't Proud Of
6. This Town Will Never Let Us Go (Acoustic Mix)

Fans will also be able to catch the new material in a live setting on Lenman’s recently-announced Spring 2023 UK headline tour dates and festival appearances (see below for listings).

New EP Iknowyouknowiknow is released 5th May 2023 via Big Scary Monsters

THE BETHS - new single 'Watching The Credits'

THE BETHS have just shaerd their new single 'Watching The Credits' and also their incredible Tiny Desk Concert.

'Watching The Credits' is a terrific power pop anthem recorded during the sessions of Expert In A Dying Field, the New Zealand quartet’s acclaimed 2022 album.

Born out of songwriter Elizabeth Stokes’ habit of learning everything about movies without actually watching them, 'Watching The Credits' is Stokes’ imaginary view from the director’s seat.

Their accompanying NPR Tiny Desk performance downsizes their beloved live performance while maintaining their signature thrilling energy. Check out links to them below!

With a full, almost entirely sold out North American tour already under their belt, and supporting slots for The National, Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service on the horizon, The Beths are undeniably one of the most exciting indie rock bands to emerge in recent memory. Check out their Current Tour Dates below:

The Beths UK Tour Dates

Wed. May 24 - Bristol, UK @ SWX

Thu. May 25 - London, UK @ Electric Brixton

Fri. May 26 - Walton-on-Trent, UK @ Bearded Theory Festival

Sat. May 27 - Leeds, UK @ Live at Leeds in the Park

Sun. May 28 - Manchester, UK @ New Century

Tue. May 30 - Glasgow, UK @ The Garage

Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes

BULLY Announces New Album - 'LUCKY FOR YOU'

BULLY has just announced the new album ‘Lucky For You’ which is out June 2nd on Sub-Pop.

Check out the new single ‘Days Move Slow’ here:

This pulsating lead banger, 'Days Move Slow', was written after the passing of her beloved dog and best friend, Mezzi. Bognanno offers this, “as someone who has spent the majority of my life feeling agonisingly misunderstood, there is no greater gift than experiencing true unconditional love and acceptance. I waited my whole life for the bond and irreplaceable companionship I had with Mezzi. She was my best friend and my only constant through some of the most pivotal moments and phases of my life. I was a stranger to the level of love I now know exists because of Mezzi. Love you forever; I’m lucky for you.”

The 'Days Move Slow' official video was directed by Alex Ross Perry, who shares about this collaboration, “This is my third time collaborating with Alicia, but my first time collaborating with Bully. Having written the original songs for my film Her Smell and performed at the Pavement Museum Tribute Concert "scene" for my forthcoming film on them, I can't believe I finally got to make a Bully video. Right away, it seemed striking to make a piece as stark and measured as possible, not to make a video that replicates the song's sonic energy but to visualise the emotional weight and feelings of loss and grief depicted in the lyrics. Alicia doesn't seem to have been filmed in 16mm black and white before, so it was a no-brainer to give that a try.”

On Friday, June 2nd, Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno), will release Lucky For You, her kaleidoscopic new full-length on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. The 10-track album combines punk grit, crunchy shoegaze bliss, and an explosive Britpop bop, all mixed in with the classic anthems Bully is known for. Lucky For You was recorded in 2022 at MMK Studios and Alicia's House in Nashville, with help from producer JT Daly and mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound.

Lucky For You is Bully’s most close-to-the-bone album yet. It’s an album that’s searing and unmistakably marked by its creator’s experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on—and it’s all soundtracked by Bognanno’s rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that’s impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno’s put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them.

Work on Lucky For You began last year when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. “Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it,” she explains while discussing their recording process together. “If I’m doing something that doesn’t feel natural or right, I’m quick to shut it down. So it was great to work with J.T. because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasise what he thinks is good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant a lot to me.” The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date: “I was freaking out about it at first because taking my time was so new for me. But a few months in, I realised how crucial that time ended up being. I got songs out of it that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

“With every record, I feel more and more secure in terms of doing what I want,” Bognanno continues. “For this one, I wanted to be as creative as possible with these songs.” She got her wish: A kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk’s grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for, Lucky For You’s thematic focus also zooms in on grief and loss. The record is largely inspired by Bognanno’s dog Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis.

