No Wukkas are yet another Monomyth Records signing; and yet another – on the strength of this release – great band. The band describe themselves as a blend of indie psych rock with math funk sensibilities. Sounds exciting, let’s explore.

This is a AA release that showcases two related musical sides of the band, ‘Awkward Positions’ kinda follows that indie ‘fast slow fast’ structure. But the fast is very fast punky psych rock. The slow is extremely slow blissed out guitar. The contrast is exquisite. Weirdly it ends up sometimes sounding a bit like that psychy Mod stuff, or even slightly like early XTC or a kind of psych Cardiacs – it’s the manicness of it..And there’s something of the psych garage rock feel in there.

I’m making a meal of trying to describe this because it’s hard to pin down a pithy phrase that sums it up. The brilliant thing about this track is that it combines throw yer self around madness with a slow section that deserves nothing less than interpretive dance.

‘Look Above’ begins with big Zappa vibes blending to psychedelic rock. This too has that manic touch that is setting off big Cardiacs lightning bolts in my head. It has an ever changing joy to it that will have you wondering where it’s going next. My advice. just sit back and wallow in the sound. It’s a trip, people.

I could, but won’t, bang on about how strangely these two tracks remind me of some bands from the time of the psychedelic New Underground of the 80s. And there’s something else that connects this and that movement; it’s psych but through a lens of the music that is of now.

Are No Wukkas the vanguard of a New New Psychedelia? I’ll leave that for you to decide for yourself. But they are making music that excites, intrigues and takes you to a fab place. This is bloody fantastic.

MARKETPLACE’s debut release on Monomyth – ‘Condensed Milk’ – was a complete glorious joy. ‘Misery Fest’ shows that this is a band who are no one-trick pony; this is no dance your arse off riot of sound but a huge rock ballad.

This is a track that revels in misery, it positively wallows in it. So much so that telling you what the song is about is completely pointless; the title tells you exactly what it’s about.

It combines delicate guitar in the verses with a huge chorus with gorgeous backing vocals as it builds to searing emotional climax with what I can only describe as a somewhat retro guitar solo. It’s a searing epic, people.

The sound is at once both of the past and of now. It has both the sound of a classic rock ballad while incorporating an indie-rock feel. But while you could sit and dissect the sound, don’t. This is a timeless classic; it’s to be enjoyed, to – if you forgive me the indulgence – unashamedly wallow in.

The keys to a great rock ballad is great playing, words that rip your heart out and a lead vocal THAT IS emotion. ‘Misery Fest’ has all three in spades. It also has an arrangement and production that is as near to damn perfect as you want; without, and this is crucial, losing the rawness.

This is bloody wonderful. A musical tour de force. An epic.

The latest from makers of ‘electronica with soul’ Scenius is a haunting moving track. It does this despite – and let’s be honest incredibly skillfully – being made up of some strident retro synth sounds.

A big part of this is Fab Nau’s vocals which are filled with quiet emotion. The other part is the use of subtly warped synth sounds – which have me in mind of Eno, Foxx, Japan and Blancmange – synth washes that sit way way back in the mix and a slow pulsing rhythm. But while their music uses both the instruments and feel of the first wave of electronic music in reality their influences cross the years right until now. Influences that perhaps the duo acknowledge in the song – ‘we like old and we like new’.

What the song is about they haven’t said; so it’s over to us to make our interpretation. For me, and I may be wrong, at least part of the song is about them. But on the other hand, it seems to have some wider meaning.

This is a deceptively simple song on first listen but the more you listen you begin to go deeper into the sounds and words; until it is firmly embedded in your head. This is classic electronica with something all of its own; soul, heart, feeling and a haunting beauty.

The info

The duo is composed of UK producer Steve Whitfield (The Cure, The Mission, Yann Tiersen…) and French singer Fab Nau.

Following a series of singles released in 2020, Scenius’s debut album received worldwide critical acclaim and radio plays.

In 2021 they remixed tracks for BlakLight (US) and Projekt Ich (DE) and got remixed by Nature of Wires (UK), Klammer (UK) and Black Boiler (FR). The duo also contributed that year a track to the Generation Blitz compilation

In 2022, Scenius – initially a studio project – have become a live band, playing a series of gigs in France. A live EP was released in May along with the complete video footage of their very first gig.

The duo is now finishing the last tracks to their second album due out in January 2023.

I love Lewis’s music. There is, of course, the thrill of discovering what style or genre it’s going to be but you are guaranteed to be hearing a song that comes from the heart.

The musical feel of ‘Safe Journey’ is something I find hard to put a figure on, so I have two options; take your pick. The first is kind of a loose Laurel Canyon Americana; all plucked guitar in an almost Country style. The second is rather more complex. I want you to imagine a slowed down track from REM’s early days played mainly acoustically. Yes, I realise this could be described as vague but that’s the way my mind works.

Anyway the important thing is that musically this is a song with soul and real feeling. It provokes feelings of loss, an emptiness left, an affection for the past. It’s a feeling of wishing well in a sad way at a person’s leaving.

As you can expect from Lewis, the words and music work together. The message of the words are the same as the musical feeling. The main thing about his lyrics that I love is that |Lewis has a way of writing that encapsulates a whole lot of things in words that speak the ‘story’ of the song plainly. On one level the words can mean things in a multitude of ways but on another they are simple to understand.

This is a song of simple, yet complex, beauty. A song from the heart to lock in your heart. If you like great song writing, this is an absolute must

Stream: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lewisjackinman/safe-journey

The info

Lewis says:

‘’Safe Journey’ was written and recorded at the same time as Mystery Girl. I originally intended this to be the B-side to Mystery Girl but during production I started to realise they deserved to be separate due to their own unique styles, also friends I ran this idea by strongly agreed which helped with the decision too.

‘’Safe Journey’ is dedicated to my good friend Connor Harrison’

I have to shamefully admit that this is the first music from FIKA I’ve heard. What’s worse is that this is after several people who I trust to give the ‘good word’ told me ‘Frank, this band is absolutely wonderful’. So now I’ve corrected the omission. And boy am I glad I did.

So first the musical sound. They describe themselves as indie grunge and, yes, I get that but ‘1984’ comes with a punk heavy DIY feel. It kinda reminds me of things I was listening to in the early 80’s; heavy on the big guitar and absolutely blinding vocals. It’s the contrast that does it for me. After two listens I was hopelessly addicted to the big grunge guitars, banging bass, the gloriously loose lead vocal and the sweet backing vocals. And that’s without mentioning the dropout section which is wonderful.

You, like me, may have assumed that the song is about government control but it isn’t. How the band included lyrics in the info they sent. As far as I can tell, and I’m completely willing to be corrected, the song is about male/female relationships and the way men control women. The 1984 may refer to how men treated women back then or indeed that men now control women in the same way as the government did in ‘1984’ the book, o. I’m less sure about what 1984 refers to. But what I am sure about is that these are powerful words.

This is a completely wonderful song with a message told through words and music. And hey, you can dance to it. Do you need any further encouragement? Get to it right now.

The info

‘1984’ is the final release in a trilogy that started with ‘Bitten Tongue’ and ‘Change’.

FIKA are

Alanah – guitar and vocals
Eva – bass and vocals

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fikabandd