ALL MUSIC review: “…what is a shock is that Coxon has the confidence and will
to not hide behind the noise and obscurist tendencies that made his previous solo
efforts a bit laborious. Here, his emotions are pushed to the surface and they are
married to catchy, memorable songs that are delivered in an immediate and
imaginative fashion.” Full review here – Score: 4.5/5
TURN UP THE VOLUME!: The best rock album Blur never made.
Without Coxon, they would have become an arty-farty project
rather than Britpop icons they became.
TOP TRACKS: Spectacular / Freakin’ Out / Don’t Be A Stranger
Who:“Leather Party was formed in a murky studio in deepest darkest Salford by
Vernon, previous leader of noiseniks ‘Brown Brogues’ and leather clad peacocks
‘Peace and Love Barbershop Muhammad Ali’. Born from a love of abrasive new
sounds and studio experimentation as un-googleable names, the band takes
heavy influences from such artists as Velvet Underground, Nine Inch Nails,
The Birthday Party and The Stooges.”
Track: YOUR BAND – it’s “about talking with and dealing with other musicians
who don’t care about anyone else’s project but their own – lead single from
upcoming EP ‘Images Of Gianfranco’ – Leather Party is joined here by the
loudest bass in the world Cal Rogers and the owner of the loudest cymbals
in the world Asa Morley –
Score: Leather Party only needs one minute and twelve seconds to make it crystal
clear that he doesn’t give a shit about musical narcissists who only have eyes and ears
for their own stuff. With a spooky and pitch-black bass beat and his scary voice, with
a vitriolic undertone, he rejects those ‘me, myself and I‘ egos. I don’t know which group
he’s actually targeting, but I can name a lot of them that I don’t care about and every
time I hear one I’ll play this toxic electro drone.
Clips that will have an impact on your eyes and your ears…
It’s almost seven years since grunge icons PEARL JAM released their tenth LP Lighting Bolt. Finally, last week, the band announced a brand new album called ‘GIGATON’, out 27th March. More info here.
After the dynamic and funky lead single of the record, titled ‘Dance Of The Clairvoyants‘ the band dropped a new piece titled ‘Superblood Wolfmoon‘ a few days ago. A stormy rocker with Eddie Vedder dominating again with his mighty and passionate vox. Today a cool animated video went online.
When legendary post-punk misfits Jah Wobble, Mark Stewart, Keith Levene and Richard Dudanski come together you know there’s electricity in the air. Critical electricity. Hectic electricity. Confrontational electricity and barbed songs with a razor-sharp message.
With ‘A VERY BRITISH COUP‘ this unique collaboration tackles the British Conservative hypocrites and their misleading and demagogic campaign with which they pushed voters to leave the European Union.
Musically the track is an electrifying banger driven by Jah Wobble‘s striking bass
grooves and Dudanski‘s repetitive solid drum beat, intensified with Levene‘s metallic
guitar resonance and Stewart’s nightmarish and reproachful voice navigating all over it. The final result is a kick-ass uppercut with an angry middle finger for all those lying politicians who messed-up really badly.
Here’s the funky coup…
Who’s who? Jah Wobble: original PiL bassist, mastermind of Invaders Of The Heart,
countless collaborations and initiator of this project Mark Stewart: co-founder of Bristol’s punk-funk innovators The Pop Group,
Godfather of the Maffia and tons of collaborations
Keith Levene: original PiL guitarist and several solo projects Richard Dudanski: drummer, best known as a former member of PiL,
but played with several other bands too
Martin Youth Glover: : Produced the song, best known as
a member of Killing Joke but also a successful producer
The late great Andrew Weatherall and Nina Walsh
added loops to the proceedings
A limited edition four-song EP (including this track)
on CD is for sale now at Amazon.
I guess this novel by Chris Mullin
was an inspiration for this song.
MARK LANEGAN, former Screaming Trees frontman and monumental voice has a new
solo album ready called STRAIGHT SONGS OF SORROW. Here’s the brilliant lead single ‘SKELETON KEY’. An extended, haunting ballad with an instant hypnotic effect. It’s a self-blaming, melancholic and heavy-hearted reflection. “Ugly, I’m so very ugly inside and out, there’ no denying, why should you love me?”. Even after all these years when I hear Lanegan’s vox I get goosebumps. Strangely enough, the darkness he creates feels comfortable and inspiring. Another stunning achievement by the genuine troubadour.
Tune in here…
Also on Spotify…
. Lanegan will also issue his memoir called ‘Sing Backwards And Weep’ out this spring.
Philadelphia’s stirring rockers THE DISTRICTS release their fourth LP called ‘YOU KNOW I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE‘ on 13 March. After sharing lead-single, the arresting synths driven ballad Hey Jo last November and disco cracker ‘Cheap Regrets’ last month here’s another thrilling piece.