“Mezzi was my best friend,” she explains. “She made me feel safe and empowered, she showed me that I was worth loving and never judged me or viewed me as a let down. I always felt accepted, understood and so much less alone. Mezzi was living, breathing proof that I was worthy of being loved.” And the oceanic first single 'Days Move Slow' was written shortly after Mezzi’s passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno’s incisive wit even while facing adversity. “There was nothing else I could do except sit down and write.”

'Hard to Love' stomps and lurches with awesome abandon, resembling one of the most sonically left-field tunes Bognanno’s put to tape as Bully; and then there’s the passionate opening track 'All I Do', which kicks in the door Bully-style with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. “I’ve been living in this house for seven years,” she says while discussing her current Nashville abode. “Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it’s still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I’ve moved on from?”

In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. “I’m so overly emotional and sensitive, it’s a blessing and a curse,” she says with a laugh, but there’s no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it’s the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.

Photo credit: Sophia Matinazad

Tour Dates

Apr 15th | North Charleston, SC - High Water Festival

May 20th | Amsterdam, NL - London Calling Paradiso

May 22nd | Manchester, UK - Yes (Pink Room)

May 23rd | Bristol, UK - Thekla

May 25th | Birmingham, UK - Dead Wax

May 26th | London, UK - Moth Club

May 27th | Leeds, UK - Live At Leeds In The Park

Jun 3rd | Lexington, KY - Railbird Festival

Jun 4th | Charlottesville, VA - The Southern

Jun 6th | New York, NY - Racket

Jun 8th | Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway *

Jun 9th | Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia *

Jun 10th | Washington, DC - The Anthem *

Jun 12th | Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live! *

Jun 13th | Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE *

Jun 14th | Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center *

Jun 16th | Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater *

Jun 17th | Asheville, NC - Rabbit Rabbit *

Jun 20th | Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy *

Jun 21st | New Orleans, LA - The Fillmore *

Jun 23rd | Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center *

Jun 24th | Dallas, TX - Southside Ballroom *

Jun 25th | Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheater *

Aug 10th | Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall

Aug 11th | St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway

Aug 12th | Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck

Aug 14th | Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre

Aug 15th | Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge

Aug 16th | Boise, ID - TBD

Aug 18th | Seattle, WA - Neptune

Aug 19th | Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret

Aug 20th | Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre

Aug 22nd | San Francisco, CA - The Independent

Aug 23rd | Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom

Aug 24th | Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction

Aug 25th | San Diego, CA - Soda Bar

Aug 26th | Tucson, AZ - Club Congress

Aug 28th | Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf

Aug 29th | Oklahoma City, OK - Beer City Music Hall

Aug 31st | Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl

Sep 14th | Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel

Sep 15th | Minneapolis, MN - First Ave

Sep 16th | Milwaukee, WI - X-Ray Arcade

Sep 17th | Detroit, MI - Loving Touch

Sep 19th | Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace

Sep 20th | Albany, NY - Lark Hall

Sep 21st | Boston, MA - Crystal Ballroom

Sept 22nd | Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom

Sep 23rd | Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian

Sep 24th | Washington, DC - Black Cat

* = w/ Pixies and Franz Ferdinand

Takedown Festival - New Acts Added & Full Set Times Revealed!

Topping the festival’s stellar line-up are two impressive headliners: anonymous masked rock collective SLEEP TOKEN who will be delivering their *First Festival Appearance* of 2023, and, one of the most devastating and enthralling live bands on the planet, SKINDRED.

Joining them will be a whole host of electrifying acts including Loathe, Jamie Lenman, Punk Rock Factory, InMe, Palm Reader, Our Hollow Our Home, As December Falls, CLTDRP, Fearless Vampire Killers, The Bottom Line, Seething Akira, and Dendera.

