NEW TRACK“RABBIT RUN”FEATURES INDARREN ARONOFSKY’SUPCOMING FILM‘CAUGHT STEALING’
ONE OF FOUR ORIGINAL IDLES SONGS TO FEATURE IN THE FILM THE BAND ALSO PERFORM ITS SCORE, COMPOSED BY ROB SIMONSEN ‘CAUGHT STEALING’ SOUNDTRACK TO BE RELEASED DIGITALLY Later this week.
IDLES’ ‘TANGK’ era has been a triumph as the band achieved their second UK #1 album, earned three Grammy Award nominations (Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance), and earned international, across-the-board acclaim. They’ve excelled on the road too, with a phenomenal Other Stage headline set at Glastonbury, which saw NME’s five-star review state that they made “a claim to headline the Pyramid in the future.” Elsewhere they headlined Truck and End of the Road, and completed a UK headline tour that saw them perform to 20,000 people in London alone over two nights at Alexandra Palace – and there’s still this weekend’s Bristol Block Party shows left to come.
Yet as that era draws to a close, it’s still opening up remarkable creativity opportunities for the band. Drawing inspiration from the gritty energy of the 1990s New York punk scene that permeates Academy Award nominee Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming crime caper ‘Caught Stealing’, IDLES have contributed four original tracks to the project’s soundtrack as well as having recorded the full film score composed by Rob Simonsen (‘The Whale’, ‘Deadpool’, ‘Wolverine’). Also included is a striking cover of the Junior Marvin-penned ‘Police and Thieves’, a song famously covered by The Clash on their 1977 self-titled debut album.
‘Caught Stealing’ which will be released theatrically by Sony Pictures on August 29th, and its accompanying soundtrack album will be issued that same day via Partisan Records.
IDLES and Darren Aronofsky (‘Requiem for a Dream’, ‘The Wrestler’, ‘Black Swan’) quickly formed a creative kinship, united by a deep mutual respect for each other’s work. When Aronofsky began developing ‘Caught Stealing’ he turned to his favourite band to shape the film’s sonic identity.
Exclusive world premiere of the title track – Album out October 3rd
What was already a standout moment of this year’s Wacken Open Air, the world’s largest metal festival, turned into something even bigger when Michael Schenker pulled a surprise no one saw coming. After delivering a fierce My Years With UFO set to tens of thousands of attendees on Thursday night, the architect of hard rock used the world’s loudest stage to announce a brand-new Michael Schenker Group studio album: Don’t Sell Your Soul will be released on October 3rd via earMUSIC.To mark the occasion, Schenker and his band closed the show with a world-exclusive live premiere of the new album’s title track – a powerful encore that took the Wacken crowd by surprise and was met with instant enthusiasm on the muddy festival fields.PRE-SAVE THE SINGLE HERE!
Earlier in the set, the Wacken faithful had already been treated to a once-in-a-lifetime moment: Slash walked on stage as a surprise guest, joining Schenker on the UFO classic “Mother Mary”. Two of rock’s most iconic guitarists side by side – a scene few will forget.Don’t Sell Your Soul is the latest studio album by the Michael Schenker Group and the second part of an album trilogy that began with 2024’s My Years With UFO.The album was produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss, and recorded with Schenker’s longtime allies: Bodo Schopf (drums), Barend Courbois (bass), and Steve Mann (guitar, keys). On vocals: the impeccable Erik Grönwall – undoubtedly one of the finest rock voices of his generation. Guest appearances on vocals by Robin McAuley, Dimitri “Lia” Liapakis, and Michael Voss round out the cast.Don’t Sell Your Soul will be available on CD, LP, and limited transparent red vinyl.
AFI announce new album Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…
Out October 3rd via Run For Cover Records
AFI announce their new album Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… due October 3rd via Run For Cover Records, today. Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… marks the twelfth album from AFI and will include the lead single ‘Behind the Clock,’ which ushers in the bold new era for the iconic band. Alongside the new single, AFI share a music video directed by Gilbert Trejo.
Speaking about the ‘Behind the Clock’ video, director Trejo offers, “We wanted the video to feel like you’re seeing something you shouldn’t. In effect you are, because that’s how Davey writes lyrics. He’s expressing himself so openly, that you’re let behind this curtain. It’s a world that most artists don’t cut to, marrow deep.”
