THE LIBERTINES New album and live shows

THE LIBERTINES New album and live shows

‘All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade’ (8th March)

NEW SINGLE – Run, Run, Run (Out Now)

Plus intimate shows in Margate (9th/10th December)  

If you want the night to lastThe Libertines are excited to announce the release of their fourth studio album entitled, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade out 8th March 2024. The release marks the band’s first new album in nine years and opens with the infectious new single, Run Run Run out today Listen Here.

‘All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade’ is available to preorder from: https://TheLibertines.lnk.to/AQOTEEPR
Anyone who preorders the album will be offered the chance to purchase tickets for “All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade’ two days of special acoustic & electric live shows by The Libertines, at the 500 capacity Lido in Margate on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th December. Also available both nights are VIP after party tickets at the Albion Rooms and Justine’s nightclub, which will include full band DJ sets.


Opening All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade is the firstsingle Run, Run, Run, a huge singalong punk rock anthem, Carl says, “It’s about being trapped, and trying to escape your dismal life, a bit like the man in Bukowski’s ‘Post Office’. The worst thing for The Libertines would be to get stuck in a ‘Run-run-run’ rut, constantly trying to relive our past.”


On All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, the quartet of unlikely lads have gathered from their new-found homes in France, Denmark, Margate and London to solder a strongest-ever internal bond, and scale new creative heights resulting in the best music of their extraordinary career so far.
Featuring eleven new sparkling Libertines songs with songwriting credits shared among the four band members, the album was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Dimitri Tikovoï (The Horrors/Charli XCX/Becky Hill) and recorded at The Albion Rooms in Margate. Recorded in just four weeks earlier this year during February and March and finished over seven days at La Ferme de Gestein Studios in Normandy, with additional production and mixed by Dan Grech-Marguerat (Lana Del Rey/Liam Gallagher/Paul McCartney).


The story of the making of All Quiet On The EasternEsplanade goes like this – in September ’22 Libs glimmer twins Doherty and Barât decamped to Geejam in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Away from any distraction the chemistry between the infamous songwriting partnership began to bubble in earnest.
Fast forward to February ’23 and Peter and Carl regrouped with rock solid knaves to the rhythm, John and Gary, at The Albion Rooms, and, says Doherty, “we really came together as a band. It was a moment of rare peace and unity, with all the members contributing.”For Carl, the whole Libertines journey has been leading to this moment. “Our first record was born out of panic, and disbelief that we were actually allowed to be in a studio; the second was born of total strife and misery; the third was born of complexity; this one feels like we were all actually in the same place, at the same speed, and we really connected.”
Peter proclaims: “We’re over the moon, and the ball is in the back of the net… and I’m chuffed for the lads!” He adds, more seriously, “I feel like we’ve completed a cycle of some kind as a band, and finally now we can add these songs to the set list, because we’ve got some bangers in there. Now we’ve opened the hotel and used the studio ourselves and it’s all worked out – more Libertines records? I should hope so!”
The album – named All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade as a nod to their hotel’s street address and their enduring love of Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark anti-war novel – is an unequivocal triumph.
All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade will be available on CD, deluxe CD, 12” vinyl in limited edition coloured variants, deluxe double vinyl cassette and digital download.

Pic courtesy of Ed Cook

BILLY LIAR DEBUTS NEW SONG ‘OBLIVION’ & NEW ALBUM ‘CRISIS ACTOR’

BILLY LIAR DEBUTS NEW SONG ‘OBLIVION’ & NEW ALBUM ‘CRISIS ACTOR’

Listen to ‘Oblivion’ Here

Edinburgh, Scotland – October 06, 2023 – Following up the announcement of BILLY LIAR’s new album “Oblivion,” he has just dropped his first single “Oblivion” on all streaming platforms! CLICK HERE to listen to the song. Additionally, his album “Crisis Actor” is available for pre-order on the Pirates Press Records website.