Alongside the names outlined in the initial announcement, Takedown has also added waves of new acts to the bill, with mighty bonus additions also including Red Method, Autumn Fires, Slackrr, Saint Agnes, False Hope For The Savage, Shell Beach, Chaosbay, Balance Breach, Consvmer, Elwood Stray, Sunfall, Ithaca, Confessions of a Traitor, Heart of a Coward, Asleep At The Helm, Royals, Lightwave, Crushed By Waves, Meg Emelie, Defences, Two Year Break, Chuggaboom, Black Water County and THECITYISOURS.

With the Takedown 2023 line-up now complete, the full set times for all of the bands playing across its 5 Stages have also been confirmed and can be found listed below. Start planning your day now…

Set to become one of the biggest rock events in the festival calendar once again, Takedown Festival’s comeback is part of a new partnership between Divergent Festivals and The Guildhall Trust. Co-directors of Divergent Festivals, Kai and Sarah Harris say:

“Even in these strange times it feels like the perfect time to be bringing back one of the best-loved one-day events on the South Coast, taking it back to our roots with one of the biggest line-ups Takedown has ever seen. We can’t wait!”

Chief Executive Officer of The Guildhall Trust, Andy Grays adds:

“We are delighted to bring an alternative rock and metal festival to Portsmouth with a great calibre of artists already announced. Portsmouth has a fantastic music scene, but we felt like there was a gap for fans of this genre.”

TAKEDOWN FESTIVAL 2023 LINE-UP

MAIN STAGE

14:00 - DENDERA

14:45 - RED METHOD

15:35 - SEETHING AKIRA

16:25 - FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS

17:15 - OUR HOLLOW OUR HOME

18:15 - PALM READER

19:25 - JAMIE LENMAN

20:35 - LOATHE

21:45 - SLEEP TOKEN (UK EXCLUSIVE)

TOTAL ROCK STAGE (OUTDOOR)

13:45 - AUTUMN FIRES

14:30 - SLACKRR

15:20 - CLT DRP

16:10 - BOTTOM LINE

17:00 - SAINT AGNES

18:00 - AS DECEMBER FALLS

19:10 - INME (ANNIVERSARY SET)

20:20 - PUNK ROCK FACTORY

21:30 - SKINDRED

OUT OF LINE STAGE

14:00 - FALSE HOPE FOR THE SAVAGE

14:45 - SHELL BEACH

15:30 - CHAOSBAY

16:15 - BALANCE BREACH

17:05 - CONSVMER

17:55 - ELWOOD STRAY

18:45 - SUNFALL

19:45 - ITHACA

20:45 - CONFESSIONS OF A TRAITOR

21:55 - HEART OF A COWARD

DOWN FOR LIFE STAGE

14:00 - ASLEEP AT THE HELM

14:50 - ROYALS

15:40 - LIGHTWAVE

16:30 - CRUSHED BY WAVES

17:20 - MEG EMELIE

18:10 - DEFENCES

19:00 - TWO YEAR BREAK

19:50 - CHUGGABOOM

20:50 - BLACK WATER COUNTY

22:00 - THECITYISOURS

VIP LOUNGE

13:30 - SEETHING AKIRA

14:15 - AS DECEMBER FALLS

15:00 - JAMIE LENMAN

15:45 - DAVE MCPHERSON

16:30 - BLACK WATER COUNTY

17:15 - PUNK ROCK FACTORY (M&G)

18:00 - KIER KEMP

18:45 - SKINDRED

19:30 - THECITYISOURS

20:15 - THE BOTTOM LINE

21:00 - PALM READER

21:45 - OUT OF LINE KARAOKE

Final remaining tickets for Takedown 2023 are on sale now - grab yours here:

In the build-up to the event the festival will also be showcasing three band’s from the line-up at a one-off ‘Road to Takedown’ gig at London’s Boston Music Room on Good Friday (7 April). The night will see performances from Confessions of a Traitor, Seething Akira and Crushed By Waves; all of whom will have a starring role at Takedown 2023.

