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A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – ‘SEE THROUGH YOU: REREALIZED’

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – <strong>‘SEE THROUGH YOU: REREALIZED’</strong>

21 REMIXES OF SONGS FROM THE BAND’S NEW ALBUM ‘SEE THROUGH YOU’ BY TRENTEMØLLER, ANDY BELL (RIDE), SONIC BOOM, XIU XIU, ANNIE HART (AU REVOIR SIMONE), bdrmm, TV PRIEST AND MORE

RECORD STORE DAY EXCLUSIVE 2XLP SET OUT ON 22 APRIL – OUT DIGITALLY ON 02 JUNE 2023

UK + EUROPEAN TOUR IN MAY/JUNE

INCLUDING LONDON’S WIDE AWAKE FESTIVAL ON 27 MAY WITH BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD & GILLA BAND AND MORE

After a very busy 2022, which saw the release of their critically acclaimed new album ‘See Through You’, as well as the re-release of their expanded and remastered seminal album ‘Exploding Head’, NYC-noise rock iconic band A Place To Bury Strangers announce the second leg of their Destroy Into The Future European Tour, which starts today in Germany. 

This Record Store Day, the Dedstrange Rogues’ Gallery of Remix Producers joins forces with renowned Danish Electronic Composer Trentmøller, Andy Bell of legendary shoegaze band Ride (as Glok)post-punk anti-heroes Xiu Xiu, the luminescent Annie Hart of hypnotic synth trio Au Revoir Simone (Twin Peaks: the Return), psychedelic guitar genius Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum, UK Post Punks TV Priest, Tampa’s Goth band Glove, UK emerging shoegazers bdrmm and many more to tear down the walls between Oliver Ackermann’s dreams on the remix album ‘See Through You: Rerealized‘, an RSD-exclusive 2xLP set on red and blue vinyl featuring twenty-one brand-new, spicy hot takes on songs from the sixth A Place To Bury Strangers album, ‘See Through You’.

SIDE A

1. I’m Hurt – (Trentmøller Remix)

2. Hold On Tight – Wah Together Acid Mix)

3. Love Reaches Out (GIFT Remix)

4. Broken (Data Animal Remix)

5. Let’s See Each Other (Grimoose Remix)

SIDE B

6. Love Reaches Out (Xiu Xii Remix)

7. So Low (Ceremony East Coast Remix)

8. Nice Of You To Be There For Me (Annie Hart Remix)

9. My Head Is Bleeding (The Pleasure Majenta Remix)

10. Anyone But You (TV Priest Remix)

11. I Don’t Know How You Do It (bdrmm Remix)

SIDE C

12. Love Reaches Out (Sonic Boom Rerealized)

13. My Head Is Lunacy (Lunacy Remix)

14. I’m Hurt – Glok Remix

15. I Don’t Know How You Do It (Dave Harrington Remix)

SIDE D

16. Dragged In A Hole (Glove Remix)

17. I’m Hurt (Melting Rust Opera Remix)

18. Love Reaches Out (Reality Delay remix)

19. I Disappear (When You’re Near) (The Bodies Obtained Remix)

20. Let’s See Each Other (Davy Drones Remix)

21. Anyone But You (Toflang Remix)

A Place to Bury Strangers will bring their legendary live shows – a shamanistic experience that bathes listeners in glorious sound, crazed left turns, transcendent vibrations, real-time experiments, and brilliant breakthroughs – to the UK and Europe in May and June 2023 for the second leg of their Destroy Into The Future Tour. See full dates below : Buy Tickets Here

www.instagram.com/aptbs

www.facebook.com/aplacetoburystrangers

www.twitter.com/aptbs

www.aplacetoburystrangers.bandcamp.com

The Stranglers – ‘Feline’ 40th Anniversery Edition (BMG)

The Stranglers – ‘Feline’ 40th Anniversery Edition (BMG)

With the release of this their seventh album on the then-new label Epic, The Stranglers wanted to shake things up a bit, veer off on a tangent and explore new sounds and push back those punk boundaries they never felt a part of anyway.

