Hey folks!! Check out this awesome “Halloween“ compilation from our friends at Chaputa Records & Ghost Highway Recordings! Make sure to grab a copy! Have a fantastic weekend! THE HAUNTED JUKEBOX
A Ghost Highway / Chaputa! Creepy Compilation.
14 spooky tracks from the garage and beyond!
A creepy collection of fuzz, twang, pounding drums and strange stories — made for late nights, battered jukeboxes and playing way too loud.
EU tour with Canadian rockers Danko Jones confirmed for October
“The sound of trouble.”Iggy Pop BBC 6MUSIC
“As a listener you are left with an unshakable feeling that this is the type of record British music has needed for some time.”CLASH
“Irrepressible, irresistible – their essential manual for street level rock thrills.”Kerrang!
Set to release their stomping new album ‘Nice N’ Rough’ on September 25th via Venn Records, Split Dogs are a band with their collective feet permanently pressed hard on the accelerator pedal, racing back with new single ‘Speed Demon’. Already notorious for their heroic approach to touring, it’s only right that ‘Speed Demon’ was born on the road, as singer Harry Martinez explains…
“We documented a lot of our European tour last year, so decided to use that footage to create a tour diary style music video. The song is our love letter to life on the road —something we, as a band, have always loved doing.
“A lot of the video features footage from Freak Show in Essen,” continues Harry. “We’ve played there a few times, first on the “Here to Destroy Europe” tour and most recently during our German tour. It is one of our favourite places in the world—beautiful, full of heart, and somewhere that needs to be seen to be believed. Massive thanks to the owners, Benny and Ela, for their unwavering love of fast rock ‘n’ roll, counterculture, and each other.”
2026 has already seen Split Dogs complete their own UK headline tour, before multiple festival appearances, a headline German tour in July, a string of instore performances in September (ticket link HERE) and an EU tour with Canadian rockers Danko Jones in October. This all comes off the back of a massive tour with Gogol Bordello in 2025 and gigs with Bad Nerves, Teen Mortgage and many others.
New album ‘Nice N’ Rough’ was recorded at The Station House, a recording studio based in a repurposed Victorian police station in Leeds, Split Dogs quickly discovered the studio also boasts one of the country’s finest VHS collections. Fuelled with classics like ‘Heavy Metal’, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, and a Tina Turner live tape, the Bristol based four-piece went to work capturing their sophomore album, ‘Nice N’ Rough’, with producer Jonah Falco (High Vis, Rifle, and drummer of Canadian punks Fucked Up) and engineer James Atkinson (formerly of seminal hardcore band Voorhees).
The result is thirteen thumping tracks featuring lightning-fast guitar licks, raspy hooks and cues from greats like Plasmatics, New York Dolls, Motörhead and The Stooges. Front-person Harry Martinez delivers a larger-than-life, undeniable rock ‘n’ roll performance, injecting the band’s reputable live energy straight into the vocal booth.
Catch Split Dogs live at the following dates in 2026:
INSTORE PERFORMANCES 25-Sep-2026 UK Leeds Crash Records 26-Sep-2026 UK Glasgow Blitzkrieg 27-Sep-2026 UK Liverpool Rough Trade 28-Sep-2026 UK Coventry Just Dropped in 29-Sep-2026 UK Bristol Rough Trade 30-Sep-2026 UK Nottingham Rough Trade 01-Oct-2026 UK Rough Trade East
TOUR W/ DANKO JONES
12-Oct-2026 GER Potsdam Waschhaus 13-Oct-2026 GER Nurnberg Löwensaal 14-Oct-2026 AT Wien Flex 15-Oct-2026 HU Budapest A38 16-Oct-2026 ROM Bucharest Quantic 17-Oct-2026 Bulg Sofia Pirotska 5 Event Center 19-Oct-2026 ROM Cluj Form Space 21-Oct-2026 Cro Zagreb Vintage Industrial Bar 22-Oct-2026 Slov Ljubljana Kino Siska 23-Oct-2026 AT Salzburg Rockhouse 24-Oct-2026 CH Rubingen Muhle Hunzinken 25-Oct-2026 CH Zurich Dynamo 27-Oct-2026 GER Oberhausen Turbinenhalle 2 28-Oct-2026 B Ghent Handelsbeurs 29-Oct-2026 GER Frankfurt Batschkapp 30-Oct-2026 NL Haarlem Patronaat 31-Oct-2026 NL Tilburg Next Stage 01-Nov-2026 NL Leuwaarden Neusoorn
The March Violets have part two of their ‘Unnatural History’ UK tour coming up, following on from their 80’s album Natural History reissue. Next is the coming re-release of Turn to The Skyb/wMiss Amanda Jones.