Sharing the experience working with Trejo, vocalist Davey Havok shares, “Gilbert’s video has sublimated the essence of ‘Behind the Clock.’ His vision and expertise is inspiring. Working with him was a privilege and utter joy. He is an artist of the purest form.”
For more than three decades, AFI has been in a nearly constant state of reinvention. The band have made it a point to evolve with every album – sometimes dramatically so – never allowing themselves to become too comfortable in one genre or rest on any of their impressive career laurels. It’s an approach that has grown their audience but also challenged it with a sonic identity that can shift in wild, unexpected directions. Now with Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…, AFI are once again at the start of an exciting new chapter, only this time they’ve even managed to surprise themselves.
The goal of Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… was to make an album with a singular mood, something dreamy and ethereal, and the band members found themselves diving headfirst into influences that had always been deeply embedded in AFI’s musical core, but now were being brought to the forefront. The result is an album that feels out of time, at once familiar and fresh, drawing on classic sounds and reinterpreting them through a modern lens. Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… is dark and otherworldly, but also grandiose and stately, biting and beautiful in equal measure—in other words, it’s very AFI, yet not quite like any version of the band you’ve ever heard before.
It’s this combination of endless creative daring, deftly wielded influences, and above all else, an unshakeable sense of self that’s allowed AFI to stay relevant for more than 30 years, often leading the way through emerging musical moments. From their scrappy roots as a high school hardcore band in the early ‘90s (Answer That and Stay Fashionable, Very Proud of Ya and Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes), to their dark melodic punk reinvention at the turn of the century (Black Sails in the Sunset and The Art of Drowning), to their crossover into mainstream stardom in the early 2000s (Sing the Sorrow and Decemberunderground) and their years as shapeshifting alternative rock journeymen (Crash Love, Burials, The Blood Album, and Bodies), the band has survived and thrived by staunchly being themselves—no matter what that is.
This fall, AFI will embark on their headline North American tour with special guests TR/ST to celebrate the release of Silver Bleeds The Black Sun… The 24-date run will begin on September 30th in Madison, WI with stops in Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Denver, before wrapping November 5th in San Diego, CA. The tour marks AFI’s first full-scale outing since their celebrated 2021 release Bodies, and will offer fans the chance to experience songs from across their extensive catalogue, delivered with the band’s signature electrifying performance. Tickets available HERE.
FRONTMAN BIFF BYFORD ANNOUNCES HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER AND UPCOMING TREATMENT IN A SPECIAL POST TO FANS
In a special post on the band’s social media channels, SAXON frontman and singer Biff Byford discusses battling cancer following his recent diagnosis after the band’s Japanese Tour in late April and his upcoming ‘mopping-up’ chemotherapy treatment.
Biff also discusses the postponement of SAXON’s imminent French and Spanish shows until April and May of next year while he undergoes a short period of chemotherapy but has been told by doctors that his prognosis going forward is positive. All tickets will remain valid for the new rescheduled dates which will be announced on SAXON’s socials imminently.
Sadly, Biff’s treatment also impacts on the band’s forthcoming festival performances at both Trutnoff Open Air, with the band’s appearance later this month having to be cancelled, and Neuborn Open Air, also later this month, now postponed until the festival’s 2026 edition. Biff would like to reassure fans that both the band’s special Hell, Fire and Steel UK & Ireland Tour this November will be going ahead as planned along with SAXON’s headline performance at Metal Hammer Paradise in Lübeck, Germany. The band’s Hell Fire and Steel UK Tour is currently close to being SOLD OUT, so fans are advised to grab the last few tickets quickly to avoid disappointment, as this will be the last opportunity to see SAXON this year in UK and Ireland and to hear the band’s classic Wheels of Steel album played in full for the last time from start to finish.