This expanded reissue on coloured vinyl and two-disc CD is celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary I thought that this day would even be of any significance in the band’s rich tapestry of a career.

With the synthesisers and electronic drums to the fore, ‘Feline’ delved into a much more diverse career path for the band, with a more European feel to proceedings. Recently departed David Greenfield is very prominent in the mix.

So that’s the early 80s with synths and acoustic guitars over electric, a new wave was certainly in the air. The press at the time was most unkind probably because it didn’t fit into any comfortable genre of convenience and we still know that that is never good. It did, however, follow on from the absolute monster crossover hit that was ‘Golden Brown’ which might have signalled the band’s shift into new more comfortable shoes perhaps?

The opener ‘Midnight Summer Dream’ with its mellow intro and snapping 80s synth the transformation was underway. The spoken vocals of Hugh Cornwell were also supported by Jean-Jacques Burnells lead vocals on the single ‘European Female’, via the acoustic-driven ‘Small World’. Maybe looking back and the power of hindsight it’s now no big deal to hear this twisted New Wave experimental Stranglers but back in the day it was a big deal and punk rock points were most certainly removed.

Whilst still very much a Stranglers album, with the power of hindsight there are a lot of chances taken by a brave band who didn’t follow convention nor pay lip service to the press its an experiment that clearly didn’t really hamper the band at all and looking back possibly with more grown-up eyes and ears there is a bigger appreciation for this brave new world the men in black stepped into.

The initial press of ‘Feline’ had ‘Aural Sculpture Manifesto’ single sided single which is part of the second disc along with a plethora of different mixes, like ‘Savage Breast’ and ‘Pawsher’ and the reggae-infused ‘Permission’ so there are no excuses not to get the full picture of where the band were at in 1983.

If you passed this by the first time around now is the chance to play it back and have a newfound appreciation for the band spreading its creative tentacles far and wide and not just churning out the thumping bass-driven alternative rock they were known for.

order here 👉https://stranglers.tmstor.es/

Author: Dom Daley

Vive Le Rock – ALL-STAR LINE-UP AT THE O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE, APRIL 6TH

Vive Le Rock – ALL-STAR LINE-UP AT THE O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE, APRIL 6TH

HUGELY ANTICIPATED LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH REUNION WITH MICHAEL MONROE AND MUCH MORE

AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED BY VICE SQUAD ICON BEKI BONDAGE!

After three long years of delays and cancellations, the Vive Le Rock Awards will finally take place at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on Thursday April 6th. And the good news is that the next day is a holiday so everyone can all party like it’s 1999!


Featuring all-star chaos and one-off, unique performances, the VLR Awards will salute the legends of punk and rock ‘n’ roll! The last VLR Awards show in 2019 already holds legendary status, but this year the organisers are pulling out all the stops with a packed five-hour long show!


This year will feature three unique sets by legendary acts. The headliners are none other than ’80s goth punk legends LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH. Joining the band of The Damned’s Brian James, Sham 69’s Dave Treganna and Clash drummer Terry Chimes, will be the one and only Michael Monroe on vocals. Michael was a great friend of Stiv Bators and the only man on the planet to take his place for this one-off performance.

“The ‘Shepherds Bush Empire’ was an old variety gig which is what I think the ‘Vive Le Rock’ show on April 6th is gonna be” states Brain James. “A bunch of different acts doing sensational sets, it’s got all the makings of being a fun, memorable night and a good excuse to play some old ‘Lords’ songs dedicated to the one and only Stiv Bators.”

NEVILLE STAPLE, from The Specials will lift the roof off with a live set of rudeboy classics with his extraordinary band, and East End street punk/West Ham United legends the COCKNEY REJECTS will rock their classics in a fast ‘n’ furious awards set. 