Turn to The Sky was their final single in 1986, on a major following a series of indie chart-topping singles. The band, by then featuring late period singer Cleo Murray, were soon hired to feature in the John Hughes 1987 cult teen movie Some Kind of Wonderful (his follow-up to Pretty in Pink). As well as performing in the film, spending two weeks on the Hollywood set, producer Stephen Hague remade the single and recorded a new track – Miss Amanda Jones, a Rolling Stones cover. Stones-obsessed Hughes had given that name to a lead character.
Unavailable for some while, it’s the Stephen Hague movie version being reissued, together with Miss Amanda Jones, both previously only available on the album soundtrack.
In June and July, The March Violets (Rosie Garland, Tom Ashton and Matt Thorpe) played 14 UK dates in support of the ‘Natural History’ album reissue. As well as tracks from that 1980’s catalogue, they also perform songs from their 2024 album ‘Crocodile Promises’ – and they’ve another album half-completed. Now they have second series of dates across the UK and beyond, as follows: – Oct 27 Prague, Czechia, Lucerna Music Bar Oct 31 Whitby, Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival, Pavilion Theatre Nov 1 Newcastle-on-Tyne, The Cluny Nov 3 Edinburgh, Speakeasy Nov 5 Derby, The Hairy Dog Nov 6 Huddersfield, Amped Nov 8 Bedford, Esquires Nov 10 London, New Cross Inn Nov 11 Brighton, Komedia followed up by: Feb 6 ’27 Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wave Festival
Turn to The Sky b/w Miss Amanda Jones is available on digital services from September 18 2026.
A tribute to Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks & Dave Kusworth
by Mark Mulholland, Joe Armstrong & Stéphane Doucerain
Ports Of Call Music CD/LP/DL
Release date 6 November 2026
The seminal West Midlands post-punk band Swell Maps was founded in the mid-1970s by brothers Adrian Nicholas Godfrey and Kevin Paul Godfrey, alias Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks. Championed by John Peel, they have since been cited as an influence by many, including the likes of REM, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Blur, Stereolab and Dinosaur Jr. Beginning with 1977’s ‘Read About Seymour’, they released a string of highly original singles and a brace of albums, A Trip To Marineville and Jane From Occupied Europe, drawn on a melting pot of influences from glam to krautrock and fully locking into punk’s DIY aesthetic.
Splitting in 1980, Nikki and Epic would team up with guitarist and songwriter Dave Kusworth of semi-legendary Birmingham bands TV Eye and The Subterranean Hawks to create The Jacobites. All three would go on to enjoy solo careers and various other bands and projects: Epic with Crime and The City Solution and These Immortal Souls, Dave with The Bounty Hunters and the Dogs D’Amour, while Nikki collaborated with members of REM, The Birthday Party, the Faces, the Stones and The Waterboys. Epic died in London, aged 38, in 1997, and Nikki in New York at the age of 49 in March 2006, while Dave passed away in Birmingham, aged 60, in 2020.
Down Silver Streets is a collection of songs by Nikki, Dave and Epic recorded by three musicians who played extensively with Nikki and Dave in the 90s and 2000s: Scottish singer-songwriters Mark Mulholland and Joe Armstrong and French drummer Stéphane Doucerain, with guitars that jangle and chime, sublime vocal harmonies, lush organ and keys, melodic and rhythmic bass, held together by supple and inventive drums.
