punk – and so she thinks

Demob Happy – Dream Soda

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 13:32:42 +0000

Sometimes you’re just angry and need to get it all out. At least that’s the situation that Brighton grunge band Demob Happy seem to be in, and in getting it out they’ve made an album that is brash, visceral, and arresting. Brutally cynical about the record industry in which they operate (In an interview with the NME earlier this year frontman Matt Marcantonio said how ‘I’m sick of the smell of these self-serving psychopaths muddying the good name of the human race.’) they don’t shy away from shouting out about it. How much is a young anarchic spirit that craves attention and how much genuine punk sensibility we will come to see over time, but for now the tone is one of authenticity and primalism, rough, sleazy and distorted.
Opener Haat De Stank (Take From Me) is a messy scuzz tune borrowing from the best of the nineties. The title track from their debut EP Young And Numb still shines with its glitchy and riotous riffing under screeching vocals. Raging and thunderous Wash It Down is the sound of angst letting rip, whilst the polluted groove of Succubus is all the more sinister.

There’s a hint they might be softening when Man You’re Wrong starts out like a love song but that too soon turns into an ode to disenchantment, although later on a warbling acoustic intro to Underneath Your Tree nods at sensitivity.
But through most of Dream Soda it’s as though Demob Happy may self implode at any second under the weight of their furious darkness and blazing savagery. And you want to hear it happen. It’s 45 minutes of unadulterated riff riots and fuming rhythms – frantic, fucked up, and fantastic.
Out now on SO Records.

First published on Joyzine

Witching Waves

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:20:00 +0000

Good music does not have to conform to boundaries, as Mark and Emma of Witching Waves know. Switching up instruments and swapping roles throughout their punky and poppy tunes, the pulsating beats and agitated bass lines of their output reveals a deep rooted talent and a passion for vibrancy. Things are a bit more upbeat and a little less despondent in style than their last band Weird Menace, and the brash stampede of powerful melodies shoots to the limbs and the heart in a way that can’t help but ignite a twitch and a flail. Tumultuous and tender, theirs is a fluid and changing approach to making music, all based upon what thrills them at the time. The shaky shots of video Better Run below reflects their DIY sensibility beautifully, as did the ‘cassingle’ released last year on Soft Power. Could 2015 be their year?

Wild Smiles – Never Wanted This

admin — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:57:00 +0000

Is it punk? Is it pop? Is it surfer? Who knows, but I like it. There’s no reinvention of the wheel here from Hampshire trio Wild Smiles, just a frantic and fuzzy that slaps you around the face like a thrashing fish whilst you stomp deliriously in a swirl of distortion. New single Never Wanted This is wildly exuberant, a testament in lyrics and melodies to never growing up.

Released on August 18th, it’s a less than gentle introduction to debut album Always Tomorrow, released on October 14th.

Ex Hex – Don't Wanna Lose

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 15:23:06 +0000

Want some frantic and fuzzy girl punk? Mary Timony is the lady to know. A central member of several punk bands including Autoclave in 1990, then through the ’90s Helium, rocking solo for a bit before rocking vocals and guitars for supergroup Wild Flag she now has a new project – Ex Hex. First single Don’t Wanna Lose is incredibly vibrant and raw, pacing along with rough urgency and intuition, and of course utters strong female sentiment.
https://soundcloud.com/mergerecords/ex-hex-dont-wanna-lose/
In her own words:
Ex Hex is what your older brother’s friends listened to. “Roxy Roller” and “Virginia Plain” rumbling from the Kenwood in the basement.
It’s what your babysitters listened to, and it’s what stuck with me.
Ex Hex is a power trio: guitar, drums, and bass.
Debut album Rips is released on October 7 in North America and October 13 worldwide.

The Sunday Reeds – Jean Luc

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 16:29:27 +0000

Jean Luc is a superb piece of rock’n’roll pop noir from Melbourne’s The Sunday Reeds. Taken from their EP Amour Tragique, out on August 1st on Heartgun Records, it tells of the tumultuous relationship between Jean-Luc Godard and actress Anna Karina. Their complex relationship has mirrors in a particularly bitter relationship break up in Paris, that most romantic city in the world, where founding duo Romana Ashton and Drew Jones spent three days and were evidently inspired. Joined by Jeremy Russell in 2010, the three piece toss together 90s grunge (check out the vocals), bristling blues scales and wholesome 60s pop. It’s rich and lush, dark and poised, ominously teetering on the edge of an emotional immersive collapse but all the while musically tight.