The all-star house band, THE VIVE LE ROCKERS featuring Paul-Ronney Angel and members of Ruts DC, Jim Jones All Stars and Urban Voodoo Machine will back artists including MILLIE MANDERS, BAD BARBEE – Elizabeth Westwood (WESTWORLD) and Jennie Belle Star (THE BELLE STARS), JIM JONES and GIRLSCHOOL’s Kim and Jackie. Compere for the event will be Vice Squad frontwoman and trailblazer BEKI BONDAGE who will host the five-hour extravaganza at the new bigger venue, London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire and the awards and champagne will be flowing with special mystery presenters and guests.

“It’s always an honour to be asked to participate in a prestigious Rock ’n’ Roll event, especially when the invitation comes from a man like Eugene who has a bigger quiff than Alvin Stardust,” laughs Beki! “I’d originally planned to go to the VLR awards and get pleasantly hammered but now I’ve been collared into doing some actual work I will have to go easy on the sauce. Hopefully the night will descend into beautiful chaos, gongs will be given, songs will be sung and planks will be spanked and a great time will be had by all!”

VIP packages are available that include a limited awards T-Shirt, VIP access, aftershow party ticket and Vive Le Rock annual.


This is the punk rock ‘n’ roll show of the year so get your tickets HERE:

Find Vive Le Rock online at vivelerock.net


Vive Le Rock!

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE:

FIND VIVE LE ROCK ONLINE HERE:

The Van Pelt Announce ‘Artisans & Merchants’

<strong>The Van Pelt Announce ‘Artisans & Merchants’</strong>

NYC Cult Indie Faves The Van Pelt Announce ‘Artisans & Merchants’

Their First New Studio LP In A Quarter Century – Out March 17

Pre-order HERE:

Stream The New Single + Video ‘Punk House’ HERE

Band Announces UK, EU and NYC Shows

Influential band stands among a select few of the most revered second-wave emo / indie bands of all time including their peers in The Promise Ring, Mineral, Christie Front Drive, Boys Life, Braid, Karate, and Rainer Maria.

“The lines between post-hardcore, indie rock, and emo blurred on the two mid-’90s full-lengths from the Van Pelt.”- Pitchfork

“New York City’s The Van Pelt are an influential, but too often overlooked indie rock band — cult favourites for many an emo-inclined crate digger.” – Consequence

“…should be mentioned a lot more than they are when you talk about the history of emo.”- Washed Up Emo

After twenty-five years of waiting, New York City cult indie favourites The Van Pelt have announced a March 17th release date for their upcoming fourth studio full-length, titled ‘Artisans & Merchants,’ which will be released jointly by Spartan Records in North America, La Castanya in Europe/World and Gringo in the UK.

The album was recorded and mixed in Summer / Fall 2021 by Jeff Zeigler (The War On Drugs, Kurt Vile) at Uniform Recording in Philadelphia, PA, and features guest appearances by Nate Kinsella and Ted Leo among others.

The first single ‘Punk House’ is out now, along with a brand-new music video.

Frontman Chris Leo says, “When a bunch of old VHS tapes were unearthed, the band had them digitized and they turned out to be from US tours of the mid-90s. The footage is mainly of daily banalities: random purchases at rest stops, packing and unpacking the van, highway views that could be on the outskirts of Any Town USA. Yet there is a nostalgia to it that’s compelling. The song mirrors the mood in both sound and text. Lines like “The floor is filled with resin on the place where you’re to sleep / if you have enough to drink you can pretend that it’s a sheet” bring any musician back to the rougher side of days on the road — yet again, the subtext here is that the spirit of it all is to be longed for.”

The Van Pelt has announced a series of UK, EU and Brooklyn shows in March and April. See dates below. Pre-order ‘Artisans & Merchants’ here – https://thevanpelt.bandcamp.com

Trampolene release new single ahead of new album and tour

Trampolene release new single ahead of new album and tour

Swansea swashbucklers TRAMPOLENE release a new song Together on March 2nd on the Strap Originals label. Listen here: The track is taken from the band’s eagerly awaited fourth album, ‘Rules Of Love & War’ (r/d 17th March ’23). 