As a whole, the album provides a fresh take on familiar material, a possible entry point for newcomers and, above all, a reflective, heartfelt tribute to the three amigos.
Release show: 2 October – Gibney’s, Berlin
“In a previous incarnation, the bar was called Dezibel, which was a bar and concert venue that I was involved in creating with a bunch of friends in 1998,” Mark explains. “The first gig we put on there was Nikki – I remember him carrying in his gear while we were still screwing in plasterboard above the stage door – and he and Dave were regularly on the bill thereafter, so it seems like a suitable place for a release gig for the tribute album to them.”
Track Listing
Side 1
1. Midget Submarines (Nikki Sudden)
2. Silver Street (Nikki Sudden/Dave Kusworth)
3. When Angels Die (Nikki Sudden)
4. Aeroplane Blues (Nikki Sudden)
5. Something New Under the Sun (Epic Soundtracks)
Side 2
6. Kings and Queens (Dave Kusworth)
7. I Don’t Know (Epic Soundtracks)
8. The Last Bandit (Nikki Sudden)
9. Chelsea Embankment (Nikki Sudden)
10. Winter (Nikki Sudden)
Recorded by Mark Mulholland in France, Tunisia and Berlin.
Produced by Mark Mulholland. Mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Street Studio, Leamington Spa, England
Gary Marx is best known as the co-founder of The Sisters of Mercy, with singer Andrew Eldritch. Marx was there from day one. His trademark musical contributions provide many of the highlights on the Sisters’ early recordings. After parting ways, he went on to enjoy success with the band Ghost Dance, before they split in 1990. Since then, Marx has steered his own peculiar course as a solo artist, with this, his second offering, in which he comes full circle with 72 minutes of music, rounding off a symbolic coincidence. Marx never strays far from his influences from the 70s, the likes of Bolan and his T Rex and other glam rock luminaries who dominated the music scene for so many impressionable youngsters. This new album is spread over four sides of thick plastic, and while Gary alludes to each side having particular traits, he also points out it’s not in any way a concept album.
After the intro and soundscape of the opener, it’s more upbeat Roxy meets Bolan with the handclapping and whooping and hollering of ‘High Brighton Rock’. The album has a summer feel to it, with plenty of saxophone and swing, as the record is like a great big beaming smile, void of any baggage or stress and just wedged to bursting with top pop rock songs. Marx has a knack for knowing how to write sugar-sweet, rough-around-the-edges pop tunes in a similar vein to Nick Lowe and several other great songwriters.
There is a lot of music to get through, but just let it play and wash over you. On occasion, it dips a toe in pure pop like ‘Hang Up’, which reminds me of the lighter side of the Boomtown Rats. If modern kids wanted to know what it was like in the 70s diving into the TOTP albums and how it felt, then give em a blast of this bad boy. The title track begins with some cinematic spoken words before bursting out with a groove The Happy Mondays cooked up on a good day with a shuffle backbeat and some shakers for good measure.
There’s so much going on here as well; every play I hear another instrument that snuck in under the radar. ‘Next Stop’ sounds like a fucked up Tom Waits number if he escaped from his pain and wrapped himself in a feather boa and some stack heels. ‘Starsky And Hutch’ messed with my head like an early Depeche Mode song if they introduced distorted riffs n power chords. As it goes, I’m drawn to the last side of the album, where I think the songwriting is raised a notch or two and the album closes on a ballad that reminds me of the softer moments of a Julian Cope record. There is nothing not to like on this offering, and like I said earlier, you get a lot of bang for your buck and so many songs that keep vying for your attention over four sides of mighty fine music. Go on, treat your ears and squeeze into those sequined pants one more time and dance the night away to ‘Red Planet Blue’
The Family Business LTD are a ska collective put together in 2023 by Rat Boy frontman Jordan Cardy and Preston from The Ordinary Boys. The duo headed across the pond and joined Rancid legend Tim Armstrong in LA to write material. Tim roped in Antonee First Class of The English Beat for some authentic ‘two-tone toast’ and Operation Ivy man Jesse Michaels as creative collaborator, and The Family Business LTD were born.
