Keeping it short and sweet. This month’s singles club is made up of a broad church of entries from raging Glam Rock to some Synth pop and the usual mix of Garage fuzz n hard rockin, one thing is for sure the digital pool of entries is never boring and we like to think we know a top tune or two so have this half dozen for starters…

Gyasi – ‘Sweet Thing’ (Alive Records) Unapologetic 70s Glam stomper from Gyasi. What a thumping beat it is too. Just the way a single should sound in 2024. Teetering around in stack heels and with a Bowie-soaked chorus it’s memorable and easy to sing along to. I expect big things from the new album when it drops and shall be shouting it out from the rooftops (or RPM HQ at least) Feb 2025 write it in your diaries kids and use your best lipstick.

Head Noise – ‘I Was A Teenage Video Nasty’ (Self Release) The brand new single ‘I Was A Teenage Video Nasty’ came out on 31st October (Obvs)! A love letter to the banned BBFC video nasty movies of the 70s/ 80s, also with b-side ‘80% Proof Apparition’ a song about people in the early 20th Century, holding seances at parties but only seeing ghosts because they are so hammered. It’s a synth throbbing slice of 80s synth scuzz but don’t be fooled by the quaint keys or gang vocals its a sleazy old school to rival SSS (or Sigue sigue Sputnk if you didn’t know) To coincide with the new single they will be releasing a LIMITED run of 7” singles on white vinyl with a special b-movie cover, inserts and label. Some bands do things properly and Head Noise certainly do that loud through a pumping PA this is the mutts nuttz.

The Briefs – ‘High Society’ (TKO Records) Been doing this for a quarter of a century The Briefs are elite top-tier punk rockers. That’s it folks in a nutshell they write banging tunes and they have the energy and suss to never put a foot wrong. Imagine that kids being that fuckin good well, that’s the Briefs. High Society is rapid with barking guitar solos and uber cool riffs and another perfect single. Released to coincide with a support tour it’s three awesome tunes. But if you think the A side or lead track is good wait til you hear ‘You Can Move Me’ in all its swaggering sleazy glory. Power Pop Punk n roll is the sound and these cats have got a tonne of swing to go with it. The final track is a rough mix of Ramones mid-paced punk rock, ‘I Gotta Go’ is cool as fuck and I hope it’s the precursor for the following long player because ‘Platinum Rats’ was awesome and the next is gonna be just as good. Buy It!

Chuck Norris Experiment – ‘The Knife’ (Self Release) The latest single release from the 2024 THE CHUCK NORRIS EXPERIMENT album “20”. The album version has this old-school almost trash metal-sounding acoustic intro but this edit comes straight in with the riff before breaking out old school with guitar noodling exploding everywhere. The band stay true to their wall of noise with big Riffs everywhere and a sonic overload CNE keep rotating the wheel not reinventing it but managing to sound fresh on every record. A top tune from a top album.

Thee Headshrinkers – ‘Sunday Driver’ (Property Of The Lost records) Buckle up kids this odd bod trio are about to head out on a garage rock scuzz outing and you’re invited along for the ride. from the album ‘Head Cheese’ this is a swaggering slab of Garage rock fuzziness with a heap of The Fall to boot it shifts through the gears very nicely and hits the breaks hard just to mess with your head. Get involved kids it’s a banger folks and the album is due in a few short weeks as well.

Gene Champagne – ‘Rock N Roll Boy’ (Rumbar Records) Sounding like a cross between ‘end-of-the-century’ Ramones and classic Boys this is an end-of-summer banger. Lifted from the album ‘Let’s Jet’ it’s got plenty of authentic swagger and a retro-tastic backbeat. Get on board boys n grrrls it’s happening. With a name like that, we raise a glass to his success and excess without his unteens this kinda tune always makes me happy.

Those avant-garde punk-tinged electronic maestros Head Noise are back with their full-length second album, which comes hot on the heels of last year’s Metric Quid [Mini LP]. The group and their unrelenting assault on the mainstream are like a welcome blast of New Wave lushness in a world full of cut-copy-paste musical puppets.

Marking out their own niche/genre is a clever way of never fitting in, but still getting out there and winning fans on their own accord. With such an eclectic back catalogue, the band has now only gone and recorded a concept album, which is the most unpunk/new wave thing to do. However, doing so is also one of the most anti-establishment things a band like this can ever do.

Taken straight from their own press release is the following quote – With song topics about slapping bald dictators, inbred monarchs and fat men getting stuck in the bath – all to an Oddball Synthpunk and Electropop soundtrack – says it all.

This is the band for those who want something different from the mass-produced chart music of today.

Album opener ‘Primordial Soup’ comes complete with a keyboard riff from heaven, and serves as a great introduction to the madness that is coming. Following this up with the album’s lead single ‘Doin Science’ is something of a genius move as the band and their wacky frontman Mitchell Tennant combine the best elements of Electropop and Synthpunk and proceed to be the innovators that have no musical peers of any kind.

What can you honestly say about songs such as ‘Tojo Head Slap’, ‘Taft in the Bath’ and the future classic that is ‘Napolean Blown-Apart!’, thankfully the only words needed are brilliantly madcap and fantastic! To be honest, the whole album is a joy to listen to and for those who fancy something different from the norm – this is the band for you in all their glorious ’80s synthpunk, DEVO-esque greatness.

Stand-out tracks for me are the aforementioned single ‘ Doin Science’ and Tojo Head Slap’ along with ‘Habsbrug Gobstopper’ and ‘History of the Future’. The band will be celebrating the release of Twisted Histories with an album release show at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff on May 30, 2024 – So best get yourselves along to a show that will no doubt go down in musical history.

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Author: Dave Prince

The self-proclaimed South Wales’ finest New Wave Art-Punk Trio have finally released their debut album. Originally formed back in 2016 and with a trio of eccentric EPs under their belt. This is clearly a band to fall in love with – time and time again.

With Über Fantastique, Head Noise have put down on tape, a brilliant, out of the box, collection of modern/retro songs that border on genius. The likes of opener ‘Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors’, when put together with ‘200,000 Gallons of Oil’ are complete revelations. The utter welshness of the spoken word section of ‘Japanese Batteries’ throws this listener off a little, but on subsequent listens, makes me love it even more.

Describing themselves as a unique trio who are jam-packed with surreal nuances and very catchy oddball electro-pop tunes. This is never more evident than on ‘Anatomically Correct Shuffle’ and ‘Mystery Liquid’. The trio have clearly been working hard on this release as I really enjoyed their EP’s, which were like little tasters of whats to come and I am glad to hear this kind of music recorded with no thought given to what is ‘cool’ or ‘in’. I hear a lot of influences in the music, from the likes of Devo, Kraftwerk and The Flaming Lips, although there is an almost We’ve Got A Fuzzbox, And We’re Gonna Use It! feel to some of the songs, more in the attitude, rather than the actual songs themselves. Über Fantastique is an album that has been made by people who clearly love their music and the freedom that Head Noise affords them.

The trio are made up of Mitch Tennant, Wayne Bassett and Jordan Brill. The Cover art is by none other than Mitch’s father Will Tennant and adds an, even more, Art-Punk feel to the album and listening experience. This collection of songs is, without doubt, one of the most original debut albums to be released this side of the millennium and I can only hope that the band get to be revered for the pioneers that they truly are.

Buy ‘ Über Fantastique’ Here

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Author: Dave Tetley Prince