Getting old provides some interesting context when it comes to listening to music. ‘Keeper of the 7 Keys Part One’ became my gateway into the world of Helloween almost 40 years ago. I had seen an ad for the album in Hit Parader (more specifically on the back page) and decided I needed to search out this cassette. As a young teenager, it never dawned on me that bands I loved would stop making music or that I would still be listening to them in my 50s. I worked backwards at the time and picked up ‘Walls of Jericho.’ When ‘Keeper… Part Two’ was released, I was waiting for them to put the cassettes out on release day to get the album. I had also previously picked up the cassette single for ‘Save Us’, which contained some awesome B-sides. After a mini live album, things then went pear-shaped (pumpkin shaped?) in Helloween world. Kai Hansen left the band and started Gamma Ray. Label issues would stall Helloween’s next album, which would not be released in the States so I tracked down ‘Pink Bubbles Go Ape’ on import. The album didn’t grab me like their first three did, which seemed to be a common consensus around the world. As Hansen released albums with Gamma Ray, Helloween struggled to find their footing with ‘Chameleon’ sounding like each of the songwriters made their own four-song EP with a focus on non-Helloween style music. I enjoy parts of ‘Chameleon’ but don’t really think of it as a Helloween album. At this point, the pumpkins were starting to fester, and the future didn’t look promising.
‘Master of the Rings’ reinvigorated Helloween with Andi Deris taking over on vocals. New and old fans celebrated this and subsequent releases with, of course, lots of debate if the new albums matched the excellence of the ‘Keeper..’ albums or ‘Walls of Jericho.’ For me, ‘Better Than Raw’ became a firm favourite while others were partial to ‘The Dark Ride.’ Band members continued to have some changes over the years, but there was consistency with Deris, Michael Weikath (guitar), and Markus Grosskopf (bass) forming the core of the band. Not every studio album was brilliant for me, but the band continued to release many more hits than misses. Ten years ago, the band released ‘My God-Given Right’ which I would say is an album that probably sits in the middle of their discography for me. Kiske had released some solo albums over the years and returned to the metal world with his Unisonic project. Hansen continued to release Gamma Ray albums, and I really enjoy those albums as well, even with some of them also not fully connecting with me.
Pumpkins United brought Kiske and Hansen back into Helloween without any members leaving. The plan at the time was a new studio song and a tour to celebrate Helloween’s history and present. Four years ago, we received something I never thought I would see in my lifetime- a new Helloween album with Kiske and Hansen. Neither one of them had left the band on great terms way back when, but bridges had been mended over the years. Even better, that self-titled album contained a plethora of great songs with it appearing on many best of 2021 year-end lists, including mine. That brings us to the current with the band releasing the second album to feature the extended band line-up. I would argue this one goes beyond the previous album because they do not shy away from different members contributing to another’s song. The self-titled album at times felt like there were still some lines in the sand where you could tell who wrote which song. The chemistry in the band appears to be at an all-time high right now. I have seen reports the band wrote 30 songs for this record, which makes me wonder if the sequel to this will arrive quicker than the four years between this and the self-titled album.
‘Giants on the Run’ kicks off the album with a great example of the members blending their songwriting together. The beginning and end of the song provide a prime example of Helloween, where there is a lot of space in the verses and some tasteful guitar work. The song then segways into a section that has Hansen’s touch all over it, from the musical approach to his vocals. Part of me wanted to say it has a Gamma Ray feel as it makes me think of ‘Land of the Free’, but also has hints of ‘Walls of Jericho’ to it. It doesn’t feel recycled though. It fits perfectly within the song and highlights the diversity the band has in their writing while also complementing each other’s different styles. One of the areas where this album diverges from its predecessors is the number of instantly catchy songs on the album. Kiske gets solo lead vocals on ‘Saviour of the World’ where the band bring an aggressive musical attack and combine it with a hugely melodic chorus that begs for audience participation. The phrasing in the chorus reminds me of the ’Keeper Part 2’ album. I read a recent interview where a member said they did not want to just rewrite what they have done in the past, and don’t think they have done it on this album. I think there are always going to be things that are just part of the band’s DNA. If they were adding nu-metal or hip-hop features to their song, we would all complain that it is not who they are. Next up, ‘A Little is a Little Too Much’ showcases a commercial and catchy song with some great keyboards for added effect. The dual lead vocals from Kiske and Deris work extremely well together. This is poppier than anything off the last album and again makes a great sing-along song. My favourite moment from it though, may be the last few seconds of the keyboard being isolated at the end of the song.