With the rhythm section of fellow Hellcat label mates The Calamatix providing the groove, Tim producing and adding guitars, the debut album was written and recorded over a two-week period.
With the two-tone-inspired cover art depicting Walt Jabsco captured in a Tim Timebomb-style leap, and the main man producing, it does sorta give the game away as to what to expect from this unusual collaboration, With less emphasis on punk and more on mixing up the roots of ska with modern street level punk of the 2000’s, it’s a refreshing listen from beginning to end.
If their intention was to make you move, then opener and lead single ‘Floor Burner’ delivers in spades. 1 minute and 33 seconds of pure energy, it’s a song designed to make you dance like no one’s watching. Imagine if Operation Ivy were on a two-tone label, and you’ll be close; with Tim’s guidance, it’s a perfect mix of British 70s two-tone with a 90s punked-up delivery. It could be the best song of the year.
And so it continues; Antonee First Class adds Jamaican sauce to the likes of ‘Detonator’ and especially ‘Still A Jamaican’, songs that bring to mind the heady days of The Specials and The Selector, with added Hammond and horns, and those essential ska grooves laid down by the tight rhythm section of Clarence Kid III on drums and Matty Taylor on bass.
Lyrically, they dip from party hard escapism (‘Floor Burner’ & ‘Detonator’) to deeper social commentary like on closer ‘A.S.B.O.’, highlighting the fact that the same political and social issues are still around some 40-odd years down the road. Elsewhere, ‘Armageddon’ builds to an earworm of a chorus. A street-level anthem with its heart deeply rooted in classic ska. ‘Bambi’ is very up the Rat Boy street of scuzzy, anthemic punk infused with added ska bite, coming on like The King Blues in full on Clash mode.
‘No Vacancy’ skanks along nicely, giving Antonee more freedom to give added toast to proceedings. Then, album closer ‘A.S.B.O.’ rounds things off nicely with a killer refrain and enough rude boy references to keep any long-time lover of sharp suits and pork pie hats happy.
The songs are short and sharp, with familiar melodies you’ll swear you’ve heard before and you’ll want to hear again. The Family Business LTD is another fine example that everything Tim Armstrong touches turns to gold. But let’s not give him all the credit, as this is Jordan and Preston’s baby, where two unlikely mates from Essex get a chance to step out from their other bands and share their influences with legends along the way.
Whether this is just a one-off studio project or a fully-fledged touring band remains to be seen, but I, for one, am sold on the idea of The Family Business LTD, I’ll buy the record and go to a show if it happens. Just let me know, and I’ll get my dancing shoes ready.
Fast’n’loose power-poppin punk rock to put a big fat smile on your chops whilst the band cut loose with some tasty sugarry tunes cut loosly with a great live feeling with the emphasis on the tune and melody the production is rough and ready and captures the moment perfectly letting the songs breath and display a big ray of musical sunshine outta your speakers.
They beg, steal and borrow from the good and great with familiar magpie loans from the likes of the Damned in the opener, The Saints and the likes of The Undertones, especially on ‘Coming Home’ which is almost ‘Teenage Kicks’ Australian style and why not. The BV’s are lush, and the overall vibe is uplifting and just sheer enjoyment. There are Riffs borrowed from Malcolm Young via Johnny Thunders and Walter Lure, and a whole lot more.
Melbourne, Australia’s LOOSE LIPS pour all their collective know-how into their debut album ‘Last Laugh’, released by Dig! Records, and self-released by the band from their home base in Melbourne, Australia. The world may be turning to shit, but snotty power pop seems oblivious. Turn the amps up to overdrive them, push the fader up to capture the magic and pour in some top melodies captured from the band’s extensive output with other bands, but if you know you know from the Prize to the Unknowns to The Chats via some Chubby, then of course this trio are more than capable of wonderful things and boy do they deliver. From the snotty foot stomper ‘Good Bye Johnny’ to the thoughtful DC horns aloft of ‘Tonight We Go’ via the delicious tub thumping Heartbreakers homage that is ‘Nothing I Wan’t’ its simply unadulterated live for today rock n roll. You just can’t fake this shit, and when done properly it’s just a majestic ten-track stonker.