“Billy Liar is one of my favorite songwriters. Powerful and honest.” – Tim Armstrong (Rancid)

That’s one hell of a statement coming from Armstrong, a guy who knows his way around a tune as one of the most beloved songwriters in punk rock history.

A single listen to Billy Liar’s new album “Crisis Actor” will have any listener agree with Armstrong. With this album, Billy Liar showcases his outstanding talent for storytelling and his ability to capture raw, unfiltered emotions that resonate with listeners on a deeply personal level. These songs are bold, brash, and destined to be played loud in any size venue Billy steps into, from a solo show at a DIY space to a full-band set on a giant festival stage and everywhere in between…all with fans screaming back every word!

From the outset of “Crisis Actor,” Billy Liar commands the listener’s attention. From the opening track “Oblivion,” he pulls no punches when he sings “The only way I win is by not giving in to oblivion.”

Throughout the album, Billy intricately weaves anecdotes, scathing social commentary, and self-realization to craft a record that will please old and new punks alike. Drawing the inevitable comparison to the legendary punk troubadour Billy, Mr. Liar shares Mr. Bragg’s ability to address society, politics, and the world at large through the lens of lived experience and deeply personal, confessional emotion.

And just to put “Crisis Actor” over the top, a friend turns up to lend his familiar voice to one of the record’s highlights: the one and only Frank Turner joins Billy on “Negroni,” adding his trademark powerhouse grit to Liar’s boundless, exuberant energy.

With “Crisis Actor,” Billy Liar is poised to step up as a central voice in a new wave of singer-songwriters ready to tell their tales to listeners across the world. Clocking in at just 28 minutes, this album is a proverbial uppercut to the jaw. It hits you hard and fast, but it is intricate enough to reward close repeat listens. This is fortunate, because you’ll find yourself dropping the needle on this one again and again!

Whether armed only with his guitar or backed by a full band, Billy Liar will be traveling the globe, commanding stages of pubs, clubs, and arenas alike with this new set of tunes ready to catapult him into the hearts – and record collections – of punks worldwide!

For more information on Billy Liar:
https://www.billyliarmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/official.billy.liar/
https://www.instagram.com/officialbillyliar/

John J. Presley announces UK headline tour dates for February 2024

<strong>John J. Presley announces UK headline tour dates for February 2024</strong>

John J. Presley announces UK headline tour dates for February 2024

Tickets available HERE:


New album ‘Chaos and Calypso’ due October 20th via God Unknown Records

Album launch show confirmed for October 18th at Third Man Records, Blue Basement in Soho, London. Tickets HERE:

Pre-order the album HERE:

Listen to new single ‘Silhouettes’ HERE:

“This is so good, a brooding, bluesy work out which would sound quite good in a Peaky Blinders-esque epic, perhaps we should also pass that on to that nice Cillian Murphy fellow…” Steve Lamacq, BBC6 Music

“What a return, sounding so good…superb stuff.” John Kennedy, Radio X

“Beauty in the songwriting, with John J. Presley displaying Nick Cave-esque levels of vocal intensity.” CLASH

“A ferocious, belly-deep sound, but somehow tender with it.” The Guardian (Laura Barton)

Brighton based multi-instrumentalist John J. Presley returns with a new album ‘Chaos and Calypso’, due October 20th via God Unknown Records. Following a period of activity in May of this year, John broke a three-year hiatus with the brooding, hypnotic single ‘Sinnerman’ (a collaboration with friend Laura-Marty Carter from Blood Red Shoes), and live shows with Radiohead’s Philip Selway and Gaz Coombes (Supergrass).

‘Chaos and Calypso’ features the first new music from Presley since his debut album ‘As The Night Draws In’ in 2019 and the vinyl only lockdown release ‘Albany Sessions’, which were both released to great acclaim. Presley’s music is hard to categorize but that is its strength – from folk blues noir moments to tasteful post rock walls of sound, – classic songwriting to improvised, experimental moments, Presley is constantly creating a tapestry that will engage, challenge, and inspire.

