Back in February I reviewed ‘They Weep’ the lead single release from ‘My Superstition’ and I adored every tortured moment. The EP is a collection of songs that tell stories of lives that have been moulded by superstition and a fear of the unknown – of people who are at the mercy of their desires, and would love other people to be at the mercy of theirs.

The EP opens with ‘They Weep’. Listening again I am once more dragged into the emotional turmoil of this song. An emotionally drenched vocal is performed over a musical backing that at its heart is a piano ballad. Yes, there are clever, subtle and sparse sounds added to this; at least until, as all great ballads do, the sound swells. The sound evokes both the great ballads of way back when, and electronica of the 80s. So we have a song that has words that are pure emotion, performed in a heart wrenching way, with music that adds to the emotional power of the song and is beautiful in its own right. The combination of those is a song that will rip into your soul, that has a beautiful sadness, that comes from the heart.

‘A Windowless Box’ immediately captures you musically. Retro synth sounds come at you in a disjointed disturbing wave. But for all it’s obviously electronica sound. Musically you are left with the impression of an European folk song taken to an extreme.

A vocal that sits on the edge of vocal performance; a vocal that evokes the high art of Brel. Words tumble, they threaten to overwhelm, but this is all part of what this song ‘means’ emotionally. The words tell a story, the vocal performance adds a layer, a depth.

The song is difficult to listen to, it has a darkness, a sadness that is overwhelming. But somehow it is a song I need to hear again and again.

The more ‘conventional’ musical style of ‘My Camilla’ takes us in a different direction. You could describe it as a big mid tempo ballad if you were so inclined. On the other hand the song has influences of Radiohead’ it’s the slightly awkward jerky rhythm, the sudden shifts to glorious multi-layered sections. Although it has a different sound, the feel and emotion of the song is connected to the first two tracks.

The EP proper closes with ‘A Dog Named Vengeance’. A big classic pop song in form. Musically it evokes music that I haven’t heard in years. A song that is better heard than described. A song that you need in your life.

But wait there’s more; a vocal and piano rendition of ‘A Dog Named Vengeance’ is included as a bonus. This will rip out your heart and tear at your soul.

Listening to this EP is an experience that takes me back to a time when music was made with craft and emotion taking from influences of all kinds. The songs on this EP do that; and whether they do that deliberately or not I care not the least. I may hear the influences of things in the music, but this is music of now because it was made in the now.

And the lyrics of these songs are more than words; they tell stories, they convey emotion, they paint pictures. These are words to be listen to properly.

This EP is incredible; it’s made up of four songs that connect directly with your soul, that tell emotional stories in words, performance and music. Individually they amaze but the four songs combined are more than the sum of its parts.

Songs to be treasured. Pure musical beauty.

Reardon Love’s ‘Enfant Terrible’ is one of those songs that’s hard to define. I mean it’s rock but not way out there raucous rock but there’s very definitely crunchy guitar. But you could also dance to it; I know this, I did. This isn’t helping is it.

There is also something I need to say; which may help, or not. There is something very 80s about the sound of this song. Part of this you may get and part of which I suspect, unless you are a fan of certain bands during the 80s, you won’t.

The beginning kinda reminds of Duran Duran; in their ‘This Is Planet Earth’ period; it’s all ringing plucked guitar, synth washes, big bass and big vocals. So far, so pop. But as it goes on it starts to get more complex – layers of synth, glorious backing vocals, rockier guitar, out there drumming.

It sounds, and I need to whisper this, a tad 80s’ Prog. You see way back then bands who wanted to play Prog wanted to do something more accessible – shorted songs, earwormy tunes, things you could dance to. This was part of the lumpenlying named New Wave of British Progressive Rock. And although there were bands who played music based on old style Prog – Folk Prog (Solstice), Psychedelic Prog (Ozric Tentacles), driving Heavy Space Rock Prog (IQ), and so on – there were also bands who mixed the sound of the more grandiose New Romantic bands with Prog. You could call this PopProg if you needed to. Marillion dipped in, as did It Bites. There was a range of sounds that these bands made, this is one of them.

The thing is there’s more. ‘Enfant Terrible’ also sounds a bit like Frankie Goes To Hollywood. This isn’t that surprising. Frankie’s big big sound was constructed by Trevor Horn who produced and joined Yes (along with his partner in Buggles Geoff Downes). So a number of the bands he produced had a Prog element to their recorded sound (Although not Dollar, one of my guilty pleasures).