‘We Can Be Gods’ turns up the tempo to closer to a thrash level that again recalls the ‘Keeper’ era and maybe ‘Better Than Raw’ days. Each of the three singers contributes to the song. There are some keyboard touches here as well, but they are mostly subtle and get a cool space in the chorus of the song. The guitar work is excellent, and really that’s where I hear the ‘Keeper’ era on this one, with some great harmony work and then excellent solo work. This has been one of the initial favourites on the album. The first half of the album closes with the piano-based ballad ‘Into the Sun’ whose melody reminds me of something Queen would do. The back and forth between Kiske and Deris serves the song perfectly. The band keep the song on the shorter side at under four minutes. This song is one of the bonus tracks, with Kiske and Deris each doing solo versions.
Side Two, if you will, gets started with a Deris straightforward rock song and the first single ‘This is Tokyo.’ It has a huge chorus and will get the audience singing with Deris and Kiske blending lead vocals perfectly again here. I wonder if the break in this song will lead into a drum solo in the live setting before the band comes back for the guitar solo. The second song we heard from this album follows in ‘Universe (Gravity for Hearts)’ where all the lead vocals are handled by Kiske. Over eight minutes long, it assumes the role of one of the epic tracks on the album. Helloween show off where some of the roots of power metal and the band originated with a huge chorus set to the rapid-fire beat. If you recorded the ‘Walls of Jericho’ album today with Kiske on vocals, I think this could sit comfortably on the album. The guitar work by Weikath, Hansen, and Sascha Gerstner shines across the entire album with each of them delivering killer solos and also having those great moments where they play in harmony. After this multifaceted gem, ‘Hands of God’ could have easily paled in comparison if it had felt like a standard song. This one showcases just Deris on lead vocals. The midtempo approach here feels different than everything else on the album where the chorus has a strong hook, but the riff also keeps getting stuck in my head. It will be interesting to see if this one gets played live, as I think it would be a bit of a curveball in their set.
We then transition into ‘Under the Moonlight’ where I am reminded of the likes of ‘Dr. Stein’ or ‘Rise and Fall.’ Kiske’s vocals shine here, and I like having a song in this style back on an album. It adds some fun and quirkiness into the album. The band then closes the album with the epic ‘Majestic.’ The intro into the main riff and first verse is awesome. Each of the three vocalists gets their spots here as well. Fists in the air and heads banging will be compulsory during the chorus in the live setting. This one was another instant favourite on the album, and I think it works better at eight minutes than it would have if they had tried to stretch it out to ‘Halloween’ or ‘Keeper of the Seven Keys’ type length. There are still twists and turns that do not feel too short or undeveloped.
After listening to the band for almost 40 years, I love that I still get a rush waiting for a new album and hearing it for the first time. I have been able to play this quite a few times now to review it. The band has changed their approach a little bit since the last album, but this is still quite clearly a Helloween album that draws from their history while also adding in new wrinkles to the sound. Utilising all three vocalists to their strengths has been done very effectively here. I imagine there will be some grumbles out there about the album, but each person’s preferences, of course, will vary. For me, I love how the album gives us a few epic songs, some straight-up catchy songs, some metal classics, and a great ballad. Initial impressions for me, this one will find its place securely in the top half of my discography, but it is too early to say how high it might climb.
CLUB BRAT is a high-intensity punk/noise pop band defying traditional labels, blending jagged guitars, bass-heavy dissonance, and volatile rhythmic urgency. Originally from Peterborough and now split between Bristol and London, the five-piece formed in 2023 and quickly earned a reputation for unpredictable live shows and a relentless DIY ethos, while still working with some of underground music’s most respected engineers.
Their upcoming EP, ‘4 Songs’ (out 12th September via VENN Records), was recorded at HUMM Studios with Dom Mitchison and Archie Jones, and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac – a clear nod to the Albini school of stark, unvarnished production. But the EP isn’t political in content – it’s political in form: concise, deliberate, and unapologetically direct. Yet CLUB BRAT resists comfortable interpretation. Their songs provoke, not preach – inviting listeners to draw their own conclusions and turning each encounter into something personal and open-ended.
The lead single from ‘4 Songs’, ‘Goodbye Pop Culture’, is out now with a video by Chris Hugall (Split Dogs), and it’s a jarring, yet infectiously pulsing and rhythmic clamour that plugs directly into the electronics of dance as much as it does the discordant guitars.