Takedown Festival have also recently announced they will be teaming up with mental health charity Tonic Rider to launch a new initiative at the event. The unique collaboration will see Takedown become the first ever festival to offer mental health resources backstage for artists, crew and staff. The Tonic Rider team, who consist of mental health professionals with a background in the music industry, will be positioned in the green room offering information, free resources and one-on-one support in a private space.

Takedown Festival 2023 takes place at Portsmouth Guildhall on Saturday 8 April.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
w/ http://www.takedownfestival.com/ 
f/ https://www.facebook.com/takedownfestivalUK/ 
t/ https://twitter.com/takedownfest 

TAKEDOWN FESTIVAL 2023

TAKEDOWN FESTIVAL RETURNS IN 2023!

LINE-UP ANNOUNCED WITH HEADLINERS… SLEEP TOKEN + SKINDRED + MANY MORE… 8 APRIL 2023 AT PORTSMOUTH GUILDHALL

The South’s favourite independent alternative-rock and metal festival - TAKEDOWN - will make its return in 2023, landing at Portsmouth Guildhall on Saturday 8th April. 

After an 8 year hiatus, the much-loved festival is making a comeback with a mind-blowing lineup, a new venue and an outdoor stage added for the first time.
Moving from its Southampton University roots to the larger Portsmouth Guildhall, Takedown 2023 promises a full-day of festival fun with over 30 bands performing across five stages.

With the first wave of artists revealed today, the festival has announced two impressive headliners: anonymous masked rock collective SLEEP TOKEN, and, one of the most devastating and enthralling live bands on the planet, SKINDRED.

The electrifying line-up also includes Loathe, Jamie Lenman, Punk Rock Factory, InMe, Palm Reader, Our Hollow Our Home, As December Falls, CLTDRP, Fearless Vampire Killers, The Bottom Line, Seething Skira, Black Gold and Dendera, with many more acts to still be announced.

Jamie Lenman

Set to become one of the biggest rock events in the festival calendar, Takedown Festival is making its comeback as part of a new partnership between Divergent Festivals and The Guildhall Trust. Co-directors of Divergent Festivals, Kai and Sarah Harris says:

“Even in these strange times it feels like the perfect time to be bringing back one of the best-loved one-day events on the South Coast, taking it back to our roots with one of the biggest line-ups Takedown has ever seen. We can’t wait!”

Chief Executive Officer of The Guildhall Trust, Andy Grays adds:

“We are delighted to bring an alternative rock and metal festival to Portsmouth with a great calibre of artists already announced. Portsmouth has a fantastic music scene, but we felt like there was a gap for fans of this genre.”

LIFE - New Album 'North East Coastal Town' Out Today

Today, LIFE have released their critically acclaimed third album, “North East Coastal Town”, via The Liquid Label. Watch current single “The Drug” here:

Speaking on the release of the new album, frontman Mez Green says:

“North East Coastal Town is an ode to kinship and relationship with its musical and lyrical spine picking out themes of love, desire, beauty, horror, chaos, pride and most importantly the sense of belonging.

Hull runs through our DNA and has shaped us, weathered us, empowered us, embraced us and made us feel accepted. This album is our love letter to the city.”

The band will also be performing a run of in-store dates starting this week followed by a local celebration of the album release in Hull on Sat 3 September at The Social. Recent summer festival dates have seen the band play the likes of BST Hyde Park supporting Pearl Jam, Long Division Festival, Colours of Ostrava (CZ), and more. The band will soon play Sea Power’s Krankenhaus festival in the Lakes, and Mad Cool Sunset Festival in Madrid. UK & EU album tours will follow in the Autumn – full listings below.