Together is an anthem to solidarity and mutual support, and God knows we need a little of that in our stay home stay subservient screen culture. It is the fourth song (following the release of Thinking Again, Sort Me Out  and Money) to be taken from Rules Of Love & War . 

Rules Of Love & War features 12 new TRAMPOLENE original songs and was produced by Mike Moore (Baxter Dury/Liam Gallagher), Richard Jackson (Super Furry Animals) & Jason Stafford (Albion Rooms). 

Says singer and boss Tramp Jack Jones:“Together is about being stuck in your room, not knowing what to do with your life, when a friend knocks on your door, rescues you and takes you on an adventure…it’s also a song dedicated to ours fans…who are the reason we’ve kept going and the reason we are still together ”

Rules of Love & War will be available on CD, cassette, digital download and 12” black or red vinyl, as well as exclusive formats and signed items. Preorder the album here: https://lnk.fu.ga/trampolene_rulesoflovewar 

TRAMPOLENE who recently completed a string of sold-out shows for Independent Venue Week, play a headline tour of the UK in April. Tickets for all shows are available now from https://shops.ticketmasterpartners.com/trampolene  & https://shops.ticketmasterpartners.com/trampolene-2023    

The band also play Rough Trade East for ‘Wales Week’ (March 4th) and Festivals in Europe during the summer including: Latitude, Kendall Calling, Room To Roam and London Calling in Amsterdam. The full list of dates is:

MARCH

4th London – Rough Trade East (Wales Week)

APRIL

7th Glasgow – The Attic

8th  Newcastle – The Cluny 2

11th Nottingham – Bodega

12th Manchester – Yes

13th  Leeds – Brudenell Social club

14th Bristol -Rough Trade

15th Swansea – Bunkhouse

20th London – 100 Club

28/29/30 Liverpool – Sound City

MAY

19-20 Amsterdam – Paradiso (London Calling)  London Calling 2023 (paradiso.nl)

JULY

7/8 Right to Roam BOLTON

22nd Sat Latitude Festival

27th-30thKendall Calling

https://www.trampolene.co.uk

https://www.youtube.com/user/trampoleneofficial/videos

https://www.facebook.com/trampoleneofficial

https://www.instagram.com/trampolene_band/

https://www.tiktok.com/@trampolene_band

Desperate Fun – ‘Do With Me What You Want’ (No Front Teeth Records)

Desperate Fun – ‘Do With Me What You Want’ (No Front Teeth Records)

It’s been a while since I had the pleasure of reviewing an album on the wonderful No Front Teeth Records label and when I got notice that London noise merchants Desperate Fun were putting out an album on the label I just had to hand over my money.

This three-piece of Noisesmiths kick up a right nasty noisy racket in the same DIY mode as Cavemen with a dash of Chisel thrown in for good measure. Formed in 2017 these peeps have been raised on a steady diet of Spar lager, cheap spirits even cheaper amphetamines and a whole infusion of original 77 punk from the Brian James school of great tone and a handful of sharp riffs and a longing for Radio Birdman, MC5, The Saints and Dead Boys plus a heap of other cool sound and style instigators.

‘Gangster Woman’ kicks off the shakedown sounding like buzzsaw UK Subs its in your face, aggressive, loose (In a Stooges Kinda way) all the ingredients I was looking for. I can’t imagine there were too many takes before this was committed to tape (just as it should be) Snotty as fuck!

There are a total of seven songs on the album with a live track (‘About Your Period’) and a pair of demos to sign this bad boy off with. ‘Goodbye’ is two minutes of letting it all out Brian James style with gang vocals that are rough as fuck as it slams into ‘Hollow’ Paolo Piras on vocals is barking out his words like a cross between Rotten and Persey when they were at their most pissed off. Theres no let up in the piss and poison pouring out of the tracks as the lethal ‘You’d Better Realize’ barks and snaps out of the speakers like a rabid dog.