“Goodbye Pop Culture lives in the tension between form and collapse, tradition and mutation, the past and what’s next,” explains guitarist Joe Smith. “It’s concise, deliberate, and unapologetically direct. CLUB BRAT doesn’t preach. We resist easy interpretation. This song won’t tell you what to think – it invites you to feel, to sit with the discomfort, and come to your own understanding.”
Club Brat previously worked with Don Zientara of Inner Ear Studios – legendary for his work with Fugazi – who described CLUB BRAT as: “A locomotive… who can REALLY put it into song”, and they’ve shared stages with Scream and HR (Bad Brains) and appeared at Rebellion Festival.
Drawing from Fugazi, Idles, and The Pixies to Drum ’n’ Bass and early 2000s Alternative, CLUB BRAT refuses to be boxed in by genre. What defines them isn’t style – it’s urgency: raw, confrontational, and constantly evolving. Or, as Steve Ignorant of CRASS puts it: “Miss out on this band at your peril – inspiring, entrancing and unstoppable – they are coming your way!”
GLOBAL MUSIC ICON DAVE MUSTAINE REVEALS NEXT ALBUM WILL BE FINAL STUDIO ALBUM OF HIS MORE THAN FOUR-DECADE CAREER
BAND TO EMBARK ON GLOBAL FAREWELL TOUR NEXT YEAR
MUSTAINE ALSO SET TO RELEASE NEW MEMOIR IN 2026
Today MEGADETH’s DAVE MUSTAINE revealed in a social post directly shared with his worldwide fanbase and Cyber Army that his forthcoming album (due out early next year) will be the final MEGADETH studio album of his career. MUSTAINE shared the announcement via his alter ego Vic Rattlehead. MUSTAINE also revealed that the multi-platinum superstar band will embark on a global farewell tour kicking off in 2026. Also set for next year is a new memoir from MUSTAINE, details of which will be revealed in the coming months.
“There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional,” DAVE MUSTAINE says. “Most of them don’t get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I’m at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them.
DAVE adds, “We can’t wait for you to hear this album and see us on tour. If there was ever a perfect time for us to put out a new album, it’s now. If there was ever a perfect time to tour the world, it’s now. This is also a perfect time for us to tell you that it’s our last studio album. We’ve made a lot of friends over the years and I hope to see all of you on our global farewell tour. Don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years. We have done something together that’s truly wonderful and will probably never happen again. We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it’s played, and we changed the world. The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything.”
MEGADETH are set to release their forthcoming album via MUSTAINE’s Tradecraft imprint in partnership with Frontiers Label Group’s new BLKIIBLK label. It will launch with the project’s first single (TBA) in tandem with global pre-orders this fall.
Fans can click HERE to register for early access to exclusive information and offers surrounding the forthcoming final album and all MEGADETH news. In addition, look for the initial run of farewell tour dates to be announced later this year.
RudeGRL + CC announce new album ‘Living My Best Life’ to be released October 17th Via Network Music
RudeGRL & CC’s rule-breaking power-pop, punk-hop finds strength in letting go – and letting loose – through an energetic union of rapid-fire rap, twanging surf guitar, fuzz-soaked bass and ‘80s industrial beats awash with euphoria.
Connecting singer-songwriter and prodigious MC Jenna Dickens aka RudeGRL, multi-instrumentalist Chris Constantinou (The Wolfmen,The Mutants) – who started out as Adam Ant’s bassist and has collaborated with Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow), Sinead O’ Connor, Lou Reed and more – and burlesque star Bunni Morretto, this trio of self-described outsiders share a mutual love of punk and a burning desire to get things off their chest. The urgency of the group’s sound mirrors their production style; quick, fluid and instantly gratifying.
For their latest work, found on the ten innovative tracks that comprise new album ‘Living My Best Life’, due for release October 17th via Network Music, producer James Young sent Constantinou a multitude of beats and rhythms to jam with, whilst Chris built up the tracks with bass and guitars, throwing the songs back and forth as they started to take shape and form. At this stage, Jenna Dickens starts to find the right words and melodies to fit the tracks, whilst Chris adds backing vocals and other embellishments, before James mixes each track to its best potential. It’s a team effort that has led to RudeGRL & CC’s finest and most unrestricted work yet.