Live dates:

Tickets for all shows: https://www.lifeband.co.uk/

26th – 29th August – Krankenhaus Festival, Muncaster Castle, UK

8th Sep – Big Festival, Andalucia

10th Sep – Mad Cool Sunset, Madrid

Album release in-stores:

19th Aug – Record Junkee, Sheffield (7pm)

22nd Aug – The Vinyl Whistle, Headingley (1pm) / Jumbo, Leeds (3.30pm) / Crash, Leeds (6pm

23rd Aug – Rough Trade Bristol

24th Aug – Parade Vibes, Watford (1pm) / Rough Trade East, London (7pm)

25th Aug – Pie & Vinyl, Southsea (1pm) / Resident, Brighton (6pm)

UK Tour:

3rd Sept – Album launch party at The Social, Hull

3rd Oct – The Cluny, Newcastle

4th Oct – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

5th Oct – Mash House, Edinburgh

6th Oct – The Deaf Institute, Manchester

7th Oct – Bootleg Social, Blackpool

8th Oct – Bodega, Nottingham

10th Oct – The Fleece, Bristol

11th Oct - Patterns, Brighton

12th Oct – Scala, London

14th Oct – Joiners, Southampton

EU Tour:

27th Sept – Confort Modern, Poitiers

28th Sept – Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux

29th Sept – Astrolabe, Orleans

30th Sept – Point Ephemere, Paris

17th Oct – Blueshell, Cologne

18th Oct – Molotow Club, Hamburg

20th Oct – Café V Lese, Prague

21st Oct – Rocking Chair, Switzerland

22nd Oct – Arci Bellezza, Milan

23rd Oct – Freakout, Bologna

25th Oct – Hole 44, Berlin

26th Oct – Merelyn, Nigmegen

27th Oct – Rotown, Rotterdam

28th Oct – ACU, Utrecht

29th Oct – London Calling Festival, Amsterdam

The Chats - New Album / Tour

This Friday, The Chats’ rip-roaring, epic second album, unapologetically titled, GET FUCKED will be released on their own label, Bargain Bin Records, so today the band have released the final track, titled Out On The Street ahead of full release on August 19th.

The new video features The Chats on the road smashing out their infectious, sing-along punk rock. The culmination of high-energy live footage was captured by Maclay Heriot who followed the band through their 2022 USA tour, with footage taken from Coachella, kicking footies in venue carparks, and a whole bunch of intense US shows.

The Chats have been touring throughout 2022 playing in front of huge crowds across many countries and today are proud to announce their 2023 UK tour dates with a headline show at Brixton’s 02 Academy in London - their largest show to date. Next year’s tour will also visit venues in Ireland, France, Belgium, Sweden, and Norway. See full dates below and pick up tickets, on sale from 9am this Friday, August 19th, from the band’s website.

This month, the trio played their frenetic live show at Splendour In The Grass Fest in North Byron Parklands on home soil, where they thrashed through Smoko in front of a packed stage - the tune that pushed them into the ears of millions of online listeners at warp speed. Watch the live performance video here.

Smoko was just the gateway drug for a life of Chats dependence. Rather like The White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’, it started routinely enough, as the lead track on The Chats’ second EP, ‘Get This In Ya!!’, but since October ’17, when singer/bassist Eamon posted an accompanying video – which cost them just $5, for the sauced-up sausage roll snarfed on camera – it’s accrued a staggering 16 million YouTube views and counting, as well as enthusiastic props and radio plays from Elton John, Michael Stipe, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Josh Homme and Dave Grohl along the way.

Fast forward through to 2022 and The Chats are about to release their much awaited second album, GET FUCKED - an incendiary, hyper-adrenalized blitz from punk heaven, showcasing an electrifying all-killer-no-filler 13 tracks which perfectly capture the band’s explosive energy.

Meat Wave - New Album "Malign Hex"

Today, Chicago's Meat Wave announce their return with their first album in over five years, Malign Hex, set for an October 14th release via Big Scary Monsters. The trio's - Chris Sutter (guitar, vocals), Joe Gac (bass) and Ryan Wizniak (drums) - first full-length since 2017's universally acclaimed The Incessant is also previewed today with the release of new single 'What Would You Like Me To Do'.