A diary piece that echoes a period of ill health, of spiralling vertigo and misdiagnoses, ‘Chaos and Calypso’ shows Presley’s trademark guitar tone in full effect with enough space in the mix to weave in a new palette of textures from drum machines and synths throughout. Presley plays guitar, bass and pedal steel on the new record and is an in-demand player too – Nadine Shah, Duke Garwood, Laura-Mary Carter, Juanita Stein and Smoke Fairies have all had him join their line ups.

Finally free of the confines of the studio, Presley is ready to bring ‘Chaos and Calypso’ to life in venues across the UK and following a special album launch show at Third Man in London on October 18th, will undertake a headline UK tour in February 2024.

Tickets are available HERE:

Full dates below:

18th October Third Man, London (special album launch show)

31st October The Prince Albert, Brighton

2024

1st February Edge of the Wedge, Portsmouth

4th February Strings Bar and Venue, Isle of Wight

9th February Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate

22nd February Adelphi, Hull

23rd February The Golden Lion, Todmorden

24th February Le Pub, Newport

25th February Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

‘Chaos and Calypso’ album launch show confirmed for October 18th at Third Man Records, Blue Basement in Soho, London. Tickets HERE:

Pre-order ‘Chaos and Calypso’ HERE:

Follow John J. Presley online:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

BANDCAMP

Swm Festival Announce Final Names For 2023

Swm Festival Announce Final Names For 2023
SWN FESTIVAL

ANNOUNCE FINAL NAMES FOR 2023 EDITION

TAKING PLACE ACROSS CARDIFF – OCT 20th-22nd
49 NEW ACTS ANNOUNCED INCLUDE:
HAK BAKER
PICTURE PARLOUR
WILLIAM DOYLE
FLAMINGODS
TAPIR!
ZZZAHARA
OUR GIRL
ACID KLAUS
VIJI
THE UTOPIA STRONG

JOINING THE LIKES OF:
THE LAST DINNER PARTY, PIGSx7, SKINNY PELEMBE, BILL RYDER-JONES, MANDY INDIANA, BC CAMPLIGHT, DIVORCE, OPUS KINK, JESSICA WINTER, LYNKS, ETHAN P FLYNN, WESTERMAN & MOREDAY TICKETS + FINAL TIER WEEKEND TICKETS
ON-SALE NOW: 
https://swnfest.com/“There’s something for everyone at this charming festival – the only problem is deciding who to watch.” – The Guardian, 4/5

“Sŵn Festival is setting the benchmark for festival line-ups and really hammers in a ‘no more excuses’ approach when it comes to diversity on line-ups… A perfectly run event, glued together by beautiful, kind and community-driven people.” – Clash
Hot off the heels of the successes of its 2022 edition – and the announcement of their 20 For 23 highlighted artists earlier this year – Sŵn Festival today shares the latest and final batch of additions to complete the line-up for this year’s event, taking place across multiple venues in Cardiff from October 20th-22nd. An unmissable highlight of the live calendar, the award-winning tastemaker festival once again returns with a jam-packed bill full of established and upcoming artists, a celebration of the diverse, exciting nature of both British and Welsh music and beyond. It promises to be another year of nurturing the best local, national and international artists and offering a platform to bigger and better things.

Bringing the kitchen-sink realism of working-class life on the Isle of Dogs to the Welsh Capital is Hak Baker. The East London troubadour, with his street-level stories and confessionals of youthful nihilism and male vulnerability, has been described by Vice as “subverting what a British folk singer can be“. A vital, inimitable voice for those often denied one, Baker’s set promises to be a life-affirming wonder brought to you from the edge of armageddon.