‘Yes’, I hear you say, ‘but isn’t this all a bit of a music nerd tangent?’ It is, and I apologise. So the thing I was working towards was that ‘Enfant Terrible’ sounds like all this.

You may also call this, without all of my musical baggage, a sophisticated rock based song that draws on a huge variety of sounds to make something absolutely great. It has outstanding playing, vocals to die for, a tune that just bores its way into your head and a beat that is positively danceable.

This is all kinds of completely fucking wonderful.

Stream/Download: https://kycker.ffm.to/enfantterrible

I caught The Veese playing at The Underground Bradford back in November of last year, and I definitely got hints of something good. This release is the band’s first. Let’s check this out.

So ‘Up The Social’ is a great slice of raw indie – jangly guitars a-gogo, singalong earwormy tune. But, and this is a big but because this is the thing I remember about The Veese, there is some bloody raucous guitar, and a punky edge to the vocals.

Now I realise that this isn’t a unique thing, there are lots of indie banks who do the punky raw sound, but there’s something about The Veese’s take on this sound that I really like. I just wish I could put my finger on what it is. The sound of the raw guitar is part of it but the rest is sadly eluding me. This isn’t a bad thing; let’s be honest there are probably bands you like but are not entirely sure why.

‘Up The Social’ is a fab debut release, I get the feeling the band we can expect more goodness from The Veese.

The info

The band are

Oli ~ Lead Vocals & Rhythm Guitar
Harrison ~ Drums & Percussion & Backing Vocals
George ~ Lead Guitar
Dylan ~ Bass Guitar

Back in December of last year I reviewed ‘Tomorrow’ by Forgettable Faces and was mightily impressed. If you didn’t catch the release then, fear not it’s on the EP.

Let’s make sure we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet. The band make wonderful pop, written and played with care. It sits in what I call classic pop; what I mean by this is that it’s pop that isn’t immediately throwaway and has a timeless appeal that won’t go out of fashion.

Opening track ‘Nostalgia’ is pop and you can dance to it – you could play this out at a party easily – but on the other hand it isn’t quite of now. Yeah, sure there are hints of Indie but it has the feel of late 60s/Early 70s West Coast music, or if you will, Americana. So it’s more complex than what we might expect. But what I’m going to say is forget my overly complex analysis and get into it. It’s earwormy and singalong as hell.

‘Ruin’ initially could sit in bedroom-pop but then it rocks out in a distinctly 70s pop way with just a hint of punky DIY. It’s weird but it works and is absolutely fab gear. Better people than me could undoubtedly place it into a genre niche – and hey email us if you can – but I’m sticking with fab track.

‘Tomorrow’ has hints of jazz, a little soul and a whole load of what I call that Laurel Canyon sound; in particular later period Joni Mitchell. This is all mixed and wrapped up into a brilliant piece of pop. Or you could forget all of that and just describe it as sunny delicious pop with a tune that is as earwormy as hell, a beat you can dance to and a great lyric. The choice is yours. However you choose to describe it, this is put together beautifully. It starts with a great vocal, sparse choppy guitar, and clever and subtle keys.

The lightness of ‘Strained’ follows. Sunny, bouncy. Kinda DIY, bit bedroom-pop. Full of unexpected surprising sounds – including a way out guitar break. I’ve fallen somewhat for the vocals on this (and ‘Ruin’ to be honest) which come in a kind of Twee sound (Twee by the way is a musical genre from back in my youth; Google ); all kind of sunny and laid back.

Never a band to stick with a sound, ‘Last Time’ takes a side trip into some blues influenced rock. In a kind of poppy way. This is all 70s’ muscular guitar, vocal workouts.

Closer ‘The Fear’ is kind of jazzy, funky. Or as I like to describe it ‘Nu-Soul with guitar freakouts’. And we are talking guitar freakouts that astound. It rocks, it grooves hard. It demands you get up and get down. Bloody hell this is utterly fantastic.

While we have six tracks that differ in all sorts of ways; there is something that holds these songs together and that’s a complete lack of respect for what is generally believed to work musically. The songs throw together influences that you think are never going to work together but then do, and do fantastically. And that’s something to celebrate; a band that isn’t jumping on the nearest bandwagon but doing their own thing.

