Look at what we have here, the first release from Liz Mann’s solo project. Liz, as if you didn’t know, is better known as the front-person for Leeds’ band Purple Thread.

If you were expecting something like Purple Thread’s raucous sound then think again. ‘Chocolate’ is a retro sounding synth based smooth sultry ballad. It has something of a 70s’ Disco slow number; it’s all pulsing wibbly synth sounds and vocals that drip like smooth rich melted chocolate. But, for those of you who are surprised or taken aback by this, you should remember that Purple Thread take as one ingredient in their sound, the sweet sound of perfect pop. Liz has just let that run wild and free.

I’ve mentioned the vocals in passing but I think I should expand. The vocals on this track are gorgeous; sweet, pure with just the right amount of sultry for the feel of the song. And the harmonies roll over you like honey; silky smooth. Love the vocals, as you might have worked out. Musically those retro synth sounds make something rich sonically. This is not about the dramatic swells, it’s about the smoothness, the soft waves of sound, the meltingness of it all.

This is intimate, it draws you in, it compels you to listen. I love great pop and this is great pop. I haven’t heard a pop song that’s as damn near perfect as this for ages.

Echoviolet have a tendency to do the unexpected; so what are they giving us with their new release.

I guess you could describe ‘Beautiful Lies’ as alt-rock, although that doesn’t tell the whole story. There’s a stunning electric blues sound to this track that left me completely without words. In short it’s Echoviolet doing their Echoviolet thing; making music that’s hard to pin down to one genre. If I was pushed I might use the phrase alt blues rock but this seems woefully inadequate. It has sounds that I find familiar – Peter Green period Fleetwood Mac, Muse, that wonderful band CPSD, even later period Whitesnake, the bing aggression of alt-rock – but it’s put together in ways that are simply astounding.

If a band are going to attempt a track like this, they better know their stuff musically and Echoviolet do know their musical stuff. If you’ve been keeping up you’ll know this, but just in case you didn’t these guys are incredible players. The guitar in this is fantastically beautiful; it’s going to blow your mind. Quite how the drummer and bass player keep up with all the changes I don’t know but they do. A special mention here for the drumming which is not at all what you might expect; it’s inventive and clever.

Simply put, this is an outstanding release. One that’s going to leave you reeling, open mouthed with astonishment. And totally addicted to it.

Another pair of songs from Leeds based performance poet and multi-instrumentalist Tom Priestley, and his partner in art Martin Trippett.

‘Sick!’ – The ‘A Side’ – takes a sparse abrasive sound; a sound I’m going to describe as early Fall like. I’d describe it as punk but I’m not of the opinion that The Fall were really a punk band as such. Way too much Krautrock in there for that. Anyway that’s my opinion, feel free to disagree.

The key here is that It’s your basic guitar and drums deployed with a sense of frustration and no little aggression to match the words. The words, delivered with Tom’s usual completely unmistakably Leeds’ thing, speak of a variety of ways you can be sick or sick of things; sick of feeling ill, sick of being hopeless, sick of the eternal time that, I assume, passes by with no variation.

And while the words might speak of frustration. A dose of anger; the way Tom puts those words together has that wry dry as fuck humour I’ve come to expect.

The ‘B Side’ ‘Lifeless Culture’ is less a song and more a poem with musical backing. This makes it no less compelling. The sound is fuller; driving sparse drums, bass and two guitars. One of those guitars provides atmospheric sounds.

The words are a journey through our culture now; that’s culture in a wider sense. How the beauty of the world is drowned out by a tsunami of worthless, well, crap to be honest. It references, at least I think so, social media. The drowning out of proper discussion. The draining of hope. It therefore seems to expand on, or add to, the themes of ‘Sick!’.

While these two tracks might seem to be depressing as hell, they do come with joy; the joy of words put together with craft and art. The thrill of discovering that dark messages can be delivered with words that make you smile.

These are obviously a must if you’ve already discovered the words and music of Priestley and Trippett. If you’ve not done that yet, I suggest that these are a starter for ten, an introduction to them. Words and music in glorious lockstep. Words that tell of now, words that tell of our lives.

The info

‘Sick!’

Tom Priestley – Vocals and Guitar
Carl Stipetic – Drums and Bass
Produced by Martin Trippett

‘Lifeless Culture’

Tom Priestley – Guitar, Bass and Vocals
Carl Stipetic – Drums
Martin Trippett – Additional Guitar and Producer

Halifax based L.O.E (it’s short for Last Of Eden) make progressive post rock music. Actually being more ‘accurate’ they make instrumental progressive post rock music. It does come with found speech but the power of their songs in in the composition and the playing.