Making a colossal entrance into the music scene – and what will be an even greater entrance into the streets of Cardiff – is the widely-lauded Picture Parlour. Observing their ravenously watchable live set that is fast becoming one of the hottest tickets in their native London, you might wonder if you’ve found yourself back in July 1976 awaiting a neo-noir screening. Be prepared for an interlude of mini motion pictures that vow to lure audiences with the lyrics of a born thespian, accompanied by a generous dose of spellbinding guitar and sleazy bass lines.Joining them for this year’s line-up is Acid Klaus, the moniker of cultural agitator and electronic innovator Adrian Flanagan – the man behind the curtain of The Moonlandingz and Eccentronic Research Council, and many more trailblazing sounds born from the North of England. Acid Klaus’ performance celebrates the “conceptual, alter ego-driven spectacular” (Loud and Quiet) that is his second album, Step On My Travelator: The Imagined Career Trajectory of Superstar DJ & Dance-Pop Producer, Melvin Harris. It’s a phenomenal vortex of excess, hedonism and vampires of clubland culture, and in Cardiff it all awaits you. 

A firm favourite on the festival circuit across the UK and Europe, London quartet Flamingods are in town bringing with them their distinctive take on psychedelia, new wave, electronica and punk, blending in influences from their unique cultural heritages and a shared penchant for 70s British rock ‘n’ roll. As The Guardian aptly put it when writing about them recently: “prepare to be bombarded with bliss!”

William Doyle, fka East India Youth, comes to town with one of the most critically acclaimed back catalogues of the last decade in his pocket. From his 2014 Mercury-nominated debut album, Total Strife Forever, right through to his 2021 art-pop masterpiece Great Spans of Muddy Time, Doyle has been one of the most innovative sonic auteurs in British music in recent memory. Expect a suitably wondrous set from him in Cardiff.

Immensely charming, folk-tinged sextet – and recent Heavenly signings – Tapir! join in the festivities and promise to bring a touch of whimsy to proceedings, while LA’s Zzzahara – a frequent collaborator with Eyedress – will scratch the itch for anyone in need of reverb-laced break-up bangers. In the mood for some grunge-tinged dynamism? Brighton trio Our Girl have you covered. Psychedelic, motorik meanderings that clash with techno-tinged beats? You’ll be wanting to catch the inimitable The Utopia Strong. Alt-pop full of hefty guitar lines and infectious RnB energy, that’s as influenced by Fugazi as it is Frank Ocean? Rising Speedy Wunderground artist Viji might just be the one for you.

Today’s additions join an already jam-packed line-up that includes the abundantly hyped The Last Dinner Party, the one-man maelstrom that is Skinny Pelembe, British indie treasure Bill Ryder-Jones, brutally abrasive post-punk noire crew Mandy, Indiana, Manchester-via-New-Jersey auteur BC Camplight, filth-funk merchants Opus Kink, explorative Turkish-Sri Lankan experimental pop game-changer BODUR, Nottingham indie heavyweights and new Gravity/EMI signees Divorce, futuristic rock ‘n’ roll quintet Fat Dog, Dutch singer-songwriter Pip Blom, YALA! mainstay and much-loved indie staple Willie J Healey, and London mutant disco meets post-punk trio MADMADMAD.

Earlier this year, the festival announced their 20 For 23, in which Sŵn highlighted a selection of the country’s most promising newcomers in its first line-up reveal of the year.

Artists announced as part of 20 For 23 included pop disruptor Jessica Winter who crafts a world of gothic, dance-driven cabaret, the near-mythical Lynks whose your hook-up for ear-splitting bass with a queer punk ethos, subversive alt-pop visionary Ethan P. Flynn and the ever-fascinating Westerman, as well as hotly-tipped local talent including the romantic, driving post-punk of Slate and ascendant rapper Luke RV, a real gem at the centre of Wales’ burgeoning hip-hop scene.Speaking on the latest batch of names to join the 2023 edition of the festival, Sŵn head of music Adam Williams shares: “One thing that makes Sŵn so special and exciting to us is that we’re able to book the artists across the course of a full year. It means by wave three the focus is on those artists who have emerged in the past few months leading up to the festival like Viji, Picture Parlour, Trout and Flip Top Head. We also welcome better-known artists like Our Girl who make their long-awaited Sŵn Festival debut.”Keep your eyes peeled for more from Sŵn Festival as October approaches, but for now head to swnfest.com for more information and ticket pricing options. From today, single day tickets as well as two-day ticket bundles are available at the following prices: Friday – £20, Saturday – £40, Sunday – £30, Friday + Saturday – £55, Saturday + Sunday – £65. Early bird and tier one weekend tickets sold out before a single artist was announced, with tier two weekend tickets still on-sale.