Theres a swagger about ‘I Wish You Were Dead’ with its extended intro its a hoot and played loud is a real joy from the distorted licks to the drum thumping all holding up the howling vocals that are sneering out of your speakers it must have been a joy for the wonderfully talented  Ben Perrier to produce. No frills no tricks no bullshit just unadulterated raw rock and fuckin roll at its finest.

Theres on for the cancel culture crew ‘Born To Wank’ and ‘Speedfreak’ isn’t what I was expecting as Desperate Fun most definately fuck with the listener on the intro before kicking right off. To be fair the live track doesn’t sound much different to the studio tracks (ok so I’m streatching it a tiny bit) but it makes me jealous that I’ve not had the chance to see them live yet and have beer and sweat thrown at me from all quarters.

All thats left to say is what a rush, and if you’re still reading then you know you should alrady be opening their bandcamp page and picking up a copy. It’ll annoy your neighbours and give you a whole heap of punk points -Buy It!

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Author: Dom Daley

Levellers announce new album & Tour ‘Together All The Way’,

Levellers announce new album & Tour ‘Together All The Way’,

The forthcoming ‘Together All The Way’ tour will be bringing the new arrangements of the songs to audiences in all their live glory. It kicked off at Cheltenham Town Hall on February 27th and will include 18-dates across the country finishing on March 18th at the Buxton Opera House. A number of the shows are already sold out. Full tour dates and more information on the new album can be found.

2023 is a landmark year for Levellers. They are celebrating 35 years of being a band and also the 20th Anniversary of their hugely acclaimed Beautiful Days Festival (August 18th – 20th), which they will headline as well as Suede and Primal Scream. You can find the full line up here

Levellers have announced their brand new acoustic album Together All The Way, the follow up to their 2018 Top 20 album We The Collective. The album will be available on Limited edition Red Vinyl and CD and can be pre-ordered here

The first song ‘Down by the River ‘O’ is available now on all streaming platforms and was written by friend and collaborator Rev Hammer about the Great Flood of 1968 in Buntingford.

The last ‘Collective’ album was recorded at Abbey Road with the legendary John Leckie five years ago and resulted in their highest chart position in twenty years. Levellers always planned to do another album where they acoustically reworked songs from their back catalogue, but eventually came to the conclusion not to try to top what they achieved with We The Collective but to go another way.

So they decided to strip everything right back and go for a more traditional, folk approach as they reimagined various songs from their past. They reconvened the collective – this time with Sean Lakeman producing and Al Scott mixing – at their own Metway Studios in Brighton. Everything was recorded live, with the musicians playing through the songs until they had versions they were happy with.

Of the album and recording, the Levellers say, “It was truly a fun record to make, under the rigorous guidance of Sean. Sean’s a musician himself, always bringing ideas and get out of jail free suggestions when we got stuck. It’s a stripped back, raw iteration of the collective with deep folk leanings. As energetic as the first one but definitely different.”

Levellers were joined again by Hannah and Ollie from the Moulettes on cello, vocals and percussion plus the mighty Dan Donnelly on his first official Levellers recording.

Together All The Way is scheduled for release in March 2023, to coincide with the band’s acoustic tour of theatres and venues around the country, with special guests Moulettes (Duo), Wilswood Buoys and Jess Silk. Tickets are available from myticket.co.uk.

And 2023 is an extra special year for the Levellers as not only do they celebrate 35 years of being a band, but it will also be the 20th Anniversary of their hugely acclaimed Beautiful Days Festival, one of the biggest independent music festivals in the UK.