‘People Like People Like Them’ is ‘a reflection of modern society and a window into frustration and anger. It provides a message of hope and a call to action. It is a voice for the forgotten and a soundtrack for the unheard. The track aims to capture the desperation, futility and shift in hope and power felt by anyone driven to despair at the state of the world. It aims to provide a reminder that by standing together we can overcome. We don’t have to take this anymore. The words that resonate over the music are still as pertinent and relevant today as they ever were. They shine a light on how society exploits disaster, pain and conflict to turn a profit. It shows how far we still have to come as a society and how unjust the world still is’.

This is a pretty big message to convey through music and found speech, I think we’d all agree. The question is does it work? The answer to this is a resounding yes.

The music reflects the desperation, frustration and, frankly, anxiety in the world now, and then the potential power of the people with a powerful emotional sound that leaves you without words. While the found speech sets that emotional sound in a context.

This is big music, music that’s as wide and deep as you’d ever want. The sound of guitars washes over you like a crashing wave. It is at once both simple and complex; this isn’t music showcasing the individual skills of the musicians but the power of a band who are absolutely locked together. The emotional power of the track comes from the dynamics, the shifts in feel and loudness.

Once again I find myself surprised by how compelling L.O.E’s music is, and how I don’t miss vocals. I think I do instinctively think of rock music as having vocals, of those vocals conveying the message and a large part of the emotion. The fact that I don’t miss them shows just how effective and frankly brilliant L.O.E are.

This is an incredible track that is very much pertinent to now, that provides a rallying cry. To sum up, I can think of nothing better to say than, this is outstanding, wow.

The info

‘People Like People Like Them’ is the first single to be released by the band through Hopeful Tragedy Records. It follows the success of their debut release in December 2019.

L.O.E’s music tries to capture and reflect triumph, heroism, anguish and struggle throughout society. Not as a political stand, but to hold a mirror up to humanity. Weaving speech and video into live performance to create a cinematic experience of popular culture and a reflection of our times.

Matilda Shakes make music that positively screams ‘Let’s pppppaaaeettyyyyy people’. This goes beyond screaming; it assembles a crowd to yell support, it buys peak time advertising., it mounts a full on social media campaign. If you’re getting the idea that I rather like this track, you’d be wrong, I adore it.

Gradually Matilda Shakes have been creeping towards a full on Classic RnB Rock sound, and ‘Fast Lane’ is a big step towards that. It takes the sounds of bluesy classic rock – I’m thinking Ian Gillan period Deep Purple – and a harder more up to date alternative rock, and makes of them something absolutely fucking wild. Raw, raucous, dance your arse off music that makes you want to dance like nobody’s watching.

‘Fast Lane’ is for that moment in your Summer Parties when people lose all their inhibitions, when you need to take everything up a notch.

Party with Matilda Shakes, people.

The info

In my last review I questioned who Matilda is, and why she was shaking. In fact I should have been what, or better where, Matilda is. This is because the band were nice enough to explain the origin of the name. In short the band is named after Matilda Street in Sheffield. A street that does indeed shake it.

Well, I do love finding a band right at the start of their journey; this is EYEBRIGHT’s debut single, so there’s a box ticked right there.

The sound is, let’s call it melodic alternative rock; it’s heavy but not heavy heavy, and there’s something of a pop sensibility. Part of this is Jenny’s vocals which hit both that tuneful and way out there markers without going screamy. The vocals rock, OK.

Another thing that’s going to strike you is the guitar sounds. These go from a fuzzy overdriven sound to something that sounds a bit U2. But then suddenly there’s something that sounds a little psychedelic surf. It’s a wild guitar ride. Listen closer and you hear some great bass and drums. A thing to love here is where the bass sits in the mix.

The more I listen to this track, the more I get the impression that in addition to the more up to date influences, there’s something of further back influences that I find difficult to put my finger on exactly. So it may be better to say It’s alternative rock in that it’s not straight rock, and I’m not entirely sure it’s straight alternative rock.

I love a band who are doing something new, adding their own twist, and EYEBRIGHT are doing that. ‘On My Mind’ is fucking glorious, people. I wait, with bated breath, for more music from them.

The info

Eyebright are a new female fronted alternative rock band from Yorkshire consisting of Jenny Staniforth on vocals, Rowan Minnis on guitar, Curtis Knowles on bass and Alex Banner on the drum kit.

The members met each other via the local music scene and from being in previous bands, but they formed to create something new and exciting for our local music scene. The band are inspired by a range of musical influences including bands such as Wolf Alice,The Kills, Idles and Kings of Leon.

The band have their debut gig at the Key club in Leeds on 5th August and aim to release their debut EP later this year.