Sŵn Festival is an award-winning multi-venue music festival based entirely in Cardiff’s city centre, which has been running since 2007. Since its inception, the festival has been focused on new music, emerging artists and homegrown acts.
Sŵn Festival – 2023 line-up (so far):Acid Klaus | Alaw | Alffa | Ani Glass | Artshawty | Baba Ali | Babymorocco | Banshi | BC Camplight | Bill Ryder-Jones | BODUR | Bonny Doon | Butch Kassidy | Car Boot Sale | CATTY | Cerys Hafana | Chilli Jesson | CHROMA | Cloth | Corella | Conchúr White | Crimewave | DasRADIAL | Death Cult Electric | Divorce | Elanor Moss | Ella Lockert | Ellur | Esther | Ethan P. Flynn | The Family Battenberg | Fat Dog | Ffenest | Flamingods | Flip Top Head | Frozemode | Getdown Services | Gillie | Grey FLX | Gwcci | Hak Baker | Half Happy | Hands Off | Hemes | Hex Girlfriend | Honesty | Hyll | The Itch | Jack Valero | Jasmine Jethwa | Jessica Winter | KEG | Lande Hekt | The Last Dinner Party | Living Body | Los Blancos | Luke RV | Lynks | MADMADMAD | Magugu | Malgola, No | Mandy, Indiana | Maria Uzor | Max Rad | Mercy Rose | Mickey Callisto | Minas | Moin | Monet | Morgan Harper-Jones | Murder Club | Muriel | The New Eves | New Wave Sound.Ent | Nookee | O. | Opus Kink | Oscar Browne | Oslo Twins | Our Girl | Pale Blue Eyes | Parisa Fouladi | Picture Parlour | Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs | Pip Blom | Rosie Alena | Safari Gold | Sage Todz | Salti | Shelf Lives | The Shunkos | Skinny Pelembe | Saloon Dion | Slaney Bay | Slate | Sleep Outside | Sophie Jamieson | Tapir! | Thord1s | Tiny Camels | Treeboy & Arc | Trout | The Tubs | TVAM | Twst | The Utopia Strong | Vanity Fairy | Viji | Waterpistol | Westerman | William Doyle | William The Conqueror | Willie J Healey | Y Dail | Ziyad Al-Samman | Zzzahara

Backstreet Girls – ‘In Lust We Trust’ (Indie Recordings)

Backstreet Girls – ‘In Lust We Trust’ (Indie Recordings)

Ok folks sit up pay attention set your volume control at a respectably loud setting and pour yourself a cold one before slipping this bad boy on the turntable. Backstreet Girls are in the house and they are showing no sign of mellowing out or slowing down. From the get-go the boogie is set on the max and this Norwegian powerhouse is up for the gig.

This is the band’s 16th studio record since their 1984 debut and with the motto of If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, they boogie n Roll the living shit out of these ten songs. ‘Beef Chop Suicide’ gets proceedings underway with that familiar Petter Baarli raw overdriven tone and whisky and no filter cigarette rasp of Bjørn Müllers cool vocals the song ushers in the album by blowing off the doors rather than gently easing the listener in. Hell, the full-fat production from Stamos Koliousis is perfect for the DC meets Stones tones these boys love to knock out. It’s bullshit free baby and they’re up for a good time and not a long time. ‘Waste Side Story’ is bruising but the thunderous shuffle of ‘Boogie Woman’ (of course that’s what it is called) is like being clubbed over the head by a Les Paul and the guitar break at the end kind of stops which is a bit weird I wanted it to continue my tennis racket wasn’t finished yet and I was looking to do a knee slide for a finale. Shit, that is one dirty tone Baarli is chopping up on ‘Too Cool For You’ as the band eases back for one sloppy dorty fucker of a song, and who isn’t going to dig that riff on the chorus before easing back into the verse, quality overload beware anyone feeling a little feeble this might be too tough for you.