Thu 2 SHRESWBURY Theatre Severn

Fri 3 LIVERPOOL Philharmonic

Sat 4 BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall

Mon 6 CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange

Tue 7 NORTHAMPTON Derngate

Wed 8 READING Hexagon

Thu 9 LONDON Hackney Empire

Fri 10 POOLE Lighthouse

Sat 11 TRURO Hall For Cornwall

Mon 13 BARNSTAPLE Queen’s Theatre

Tue 14 YEOVIL Westlands

Wed 15 HARROGATE Royal Hall

Thu 16 HULL City Hall

Fri 17 NEWCASTLE Tyne Theatre & Opera House

Sat 18 BUXTON Opera House

HOST – ‘IX’ (Nuclear Blast)

HOST – ‘IX’ (Nuclear Blast)

The last few months would have certainly seen a significant return on investment for anyone with shares in the darker side of music (should such a commodity exist that is). Be it Wednesday Addams dancing to ‘Goo Goo Muck’ on our TV screens or Demon Records releasing the expansive ‘Young Limbs Rise Again: The Story of the Batcave Nightclub 1982 – 1985’ 5 CD set, Goth is very much back in vogue with the mainstream, although it’s not like it ever really ever went out of fashion for some.

Two such musicians who have long harboured such an infatuation with the genre are Nick Holmes and Gregor Mackintosh from epic doom metallers Paradise Lost. So much so that back at the turn of the century on signing a major label deal with EMI they decided to totally reinvent themselves (for a couple of albums at least) as a more Gothically tinged electronic outfit, something that some fans of the band still struggle to get their heads around to this day. For me however, those two albums 1999’s ‘Host’ and 2001’s ‘Believe In Nothing’ still rank within my top 5 albums by the band (1997’s ‘One Second’ being my all-time favourite by the band, just in case you were wondering).

It’s that aforementioned 1999 album that this all-new side project by Holmes and Mackintosh takes its name, but the duo actually cite the origins of the band back to the mid to late 80s, when at a time spent frequenting Yorkshire nightclubs as fledging doom metallers they also found themselves as equally drawn to the burgeoning New Wave and Goth music scenes, and it is this influence that is the underlying theme of the nine tracks that make up ‘IX’ – geddit?

(The commercial stream of the album (from which I’m writing this review) doesn’t contain the duo’s cover of Flock Of Seagull’s ‘I Ran’, but then again that surely spoils the numbers play of the album title too doesn’t it? I shall have to wait for my pre-order copy to finally arrive to solve that mystery.)

Anyway, just like ‘Host’ (the album) ‘XI’ is going to test the patience of any Paradise Lost fan longing for another ‘Draconian Times’ or ‘Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us’, largely because there are very few guitar riffs on offer. What they are doing though is taking risks with their music when perhaps they don’t need to, and most importantly sounding like they are truly enjoying themselves in the process, although with darkwave/Gothic electro pop that isn’t something that is essentially easy to pick up on. And whilst ‘IX’ might not be a heavy metal album, it most certainly is a darkly doom-laden affair, so there are loads of commonalities within the music, if you are prepared to take the time to absorb what’s on offer. There’s even a song called ‘Wretched Soul’ (how metal is that?) to get the album off and running, albeit for this brooding beast of a tune you need to think of what Paradise sounded like on ‘Host’ and turn up the dial marked “latter day Depeche Mode”, something that is also true of the fantastic ‘Tomorrow’s Sky’ a song that manages to out Depeche even Gahan and Gore’s recent single effort by some considerable distance.

For ‘Hiding For Tomorrow’ there’s a glimpse of what Sister Of Mercy might have sounded like if they’d employed someone to play a thunderous acoustic drum kit instead of relying on Docktor Avalanche to provide the back beat and is that a soupçon of Tears For Fears I hear in there mid song too?

The highlights of ‘IX’ are certainly many, but for me it is the fact that songs like ‘My Only Escape’ and ‘Divine Emotion’ sound exactly how I’d have loved Paradise Lost to have sounded after ‘Believe In Nothing’ that perhaps excites me the most, and with ‘Inquisition’ you have a sumptuous electro drenched lament that would not have sounded out of place on any of Gary Numan’s past few studio records.