‘VELOUR AND VELCRO’, a song about “the elusive nature of bliss and how even when you’ve caught it, you know it may be fleeting.” It’s pure amplified pop magnificence, epic rapture, melodious grandeur with an elevating chorus. A delirious stunner overall!
Glory hallelujah here we go…
If you missed the previous two tracks, here’s ‘Hey Jo’ and ‘Cheap Regrets’…
Who: Fresh thrilling band from Brighton, they present a waking dream of art rock.
A carousel of keys, synths, strings and percussion swirling around poetic lyrics.
Score: Centered around an infectious funky synth/bass groove ‘Dissolve‘ moves stylishly into a cinematic little symphony with romantic piano touches, subtle guitars, airy keys
and a tantalizing chorus with affecting, vulnerable vocals bringing Thom Yorke‘s fragile tonality to mind. This masterly gem has a mesmerizing impact and shows an artistically ambitious band with a riveting future. Impressive high-quality songwriting!
The accompanying video is an animated beauty directed by Patrick Aitkens who said that “the energy and atmosphere of ‘Dissolve’ was the main source of inspiration to the visuals I created.”.
With their highly turbulent debut album called 3D ROUTINE Leeds furiously outspoken and electrical misfits MUSH show loud and clear that alternative guitar rock is vividly alive and angrily kicking. One moment they rage manically like dissonant legends Devo, then again they freak out like New York City‘s new wave innovators Television on speed, with clamourous frontman Dan Hyndman reminding me of infamous blank generation punk Richard Hell‘s fiery vox.
And their agitated, enraged and frenzied impetuosity fits their razor-sharp and biting political views perfectly well. In these troubled times we need engaged young wolves
like these hungry bohemians raising their worried voice supported by the necessary decibels to shake things up. Time to know more about this intensified and iron-cast
debut longplayer. Therefore, we invited the band to guide us through 3D ROUTINE,
track by track.
Welcome MUSH!
The songs…
. The track by track breakdown…
1. Revising My Fee ”
“Felt right to have this one as the opener. It’s on the rawer/faster side of things, nice to chuck a couple of energetic ones in off the bat for a debut. It’s a bit politically minded but not as well considered as some others, more of a tangential moan about conditions. It’s packed with riffs and has a nice wig out at the end, it’s fairly representative.”
2. Eat the Etiquette ”
“I thought this one was the big hit, it’s pretty concise and has that repetition thing. To me, it sounds like pop music but actually ‘Revising’ took off a lot more. Thematically it’s a bit of an attack on the ‘common sense’ and maybe the centre ground. Apparently, it sounds like fast Devo, which I can live with.”
3. Existential Dread
“For about ten seconds this is the closest we ever got to sounding like the 60’s, then it goes all grunge and 90’s. Lyrically does what it says on the tin.”
4. Coronation Chicken
“Important point of the record for me. This is when is throws a curve ball and starts to go a little off the rails. Gets a bit groovier and different sounds introduced. It’s a bizarre track musically, very busy, backwards guitars snuck in at points. Song is about public scrutiny and toffs.”
5. Island Mentality
“Can’t be bothered to talk about the content of this track anymore and it doesn’t take much unpacking. Musically it was fun as we chucked a synth and a saxophone on.”
6. Fruits of The Happening
“Song’s about friends, addiction, inevitability of things. Nice change of pace on this one, some nice violins too.”
7. Hey Gammonhead
“Probably the most slacked out track on the record. Lyrics very silly and tongue in cheek. Found the term Gammon to be very amusing and articulate lot of things in a single word. Inevitable I would write a song about it.”
8. 3D Routine:
“Can’t articulate exactly what this means but it makes sense to me. More on the abstract side, kind of about the obscurity of day to day routine. Musically the most ambitious on the record all sorts of stuff going on.”
9. Gig Economy
“Recorded a new version which felt the right thing to do. Hopefully people like it as much. It has a new guitar solo and added tambourine courtesy of Phil. It’s about austerity and job security.”
10. Poverty Pornography
“Straight down the line punk tune. About representation and exploitation of the so called ‘underclass’ in the media.”
11. No Signal in the Paddock
“This song is about existing in an echo chamber. We lost our shit in the studio on this one and started doing some random Beck type keyboard sounds all over it. Time will tell if we regret it, even some auto tune antics.”
12. Alternative Facts
“The song that made us ha! Marc Riley played this on 6music when about five people had heard of us. Only felt right to stick it on the record. Had to go last due to the length. Songs a fairly known entity at this point but it’s a new version so hopefully people enjoy.”
Thank you guys for guiding us through 3D ROUTINE.
Mat the road rise with MUSH!
Band: The Charlatans Single: Oh! Vanity B-sides:‘Complete Control’ (on the 7″) and ‘Complete Control’ /
‘The Only One I Know’ (live) and ‘Oh! Vanity’ (live at Manchester Ritz) on CD Released: 25 February 2008 as a free digital download, but also on CD and 7″ Album: You Cross My Path – the band’s tenth LP