‘Coming For The Win’ is the first single to be lifted from the album and is, says Jenna “a warning. We are coming to do exactly what it says on the song title, and we won’t stop until we get there.”
“For the single’s video, the main idea I kept thinking was ‘what would I have loved to see growing up as a mixed-race kid in love with rock and punk?’ Back then there wasn’t as much representation of people of colour in bands on our TV screens. I’d watch iconic bands I admired like Slipknot, Papa Roach, Blink 182, Linkin Park and see the odd one or two people of colour and just wish that there were more. I wanted to play on those aesthetics of the indie videos a bit that I loved growing up and also show our unique personalities as a band and what we’re all into. I was reminiscing over the old Tony Hawk’s Video games I used to play as a kid on my PlayStation 2 and the awesome bands of the 90’s and noughties growing up as a kid like Blink 182, Limp Bizkit and No Doubt and wanted to bring in a bit of that vibe visually but in a fresh new way and make something that we all love and feels authentic to who we are as a band.”
Whilst the music displayed on ‘Living My Best Life’ is gloriously unfiltered and untamed, over-flowering with invention and energy, the lyrics crafted by Jenna equally match the positivity of the sound.
“I wanted to create an album full of back-to-back smashes, in your face catchy melodies and empowering full throttle lyrics,” admits Jenna. “For the lyrics I wanted to make them empowering and something I could listen to to get my mind set ready to smash the day. ‘Coming For The Win’ in particular was written in a time where I was juggling a bunch of stress with the events company me and Bunni run (an Award Winning queer women of colour striptease experience called JuiceBox Events), being at the intersection of being women in business as well as queer and black Caribbean heritage comes with its hurdles to jump and I think some of that absolute determination to break barriers regardless of push back made its way into the song. The message is to hold on to firm belief in yourself to honour your power and pour it into your passion regardless of what anyone else thinks.”
“When writing the tracks for the album I wanted to make them as catchy as possible. I was studying all the timeless classic anthems in rock and indie music over a span of decades, bands like Blur (who I adore!), Oasis, Bloc Party, The Artic Monkeys, The Killers, Queens Of The Stone Age but also even pop classic song writing like early Madonna records and Blondie,” she continues.
All of these influences and so much more can be heard within the melting pot that is ‘Living My Best Life’. It fizzes with pop energy, independent attitude and rock n’ roll strut. Album opener ‘Live Wire (Fire, Fire)’ ignites with a marching AC/DC alike riff, before the huge hook of the chorus embeds itself into your brain, whilst ‘Anything’s Possible’ really showcases Jenna’s objective to use the music to promote and inspire empowerment in every way. With lyrics like ‘we are so powerful, we are phenomenal, anything’s possible’, it’s impossible to not feel uplifted by the song’s pure good vibes.
And really, that sums up ‘Living My Best Life’ best of all. It’s good vibrations from start to finish, shimmering with pop melodies, joyful rhythms and musical discovery at every turn.
We live in bleak times. RudeGRL & CC could be just the tonic the world needs.
With a love of the Spector wall of sound, garage rock and Motown, Brazilian-Danish husband and wife team The Courettes have been wowing audiences for nigh on 10 years now. Renowned for their explosive live shows and their relentless touring, Martin & Flavia Couri are promoting their excellent fourth album, ‘The Soul Of…The Fabulous Courettes’, with a UK tour that sees them return to my favourite venue in Leeds, The Brudenell Social Club. I was blown away the last time they played here. Can they possibly do it again?
First up tonight, though, we have another surprise. “Come a little closer, we don’t bite!” teases Ben Perrier, frontman of London-based punk n’ rollers Los Pepes. It’s midway through a set of the finest power pop ditties you’ve never heard, played at breakneck speed, and a curious Leeds audience tentatively takes a step forward. But not too close, as the singer’s guitar wielding antics are getting closer to the edge of the stage with every song.
While my fellow RPM compadres recommend the Los Pepes boys, I must admit to not listening to them before tonight. My bad, as not only are these boys an energetic and exciting live band, but the tunes are top notch too. There’s a familiarity on first listen, which is always a good sign for me.