Josh (guitar/ vocals; The Chats and the Unknowns), Ethan (bass/ vocals; Chubby and the Gang, The Prize, Street Sweeper) and Nadine (drums/ vocals; The Prize), you absolutely killed it here. ‘Last Laugh’ is the sound of some pals sharing the love they have for punk n power pop and turning in a DIY ear bomb that’ll be ringing in your head until they do it again on the next album this is uncomplicated wonderful songs laid bare waiting for you to pour it into your ears – just take it and enjoy being one o fthe smart kids in owning the debut album from Loose Lips – simply buy this record!
Ruts DC have been extraordinarily prolific since the release of their last studio album ‘Counterculture?’ back in 2022. With their creative juices flowing freely, they cut two further volumes of their acclaimed ‘ElectrAcoustiC’ series, with volume two arriving in 2023 and volume three in 2024. Now the band are set to return again with a brand new four-song EP titled ‘Bound In Blood’, set for release September 11th via Sosumi Recordings. Due for release on CD and green and black smoke 10” vinyl, the EP leads with the song ‘Bound In Blood’, that first appeared in acoustic form on the aforementioned ‘ElectrAcoustiC’ Volume 3, followed by another brand new song titled ‘Wear The Crown’, although there are no A and B side preferences, leaving the listener or DJ to decide according to their mood and/or choice.
A message from Segs …
“Greetings all. We decided to make our first ever 10-inch EP! 4 tracks,3 songs 2 dubs.”
And here’s what’s on it:
BOUND IN BLOOD – “Some of you will know the song from ElectrAcoustiC vol.3 but here it is re-recorded in its full electric glory.”
BORN INNOCENT – Mitt’s Immortal Mix “A new mix featuring and dedicated to Mitt Gamon: This is one of the final records that Mitt played on before moving on to other realms. Glad to say that he actually heard and approved it before leaving us.”
WEAR THE CROWN – “The music had been circulating for some time, but lyrics finished following our Kings coronation “I pledge allegiance to autonomy”
DUB THE CROWN – “Time to think for yourself.”
“We hope you love it…”
Lovingly crafted for their own Sosumi Recordings label: the EP is packaged in stunning artwork based on an original painting by Oliver Howard thereby continuing the RuTs legacy of “Howard Artwork” (Rupert Howard who created the artwork for The Crack, Grin and Bear It, Rhythm Collision etc that was initiated on RuTs debut LP “The Crack” in 1979. (original painting now owned and cherished by Henry Rollins).
As they move towards the RUTS 50th anniversary tour in 2027, the solid trio of Segs, Ruffy and Heggarty are joined on this release by Rhythm Collision collaborator Mitt Gamon on harmonica and Boz Boorer on extra guitars to make this a very special one-off release.
Segs – “Keeping it real with an EP that is close to our hearts. One song about forgiveness, one about equality and one about Autonomy – it’s a must have.”
Bound In Blood EP track-listing:
Bound In Blood
Born Innocent (Mitt’s Immortal Mix)
Wear The Crown
Dub The Crown
Live Shows in 2026
Sept 22 Göteborg Sweden, Sept 24 Upsala Sweden, Sept 25 Stockholm Sweden, Sept 26 Nörrkoping Sweden
Nov 14 Morcombe Festival, Nov 20 Southampton 1865, Nov 21 Brighton Chalk,
NEW ALBUM PUNK RUINS OUT OCTOBER 23 VIA EPITAPH RECORDS
FEATURING MEMBERS OF BAD RELIGION, REFUSED,ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, GIRLS AGAINST BOYS & THE FAITH
FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR EVER STARTS JANUARY 2027
“FAKE NAMES are doing their own thing on their own time and doing it fantastically. Nobody said the revolution had to be boring.” – Distorted Sound Magazine
Punk mainstays Fake Names are back with their third studio album, Punk Ruins, out October 23. Their first new music in three years, today they share the new song/video for “Until It’s Normal,” the guitar-driven album opener that airs frustration with those who believe in today’s Fascist propaganda.