Sure theres nothing original going on here nothing at all its just a cadalac of style with the best sounding stereo on the strip ‘Sister Satan’ is a brooding beast of a song cruising round impressing the shit out of any impressionable young man or woman. The quality of whats on offer is right up there and ‘Norma Jean’ is like Lemmy fronting Cheap Trick using AC/DC’s equipment to impress a particularly good-looking lady.

The next few tunes are all about that guitar tone with ‘Rocky Lee’ cooking up a bitches brew that’s made with equal parts gasolene and gunpowder the licks n fills are fantastic at volume and on headphones it’s like being in the room as the band strikes up a chord knowing exactly how damn good at this they are.

Before we’re done ‘Not Sorry At All’ is a blast of fist-pumping before ‘Doomday Hell’ is a purposeful thump on the drums and the gang vocals to close it out are spot on, so put on your shades, buckle up the leather trousers and pour another cold one Backstreet Girls are dishing up a Rockin good time (of course they are) and it’s fantastic to hear a band just rockin out because that’s what they love hearing and nobody is gonna tell them there is anything cooler than this. Top band, Top album, Top class. Buy yourself ‘In Lust We Trust’ and rock the fuck out – you’re worth it.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Christmas ‘Eff It Up’ in style Video

Christmas ‘Eff It Up’ in style Video

After the start of the pandemic and Brexit, Christmas were perhaps the first punk band back on tour in the UK in 2021. To capture the experiences on video, the band captured the tour in a small clip in 2022. Enjoy ‘Fuck It Up’ from the current album ‘Hot Nights In Saint Vandal’ (released in 2020 on Kidnap Music and TNS Records) you can watch the band from the ferry to Quadrophenia Alley!

Buy Christmas Merch Here

C.O.F.F.I.N – ‘Australia Stops’ (Bad Vibrations)

C.O.F.F.I.N – ‘Australia Stops’ (Bad Vibrations)

If you prefer the US re-dubbed version of Mad Max, George Miller’s 1979 post-apocalyptic vision of the future, then hit the homepage button now, because C.O.F.F.I.N are about as Australian as every millimetre of Mick “Two Fingers” Simpson’s beer belly. Just take one look at the front cover of ‘Australia Stops’, the band’s fifth album to date, and there’s no disputing these madmen from the Northern Beaches of Sydney really do suffer for their art. I mean who has a mullet in 2023? Well, other than the members of Rough Gutts, obviously. (Ha!)

Yeah, these four guys are like a Cosmic Psychos and Asteroid B-612 jam band playing Bea Smith’s birthday bash at Boggo Road Jail, that’s how bloody Australian they are, and they sound totally bloody bonza too! Just take one listen to the album’s opening track (and lead video) ‘Give Me A Bite’ and tell me I’m wrong.  The opening guitar licks of this track slap you straight across the face before vocalist and drummer Ben Portnoy (no relation…I hope) literally spits the song’s lyrics in it too. There’s something very Hip Priests-like about the “spit in my wounds” refrain too, and that’s certainly no bad thing, eh pop pickers? 

I must admit that when the band released their ‘Children In Finland Fighting In Norway’ (think about it) album a few back, I was already balls deep into a playlist featuring the likes of Stiff Richards, Private Function and Civic, so that record’s dozen tracks kind of passed me by, but here in 2023 with no such distractions to take my (bonk) eye off the C.O.F.F.I.N shaped prize, I’m all about the mullet maaaaan.

‘Cut You Off’ reminds me of just how great Airbourne used to be before they recorded the same album four times over, mixing the Rose Tattoo riffage with Motorhead attitude to absolute perfection. ‘City Sun’ meanwhile appears to be an ode to a man with the head of a horse, so I’m always going to love it aren’t I?