Ramones meets The Buzzcocks is a good reference point, I hear some early Manics in there too, and with more Thunders licks than you have fingers, scissor kicks aplenty and guitars pointing to the sky, there’s a lot of good stuff going on.
Los Pepes are right up my street and I have been playing catch up on Spotify ever since, I love it when a support band surprises the shit outta me.
‘The Fabulous Courettes’ is what the logo states on the backdrop covering the iconic Brudenell stage sign tonight, and the well-dressed duo are nothing short of that for the one hour and ten minutes they light up the room tonight. Stage right is the suited & booted Martin Couri, pounding his minimalistic kit like the bastard son of Keith Moon and Ringo. Stage left, dressed 60’s go-go chic in black & white is Falvia Couri, a woman who could give Jack White a run for his money in the guitar department, and commands the stage like her life depends on the ability to entertain.
From the opening ‘You Woo Me’ to the closing ‘Hop The Twig’, the duo are tight, exciting and mesmerizing to watch. Mixing up a greatest hits of their impressive back catalogue, it just goes to show how many great songs they have under their leather belts. They play off each other and deliver a high-energy set that puts them up there with their contemporaries.
Newbies such as ‘California’ and ‘Boom Boom Boom’ are commercial and full of summery hooks, they fit the set well, along with the garage rock goodness of ‘Boom Dynamite’ and ‘Want You Like A Cigarette’. A Courettes show is all about maximum entertainment, and they sure give value for money. Both engage fully with their audience, “Go wild, Leeds, it’s a Saturday night!” shouts Martin mid-beat. A Leeds crowd can be a tough nut to crack, but there is a minority brave enough to lose their inhibitions and dance like no one is watching. Highlights are plentiful in this fun-packed set, but a killer ‘Misfits & Freaks’ is up there with the awesome Cramps-sounding main set closer ‘Hop The Twig’. Falvia even gets some crowd surfing in while playing her guitar!
How The Courettes are still playing venues of this size when the likes of Amyl & The Sniffers play megadomes is beyond me. But I’m glad they are, as I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday evening than up close and personal, in a sweaty room with one of the best live bands around. They’ll be back next year, miss them at your peril.
The masked kings of Swedish rock ’n’ roll are back. After 23 years, nine acclaimed albums, and countless high-energy shows across Europe, Märvel return fired-up and ready to unleash their tenth studio album – a new chapter of thunderous riffs, massive hooks, and unapologetic rock glory.
Formed in 2002 when three Swedish exchange students – The King, The Vicar and Speedo – swapped classrooms for garages, beer, and rock ’n’ roll in Colorado, Märvel’s debut EP Marvellous lit up US college radio and set the stage for a career of high-octane riffs, larger-than-life personas, and unrelenting energy.
Over nine acclaimed studio albums, Märvel has built a loyal European fanbase through relentless touring and collaborations with rock icons like Dregen, Strings, and Michael Monroe. With evolving line-ups featuring The Burgher, The Aviator, and Marshall Lawman, Märvel has grown into a masked rock powerhouse, celebrated for both their infectious hooks and striking visual presence.
From the glam-charged Thunderblood Heart and bombastic Warhawks of War to the guilty-pleasure gems of Guilty Pleasures and their latest praised release Graces Came With Malice (2022), Märvel continues to deliver big riffs, massive choruses, and an irresistible groove.
In 2022, Märvel marked 20 years with the double album Double Decade and their own festival, MÄRVELFEST, uniting past and present members on stage and cementing their status as one of Sweden’s most distinctive rock bands.
Now, The King, The Vicar, and The Burgher are gearing up for the next chapter – their tenth album.
First up is the track “Look! It’s Rock’n’Roll”. Märvel describes the song:
On the surface, this track tips its hat to Ace Frehley’s iconic 1980 quote — “Look! It’s Rock ’n’ Roll!” But dig a little deeper and it’s a tongue-in-cheek jab at those who overanalyze music and take themselves way too seriously. At its core, this is a reminder: hey, relax — it’s just rock ’n’ roll!
The song was one of the first ones written for the new upcoming Märvel album, and it lit the fuse. It jump-started the entire creative process and set the tone for what was to come.
Look! It’s Rock’n’Roll is released through the band’s newly established own label- Leather Lake, and is available on most streaming platforms. Here
Recent Comments