A discordant, pummelling return cut through with sinewy, interlocking guitars, 'What Would You Like Me To Do' finds Sutter picking apart the entitlement of baby boomer men and older white dudes in America. Of the track, he writes:

"'What Would You Like Me To Do is the anti-ode to the baby boomer man. How can, as a society, we navigate the entitlement? The idea for the video started as an instructional dance routine by Ryan. It quickly morphed into something more freaky and free. The video is years in the making. Directed by myself. We usually try to avoid being in the video. But this time was different. We had a lot of fun doing it."

Watch the video for 'What Would You Like Me To Do' - directed by Chris Sutter - here:

The 10-track record, which features ‘What Would You Like Me To Do’ as well as previously released singles ‘Ridiculous Car’ and ‘Honest Living’, was recorded by Gac in 2019 at the band’s rehearsal space and respective apartments. Following The Incessant, Malign Hex is the band’s most cohesive, dynamic and ambitious work to date – “a culmination of what we’ve been doing for 11 years. We’ve been working towards this,” as Sutter deftly summarises. “Our sound in the beginning was consistently very driving,” recalls Gac. “Now, that characteristic is merely a tool we can reach for. I don’t think it completely defines what we’re doing.”

The band spent the last half of 2019 chipping away at the record, choosing to work on it slowly in spurts, as opposed to The Incessant, which was recorded and mixed in just four days. If that feels like an odd move – to veer away from a formula that worked so successfully on The Incessant, which received near-unanimous critical acclaim on release and was dubbed “an album meant for breathless angst, fists in the air, spit in your hair” by The Guardian – it’s one that pays off dividends on Malign Hex: a set of songs that finds Meat Wave at both their most gentle and abrasive, creating urgent and vital punk music that’s unafraid to dial things back and experiment, ready and willing to take a breath amidst the mayhem. Suffice to say, it’s a record of contrasts and juxtapositions.

“We recorded [Malign Hex] the same way we always have— live in a room together,” says Wizniak. “But we allowed ourselves to embellish more and take more chances with extra instrumentation.” And while the band did indeed incorporate more synths, organs and walls of guitar, it provides only nuance and atmosphere, not distraction from what Meat Wave does best. “We moved further away from the principle that we need to recreate every element on the album live,” Gac adds. “There was no shame in adding extra overdubs and different sounds.”

The album’s lyrics centre around themes of lineage; where we come from, and where we’re going. Malign Hex explores a litany of subjects and circumstances – addiction, greed, unreliable memory, obedience – through a surrealist, collage-like lens, loosely following a birth-to-death arc across its 10 tracks.

“A malign hex is something that is pertinent only to you, that is handed down to you, or was raised in you through time: depression, addiction, greed, envy. Everyone wears a backpack full of hexes. It’s heavy and familial. And it’s yours,” Sutter offers. “The meaning of malign is evil or malignant in nature. So, the idea was picking apart what my hexes are. Ironically, being in this band and making this band my life for so long has proved to be one of the hexes, but it’s also tied to more systemic hexes. It’s the evil algorithm that is you.”

JAMIE LENMAN Reveals Video For New Single ‘Talk Hard’ Released 11th August 2022

Legendary alt-rock/indie-pop songwriter Jamie Lenman is delighted to unveil the video for his towering, melodic new single ‘Talk Hard’ which is released on 11th August 2022 via Big Scary Monsters. Check it out here:

The first hint at a leaner and more mainstream leaning sound to come from his new material, commenting on the single Lenman says: “I’ve been trying for a long time to do something a bit more melodic, and Talk Hard is the first flowering of that. People tell me they can hear Weezer in there which is great as they’ve always been heroes of mine, particularly the first two albums.”

“Lyrically it’s about standing up for yourself, for making sure that your voice is heard by people you feel are ignoring you—be that your friends, your family, your boss or even your government. It’s about encouraging and empowering people, standing behind them and lending them your support. Very positive, after all the negative feelings from King Of Clubs.”

In a crossover into his alternate universe sideline stage-managing cabaret shows, the video for the track stars Lenman and hula-hoop performer Amazi Hoops. It was directed by Jen Hingley from Manchester alt-rock band False Advertising, who also plays guitar in Lenman’s live band.