‘Keep It Dark’ and ‘Lovers Leash’ quickly follow and continue this four to the floor approach before ‘Beasts’ chugs its harp beating black heart past the record’s midway point, and I can’t help but think of Stevie Young’s old band Starfighters and their classic debut album every time I hear this one.   

For the second half of ‘Australia Stops’ the album’s title track introduces us to a further five song knuckle sandwich of punch drunk rock ‘n’ roll, the highlight of which (for me anyway) is the blistering one – two of ‘Through The Sewer’ and ‘Faceless’ a fine duo of tunes for the children of Generation Z to truly lose their shit over, just like they have been to the likes of Amyl & The Sniffers and The Chats.

Hotter than a rollin’ dice, C.O.F.F.I.N will hopefully be back soon to rule the roads of the UK (they did a run of shows back at the start of the summer) and promote ‘Australia Stops’ to the max, In the meantime we can all get excited about this mighty fine record hitting the record shop racks on September 15th.

Play it loud folks, PLAY IT LOUD!

You can pre-order ‘Australia Stops’ via the following link; http://coffin.lnk.to/AustraliaStops

Social links: Facebook / Instagram

Author: Johnny Hayward

The Hangmen – ‘Stories To Tell’ (Acetate Records)

The Hangmen – ‘Stories To Tell’ (Acetate Records)

I always get excited when I hear news trickling through the grapevine that Californias Bryan Smalls has assembled The Hangmen to record some new music and when I got the PR to say ‘Stories To Tell’ was indeed done and in the can, I couldn’t wait to get me some.

Getting straight to business, ‘Broken Heartland gets ‘Stories To Tell’ off to a flier with its solid tempo and some cool slide driving this Rocker onward and upwards. With some really nice solo work. With very little fanfare it’s on with the show and always a band who simply let the music do their talking. As far as openers go this is a thumper, no messing about just good honest Rock n Roll with a decent hook sweet playing and a melody on the chorus that locks in to your good vibe receptors of your brain making this addictive and oh so sweet.

Play on. With a nice round ten tracks on offer Smalls laid back exterior and style is no more aparent than ‘Midnight Riders’ with its widescreen vision as the sun drops out of the sky its such a quality tune. You’ve gotta love the melody as it battles with the music for what grabs you most but this is where The Hangmen sit best for me – it sounds effortlessly cool as you’re drawn in. They turn up the amps for ‘Last Time I Saw You’ as the riff chimes the band are rockin out here just cruising through the gears.

Another shift in tempo sees the laid back ‘On The Outside’ go country roots rock. The acoustic guitars are out and its time to sip a beer on the porch whilst the Rock n Roll eases back. Four songs deep and four sides to The Hangmen painting broad strokes with a thread throughout thats totally recognisable which isn’t easy to do. That Hangmen tone is what captures your attention. It’s raw as a seeping wound but sweet as honey, ‘Sinister Purpose’ hangs its melody on a big riff thats classic and modern but always quality. The cowbell is out on ‘Bayou Moon’ as Smalls leads his troops down a Stones rabit hole that oozes class. As the groove takes hold I’m gazing into the sky hoping we can all get some of this ‘Bayou Moon’. In fact The Stones are lurking in the DNA of Stories To Tell as the acoustic rocker of ‘Behind The Wheel’ will testify.

With a title track being a mid paced mid day rocker stretching itself out building to the chorus its just classic Hangmen and if you get it you’ll dig it and admire their class. Its a very impressive album with variety and moments left right and centre that purr with quality from the rockin opener to the almost baladlike ‘Runnin Kind’ that brings the curtain down on this excellent album. Don’t take my word for it. Head out there and pick up a copy or if you’re modern and like to stream then get on and pre save it so you can also marvel in the majesty that is the most excellent Hangmen. Winner!