Punk Ruins finds guitarists Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion) and Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace, The Faith), vocalist Dennis Lyxzén (Refused, INVSN), bassist Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys, Soulside), and new drummer Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt, OFF!) effortlessly merging D.C. post-hardcore with modern power-pop. Throughout, Punk Ruins dissects the political manipulation and social neurosis of modern life, while holding onto punk’s salvation.
Recorded at the legendary Electrical Audio studio in Chicago and working with producer Matthew Barnhardy (Superchunk, Bob Mould), Punk Ruins transcends genre as the ultimate amalgam of fury and fun. “We recorded twelve songs in five days, and all of them are on the album,” Baker explains, adding that Lyxzén tracked his vocals in a single day. “One of the advantages of us all working at home is there’s plenty of time to figure out what you’re going to do,” Baker says when asked how the band were able to create such a fully formed album in the time some of their other acts have spent solely on pre-production. “I know what the guitar solo is going to be because I’ve already done it at home and sent it to Michael to tweak it,” he adds. “It’s not as hard as you think.”
“This album is a collective expression and a lot of the fun is seeing how the hell it is going to turn out,” Baker shares, adding that the musicianship of the other players helped elevate his and Hampton’s initial ideas into something far beyond what they anticipated. Tracks like “Diamond Buzz” provide a hypnotic groove while the title track showcases the band’s undeniable D.C. hardcore sound, with Lyxzén belting out his vocals, elevating the song’s already razor-sharp hooks.
Fake Names is a “mutual admiration society,” according to Baker, melding 70’s UK punk with classic hardcore energy and dynamic guitar-driven power-pop. The band released their classic rock-leaning self-titled debut in 2020, followed by 2023’s Expendables, produced by Adam “Atom” Greenspan (IDLES, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), who helmed a sonically cleaner, richer sound for the group.
Fake Names will be heading out on their first European tour ever in January 2027, making stops in Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and the UK. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: https://fakenamesofficial.com/tour.
2022 saw Daddy’s Boy’s debut hit the shelves, well, buckle up, kids they’re back to kick the living fuck into your senses and eardrums with their nosebleed loud hardcore noise. ‘Four Hombres’ is a magnificent racket – a no-means-no style assault: angular, sharp guitar noise filling every void imaginable. It’s an intense sonic kicking your given through the medium of hardcore punk. The Chicago-based quartet push the boundaries of what’s acceptable as the songs ramble on with often hypnotic unison riffage and lick after lick whilst the rhythm section hypnotises through their instruments.
‘Four Hombres’ was recorded in Chicago with longtime friend Greg Norman. According to drummer Neal Markowski, the band were keen to ‘break any habits’ they’d developed, and sure enough, they turn in an intense record. The opener is nothing short of sensational, and my advice would be to turn it up, get your head in those speaker bass bins and take it on the chin. ‘Divorce’ sounds like a fuckin avalanche with rocks tumbling down all around you with no chance of escape. The songs are short and oh so sweet, and with no chance of any fat settling on this lean, mean machine, Daddy’s Boy are killing it.
Reflecting the current climate in America, it’s sometimes chaotic, loud, brutal, confrontational, but unlike America, this is bloody good. They should get together with Dead Pioneers and hit the road it would be glorious. ‘Crows Feet’ lends itself to the band declaring war on your senses, the vocals sound distant before abruptly ending.
The title ‘Four Hombres’ is a ZZ Top nod that was chosen, Markowski adds, because “we’re four dudes who like making music together.” This is where any link to ZZ Top ends, hell, these guys would have terrified tres hombres. Eighteen minutes of brutal sensory assault, but in the best possible way, hardcore never sounded so essential. Get a hard hat and step away from the speakers, but do remember to turn it up but at a safe distance.
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