"I consciously tried to not cook up any ideas of my own for this track so that Jen could have free reign without my interference,” explains Lenman of the concept for the video. “She came up with this tin can idea that I really liked. It seemed very similar to the kind of videos we used to make back in the band days, with a quirky concept and even a little mystery. We went and did it in one day, filmed in the same room where the band rehearse and the fields nearby, and it came out great!"

Recorded at The Chapel studios in Chichester over January and February 2022, the new material was engineered, produced and mixed by Mark Roberts (Delta Sleep, Black Peaks, The Physics House Band) with additional engineering by Kieran Heighes, and mastered by Ed Woods (The Who, Manic Street Preachers, VUKOVI).

The sheer catchiness of Lenman’s new material is undeniable, and was proven on the road when he took his new-look three-piece band to this year’s Download Festival and played a set of entirely unheard tracks. The capacity crowd erupted into spontaneous sing-alongs despite never having heard a single note before, resulting in one of the surprise highlights of the weekend.

Combined with dazzling artwork from renowned Washington Post/Wall St Journal illustrator Michael Parkin, Lenman will be unleashing his new softer side on an eager public later this year, alongside a string of live shows.

THE SUBWAYS Reveal 8-Bit Animated ‘Love Waiting On You’ Video

Watch it here!

Their 5th album Uncertain Joys will be released 13th January 2023 via Alcopop! Records you can preorder now: https://linktr.ee/thesubways

Hertfordshire, UK indie punk favourites THE SUBWAYS are pleased to reveal the 8-bit animated video for their latest single ‘Love Waiting On You’ which is out now via Alcopop! Records.

Commenting on the gender-role-reversing video directed by animator Neil Whitman, front man Billy Lunn says: "When Neil initially presented us with the concept of the video as an 8-bit platform-style video game, our drummer Camille cleverly proposed that, given how the song is so obviously about yearning, why not instead have the rescuer and rescued gender roles reversed to change things up.”

“I saw myself as the Princess Peach character, with the love of my life (about whom the song is written) being my rescuer, fighting through the various obstacles and antagonists along the way. The sense of isolation, helplessness, and vulnerability within the song now made all the more sense to me.”

“Whilst it's not always correct to assume that one person should come to the rescue of another in a relationship, my belief in the hopelessly romantic/pathetic notion that lifelong soul mates do in fact exist is woven into the very fabric of my being. And so, when at the end of the video my rescuer realises that it is only the will to love that is required to come to my aid, as opposed to having to fight through strife, battles, and failures, I knew that Neil understood the depth of my belief in this notion.”

“Our protagonist is trapped in his virtual cell waiting for the female heroine (the princess) to come to his rescue,” adds director/animator Neil Whitman. “I had great fun designing the band members as 8-bit characters as well as designing the princess and various levels for our heroes to venture through. Setting the game in mediaeval times helped me to subvert the usual tired traditions of the prince rescuing the princess and play around with audience expectations.”

Forthcoming new album Uncertain Joys was recorded and produced by front man and producer in his own right Billy Lunn, mixed by the Grammy Award-winning Adrian Bushby (Muse, Foo Fighters, Everything Everything), and mastered by Katie Tavini (Mykki Blanco, Arlo Parks, Nadine Shah).

You can catch them live this month at VICTORIOUS FESTIVAL and also on the following dates:

September 3rd – Coventry - GODIVA FESTIVAL (UK)

September 18th – Cornwall – LOOE LIVE (UK)

Rescheduled Jan/Feb 2023 UK Headline Tour Dates:

Jan 26th - Manchester Gorilla

Jan 27th - Stoke Sugarmill

Jan 28th Sunderland Independent

Jan 29th Glasgow King Tuts

Feb 1st - Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach

Feb 2nd - London Scala

Feb 3rd - Brighton Chalk

Feb 4th - Cambridge Mash

Tickets on sale now: https://myticket.co.uk/artists/the-subways