‘IX’ then, is most certainly a (soul) courageous record for Nick Holmes and Gregor Mackintosh to be releasing, not just in 2023, but anytime, it’s a record that will no doubt provoke discussion and reactions and will hopefully influence (at least a few of) their peers to take risks with their music too. This is sense of Paradise Lost (almost punk rock) defiance I initially fell in love with all those years ago and it’s great to see, and hear, the guys embracing it once again via this set of superb new material. Go seek out a copy NOW!

Buy Here

https://officialhost.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/officialhostuk

Author: Johnny Hayward

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

The release of The Alarm’s brand new album FORWARDS is announced for June 2nd 2023 and is available to pre-order / pre-save now. (Click here to pre-order / pre-save Forwards now!).

The Alarm [Acoustic] UK Tour dates as follows:

May 24th LIVERPOOL Epstein TheatreTICKETS HERE
May 25th BRISTOL St. Georges TICKETS HERE
May 30th NEWCASTLE The Cluny TheatreTICKETS HERE
May 31st TRING Court Theatre TICKETS HERE
June 3rd SALE Waterside Arts CentreTICKETS HERE
June 4th STROUD Subscription Rooms TICKETS HERE
June 6th LONDON Union Chapel, Islington TICKETS HERE
June 7th PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms TICKETS HERE
June 8th YORK The Crescent TICKETS HERE
June 9th HULL The Welly TICKETS HERE

Seconds out round two Trampolene. With anew album coming out this month hit up the linktree and get on it as they release their brand new studio album the same day they release a limited edition hand stamped live album recorded on the opening night of the Swansea Arena Here

Bringing up the rear are South Wales reprobates Deathtraps with their brand new video for ‘Imitator’ lifted from their excellent album ‘Appetite For Prescription’ which you can purchase Here along with their other albums and some excellent limited edition shirts.

Rich Ragany and the Digressions-‘What we do (to not let go)’ (Barrel & Squidger Records)

Rich Ragany and the Digressions-‘What we do (to not let go)’ (Barrel & Squidger Records)

Do you know this year so far has been a blinder in terms of new releases we’ve only just left February and tipped into March and there have already been any number of contenders for Album of the year, this baby included, and judging by the number of pre-orders I’ve got pending there are going to be a fair few more.

This LP as I slip it onto the virtual deck instantly washes over you drawing you in to a gorgeous blend of Classic Americana, while holding on to a punk driven perspective, and that jarring of styles, so difficult to get right is what singles this Lp out as something a bit special.

If you’re a Springsteen fan, think back to the classic Darkness on the edge of town, The River, Nebraska period a songwriter redefining, honing in his style, very much as Rich has within the songs on this LP, embracing influences while building on his own style, (think if Bruce Springsteen did punk rock) moving to a beat that’s beginning to fully form, if you think Tom Petty, the Aforementioned Bruce Springsteen, hinting at Steve Earle but also dragging in Jesse Malin and some of the raw blues tinges of Lucinda Williams.  This is a real step up from the Role Models a shift in focus embracing the past but moving into a future of real creativity.

Looking at the tracks stand outs for me “Til I’m on my feet again” hits hard with a huge sense of drive , desire and urgency  reaching out to the future that’s not coming quick enough. Next up the searing, soul searching “The end of all things”. Not to say the prior tracks are weak tracks truth be told there isn’t a weak track on the LP.

“Forever Ghosts” and “Pretty Breeze” to me perfectly illustrate the light and shade within this baby play them back to back and you’ll see what I mean, So what do we have?

Contender for LP of the year? Definitely

A songwriter strengthening his style, embracing change? Absolutely

The LP that breaks outwards from the scene opening the music up to whole new audiences? Defiantly!!!

Do yourself a favour Buy, download, treat yourself to the t-Shirt, be one of the cool kids and more importantly support the artist.

Buy Here

Author: Nev Brooks