Look, I know I’m way too late in reviewing the latest double single from Ómoia but having listened to it I just knew that I couldn’t not review it because it’s so bloody good musically, and lyrically. Let’s get straight to the music.

‘Habits’ ‘is a confession of shedding a past self that no longer serves you, and refusing to be confined by anyone else’s image of who you should be. A story of internal conflict and projected expectations’. It sounds like heavy, and I mean very heavy, emo. It’s full of raging guitars set against a rushing strident beat. It is a almost too much to bear because there’s this sense of overwhelming claustrophobia. The vocal seems to be striving to breakout. And boy is this is a fantastic vocal performance. It left me both sad and exhilarated, and then confused as to why; but I just decided to embrace that feeling because I frankly adore music that provokes strong emotions whatever they may be. By the way this track sounds better the louder you crank it, just a listening tip there.

And now to ‘People Like Us’. The song ‘confronts the horrors of conversion therapy and its devastating effects on the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s a call for acknowledgment, compassion, and justice, underscoring the pain of being labeled “unworthy” and the need for societal change’.

Knowing what the song was about prepared me for something that was going to hit me emotionally hard but I wasn’t prepared for what it did to me. This is an epic track that piles on the emotion almost second by second. From the opening strummed guitar to the first swell of dense sound to the first melodic section to the ;raio vocals’ it builds into a climax of dense guitar that, if your sound system is set to stun, risks knocking you over physically. I described it as an epic and I meant that; it’s compelling. complex and totally addictive. Combine this with the subject of the song and the frankly wonderful raw words. means this song is guaranteed to stay with you forever.

My friends, if you haven’t been hearing Ómoia’s previous releases then before listening to this listen to them because this release is the final part of a build to an explosive, emotionally raw set of songs. Ómoia’s music is so raw and honest both musically and lyrically that it leaves you reeling.

‘Fallen Number’ is, and forgive my language, a fucking masterpiece; there’s just no other way of describing it.

I have to be honest, Until Joy are a new band to me. Unfortunately I know very little about them except they are Leeds based and signed to Monomyth Records which gave me a reassurance of ‘goodness’ before I pressed play. I was not disappointed. Their sound, if this release is an indication of their sound generally, is that alt-rock with a touch of Indie thing.

Two or three plays after pressing play for the first time I’m hooked. There are many things to love about this track; don’t fret I’m going to tell you.

Firstly, it’s as earworm as fuck; this thing has so many hooks you might almost consider it a crime. There’s a tune that’s catchy. And while there’s that verse chorus structure we might expect; it’s what’s going on under that that’s the absolute joy. It goes through a journey in sound – from the simple voice and guitar to an explosion of guitar and vocals that is jaw-droppingly good, to a brief haunting section, and more.

And this brings me to my second, the what I’m going to call the arrangement or, if you’d prefer, the way it;s put together. The depth of this track is frankly amazing. Each time you hear it again there’s a new thing to hear – a stunning vocal arrangement, a clever guitar.

And to my third,and final you’ll be happy to hear but there’s something intrinsically good about things that come in threes. It’s the playing and vocals. The musical skill on show is utterly gorgeous; there’s not a note out of place. The vocals are completely compelling. And although we all know the band have spent time honing this song in the studio it has an not lost the exuberance of a live performance.

Until Joy, I hit musical joy a bare handful of seconds in. This is fantastic. My friends this is a song you NEED to hear.

Neoplastic play post-punk; let’s call it classic post-punk because for me their sound harks back to the post-punk sound of my youth.

‘Minimal Living’ has a relentless driving rhythm, scything ringing wiry guitar, dense bass and theatrical half-spoken vocals. It brings to mind a denser sounding Bauhaus. I said before that ‘their sound harks back to the post-punk sound of my youth’ and it kinda does and doesn’t. This is because it sounds like I remember it sounding but, in reality, the early post-punk of my youth didn’t sound like this. This sounds denser and fuller. and somehow more polished. This said, you can still do that striding, elbows out dance to it like in the days of old so it’s all good.

To go with its compelling aggressive sound, the song comes with words that are equally as compelling.

“This song was the first we wrote after I moved back to Hull for the first time in eight years,” says singer and bassist, Leo Joslin, “It’s about seeing the city in a different way to when I moved away, and treating it as a new place to discover. I was 18 when I left, the way you interact with your surroundings as a 26-year-old is completely different. I’ve always loved Hull, but it’s in a different way now. Both myself and the city had obviously changed, ‘Minimal Living’ is a reflection on that. The title comes from brutalist architecture which Tom [Green-Morgan, guitarist] is interested in. I thought it held a lot in common with the themes of the lyrics.”

‘Minimal Living’ is a glorious brutal short sharp shock of post-punk that leaves you reeling with words that compel and make you think. It is, in short, a bloody joy.

‘A Wish Granted’ is two things; one a two part song and two a progression in sound for Yutaniii.

Let me get something clear from the start, this thing sounds incredible. Part One is a gloriously unholy mix of post-punk fading into psych prog rock with just a seasoning of hardcore. Part Two is a so-heavy it hurts all out blast of noise. The thing is that I’m not sure the band are going to thank me for that reference to post-punk because they say they have slid out of that. But it sounds so like post-punk bands like Bauhaus – although NOT a straight sound because they never do anything straight – at the start, I just couldn’t help myself. But I need to repeat this thing sounds incredible, fucking incredible. Yutaniii’s playing never fails to knock me sideways.

The song’s sound and form follows what the song is about. The band explain the song is ‘about exhaustion, burnout and living on autopilot. The song touches on themes of intent vs reality, the vicious cycles of insomnia and how it affects you and those around you during the day (part 1) and how it morphs into a more menacing and lonely beast in the night (part 2)’.

And this is exactly how it sounds. The sound here is all about putting feelings, emotions and physical effects into sound and feel. Part One sounds like alienation and isolation, while Part Two drips with fear and menace. The combination of music, theme and words is, frankly, almost too much to bear but, because it sounds so good, I find myself hitting repeat again and again. It hurts so good, to coin a cliche.

‘A Wish Granted’ is brilliant, fucking brilliant. If this is where Yutaniii are taking us musically, I’m on board, I’m all in.

No messing, I’m going straight in.

You’d expect any track featuring Tom Priestly to have some great words – and this does – but let’s first examine the music. This sounds, in a word, glorious. One part heavy grinding guitar and rock hard drumming, one part psychedelic rock freakout and one part whimsical outro. This is a trip. So to clarify, these are three separate parts of the track. The grinding guitar is, frankly, exquisite; it sits somewhere in the heavy end of stoner rock. But when they unleash the freakout, oh boy. For some strange reason it kinda reminds me of Iron Butterfly and Hawkwind. Doom laden organ, guitar pyrot\echnics to the max.

Now to the words. They tell the story of, if you’d forgive me stating the obvious, a person who’s not all there, somebody who is disconnected from the world. Perhaps somebody who has reasons to be like that or there are reasons they are like that. I have to be honest here my mind wanders between these two. This one of those situations where the interpretation is down to the listener.

This is a track to be listened to properly. Not just because of the words – because these are fantastic – but also because musically it’s an utter joy. The combination, the track as whole if you wish, is mindblowing and thought provoking.

Listen to this, it’s bloody brilliant.