Buy Here

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Author: Dom Daley

Marc Valentine Returns With New Single ‘Jinx of Finchley Road’ On Wicked Cool Records

Marc Valentine Returns With New Single ‘Jinx of Finchley Road’ On Wicked Cool Records

Marc Valentine, the unmistakably British singer-songwriter whose powerpop-fueled debut album was released last year to critical acclaim, returns with ‘Jinx Of Finchley Road’ – a digital single scheduled for release through Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Records.

Produced by Dave Draper (The Wildhearts, Ryan Hamilton, The Professionals), the song hints at nefarious and uncanny happenings in North London. Nostalgia and mystery meet in a basement full of hooks to create a single that sounds as if it was
plucked from the charts during the glory days of Britpop.

Having honed his craft over four albums with cult pop-rockers Last Great Dreamers, Valentine launched a solo career in 2022, his album ‘Future Obscure’ delighting fans and picking up praise from an array of publications.

‘Jinx Of Finchley Road’ marks his return to the spotlight, which looks set to grow even brighter through 2024.

Upcoming live dates 

Friday 15 September – Trillians, Newcastle 

Saturday 16 September – Fulford Arms, York

All links to buy and hear Marc Here

Website /Insta /Facebook

Diamond Dogs – ‘About The Hardest Nut To Crack’ (Wild Kingdom)

Diamond Dogs – ‘About The Hardest Nut To Crack’ (Wild Kingdom)

Sweden’s finest purveyors of honky tonk flavoured rock n’ roll return with a new long player, just over 18 months after the luscious double album offering ‘Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous’ hit the shelves.

It seems nothing can keep Sulo and the boys from delivering good time rock n’ roll like the last 6 decades of musical innovation never happened. The Faces meets The Stones is a good rut to be stuck in and we wouldn’t want it any other way, not when the songs are this good.

Written and recorded over an 8-day period and recorded in old school analogue, ‘About The Hardest Nut To Crack’ sees the Swedish band in fine form from the word go.

12 bar boogie blues is the name of the game with opener ‘Get A Rock n Roll Record’ and the message is as simple as the three-chord progression it rides on.

Next up ‘Blight The Life’ is one of those life affirming, instantly familiar Sulo melodies. You’ve know you’ve heard it before, but you’re not quite sure where. Was it Rod, Jagger or Monroe? Who knows, or even cares as a mournful fiddle leads us down an emotive road, one we love to frequent again and again.

The low-slung rock n’ roll of ‘Wring It Out’ has plenty of Faces swagger and it’s a raucous party that Sulo and the boys are jamming, with gospel-tinged backing vocals, stabs of keys and a certain boogie-woogie swagger.

There are earworms aplenty on offer. The likes of ‘Gurus and Gangsters’ and ‘Desiree, Yet Another Lonely Mile’ are pure euphoric nostalgia, and about as 70’s as listening to the top 40 run down whilst scoffing a Sunday roast. Songs that groove in a certain way and insist you turn up that dial and dance like no one is watching. 

Sulo’s reflective lyricism recalls the good times and the tight musicianship but loose delivery backs it all up in just the right way. The banjo action on ‘Old Timer’ gives a rustic, partisan feel that sits well with the low-slung guitars and gravelly vocals. The sloppy, but perfectly delivered solo as worn and weathered as the vintage gear it is played on.

The glam slam, foot-stomping closer ‘Rising From The Ruins Of Rock n Roll’ sees the band sign off by telling us to spin them records one more time and not to forget the reason they (and we) do this thing they call rock n’ roll anyway.

A new Diamond Dogs record is always cause for a celebration, and ‘The Hardest Nut To Crack’ does exactly what you would expect. Naysayers may argue that Sulo and the boys are doing nothing new and shock horror, may even be classed as ‘generic’, but you know what? Sometimes I want something familiar, something that doesn’t stray from the path and delivers exactly what I expect it to, and the Diamond Dogs do it every time. Get this rock n’ roll record, play it loud and spread the word. 

PRE-ORDER: https://orcd.co/hardest-nut-to-crack

Author: Ben Hughes

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