T-Shirt Weather

admin — Mon, 19 May 2014 13:52:41 +0000

A bit punk, a bit pop, T-Shirt Weather are a three piece from the stunning cathedral and castle city of Durham and T-Shirt Weather play fun and frantic music not to be taken seriously. These four songs, recorded over three days on chrome tape (a nightmare apparently) the tracks from their latest split EP with Kingston based Losing Sleep shout of a brash and bold maverick spirit, a bit of northern charm, and jovial honesty. And, like all good northern goods, they are as cheap as chips, available to download on a pay what you want basis.

The Franklys – Puppet

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 20:07:40 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5-mzOFpWoE
Puppet by The Franklys is chaotic and ramshackle pop brilliance, with a good old fashioned rampant chord structure, bounding melodies – and sixties swinging dance styles. Starting off with sinister vibes, it evolves into frantic fun, whipping its way into a thrashing riot – with attitude. Jennifer Ahlkvist’s is angry as she yelps ‘you never wanted me, you kicked me to the ground and left me there to die,’ but damn she makes me happy as she does so. Out now on Electric Wood Records. Catch the female four piece live.
26 April – The Good Mixer, London
8 May – ROADKILL, Aces & Eights, London
12 May – The Old Blue Last, London
25 May – Dublin Castle, London
17 June – Artrocker New Blood Festival, Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
8 August – Strawberry Fields Festival, Cattows Farm, Leicestershire w/The Twang, DJ Yoda, JAWs

Introducing – Courtney Yasmineh

admin — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 19:54:37 +0000

Ballsy and confident in demeanour, Courtney Yasmineh is charming and captivating, and her music direct and delicious, a potent cocktail of alternative rock, folk, pop and even a little gospel, all blended and blurred into a dazzling and blistering output. A complex and tough upbringing saw her flee to great north woods of Minnesota where she started working on a six song EP, including the fanciful tune Married To Bob (Bob Dylan once fled from the same woods.) Since then she has grown and developed, but still always raw and honest. Brazenly emotive, her music perches on the brink of various styles but gathers up their substance, eclectic yet distinctive. New album Wake Me Up When It’s Over has a rather misleading title. Despite tough times and adversity Courtney strikes as the kind of woman who grabs life, attacks it head on, and rides out her thrills and demons. Opening with Ballad To My Other Self, a bold statement of awareness as to personality fractures and how people change, all glitch and guitars, the album flickers through slow and fast, happy and sad, grunge and folk. Scrutiny sees soft flirty vocals, and Bury Me makes you squirm with its raw and open wounds from an unhappy marriage. The ditzy named Pretty Kitty is a highlight, howling loops and compulsive riffs under slightly husky vocals, building up to a brash and almost seismic shifts. Released on her own Indie label, Stupid Bitch Records, she will be playing songs from it when she visits Europe.
26.09 – 12 Bar Club,London
27.09 – The Troubadour, London
30.09 – Gaslight Club @ Oporto, Leeds
01.10 – The Blues Bar, Harrogate
03.10 – The Victoria, Swindon
04.10 – The Jet Lounge, Amsterdam
05.10 – Het Podium, Hilversum
06.10 – The Music Village, Brussels.
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Eagulls – Nerve Endings

admin — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 13:24:01 +0000

Just signed to Partisan Records, Leeds four piece Eagulls haven’t lost any of the smudged speedy snarl that first caused a splash when they released debut single Council Flat Blues on Not Even Records. Urgent and energetic, Nerve Endings speeds along, all smudged and snarling. From its opening distorted fuzz it throws itself at you, managing to be at once nonchalant and compelling as singer George Mitchell somehow sneers wistfully ‘I’m nervous and I’m tired.’ The whole thing is one of dense fractious fog, galloping along whilst the wall of guitar doodles in big sweeps of noise. Like its name it tingles and pulls, sending thrills through the body of a slightly electric nature. Out on September 30th on Partisan Records, Nerve Endings, and available to pre order on 7″ and download here, before what we can only hope will be more of the same on the debut album in 2014.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104569220″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Her Parents – Why Don’t You Just Fuck Off?

admin — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:40:30 +0000

‘I’m declaring war on bellends’ sing Her Parents on Why Don’t You Just Fuck Off?
Yes, it’s fair to say that this song speaks to me on many levels. Particularly the ferocity of the vigorous paced riffs, its angry and slightly unhinged drumming, and the jaw slackening stride with which it rushes through, over in a brief 1 minute 25 seconds. The band, which includes members of Internet Forever, Stairs to Korea and Dananananaykroyd describe themselves as ‘just a great bunch of guys playing punk rock.’ Recently signed to Alcopop their seismic energy and ferocious cochlea challenging tunes are something of a departure for both the label and the guys’ previous outfits usual poppy breeziness, which is perhaps why it works so well – pent up punk energy suddenly comes flooding forth. Harnesses on guys – this is one hell of a ride. And free toboot.