There is playing on this EP that leaves me speechless – brilliant guitar, lovely keys, really clever and musical drumming. The vocals are a joy. But there is more. Listen to the words of these songs; the words are great and meaningful.

This is an incredibly impressive EP, Great songs, played wonderfully, that are full of the unexpected.

I’d like to start this review with a question for you. Do you still get an extra jolt of excitement from seeing bands live now that lockdown has finally come to end? I do. And that excitement is multiplied when there’s two out of three bands I’m really looking forward to seeing. So it was with anticipation that I made my way to the cosy interior of HPBC on a chilly evening to this trio of bands.

I was prepared to not like Astoria. I better explain that. Out of a three band line-up on average there is one band that doesn’t click with me. And, given that I really love Purple Thread and was looking forward to seeing Flat Moon, that kind of left Astoria. I am happy to report that Astoria bucked the trend; I was won over by the end of the first song.

There was a moment when I heard the opening notes of their second; the ‘often ill-advised Bowie cover’ – in this case ‘Moonage Daydream’ – that my heart started to sink but fortunately that came with at least two levels of fabulous.

And that made their sound click into focus for me. We are talking rock ‘n’ roll with a retro feel; kind of arty glam. Big guitar rock with big tunes, big vocals that I can only describe as sincere and meant. And they put these songs together in ways that intrigue. In this world of alt-rock and indie this is something different; and that’s enough to make my ears prick up and listen.

I waited, I waited in vain, for this to fall apart, for my first impressions to be wrong; it never came. Great song, followed by another great song. The more I listened the more I liked them. Astoria are a band that have grabbed my interest and I want to see them play again, and soon.

At the end of Flat Moon’s set I was only able to write this

This is an interrobang. It conveys a kind of incredulous or shocked questioning in punctuation. This is because I was both completely blown away by their set and because I didn’t know what the fuck to actually say in this review beyond ‘that was unbelievably good’.

Maybe I should start by – if you haven’t the foggiest idea what Flat Moon do – with an introduction. But even this is difficult because defining the music they play is difficult. I find myself asking the question ‘are they a jazz-rock band, a jazz-funk band, a band that’s taking the concept of Nu-Soul to the very edge and beyond, a psychedelic funk band or even a progressive psychedelic jazz-funk band?’, and I answer ‘yes, all of the above’. Honest.

But there’s more, there’s pfunk, there’s the out-there groove of Sly and The Family Stone and the strangeness, at times, of Frank Zappa. That’s not to mention the warped sounds of Gong in jazz mode, and the manicness of Cardiacs and Shatner’s Bassoon.

They are a band who are difficult to pin down; ‘you’re not kidding me’ I hear you scream in frustration.

However the thing you need to know is Flat Moon sound absolutely fabulously fantastic on their releases but live it’s kicked to a level I can only describe as musical nirvana. Whatever it is they are playing it’s fucking funky, it grooves, it comes at you in waves, it goes straight to the dancing part of your brain like a musical injection.

And in that sound are three guitars – one of which doesn’t always sound like a guitar but does impressions of an organ, and one that does the most fantastic guitar breaks. There is bass which not only pulses out the rhythm but is a lead instrument in its own right. And there is saxophone.

And not only this but the band put on a show. There is banter, there is movin and a-grooving. This is a band who love and adore what they play.

Flat Moon are bloody fucking incredible and you need to see them.

If you’ve been keeping up you’ll know that Purple Thread are one of my favourite bands. If they’re playing at a Purple Thread Party I’m there. Their average show is a thing of musical beauty but there are times when everything lines up – the moon is in the right phase, sacrifices have been made to the musical gods, crystals have been offered up; you know the sort of thing – Purple Thread can play a set that goes straight into that part of your mind that stories the most precious of your musical memories. This night was one of those.

The first part of their set was very much greatest hits, and I could immediately tell that the band were in the mood to give us that sneery, sleazy NYC punky sound to the max. Loose, raucous, full tilt. Liz channelling Patti Smith vocally, when she’s not giving us that pure poppy vocal sound. The ‘obligatory Purple Thread cover’ was a raw punky pumped up ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’, and what a joyous noise. Intrigue was introduced with a keyboard-led version of one of their songs – which sadly in the thrills and excitement I forgot to make a note of – which was lovely.

And while they are a rawk band their songs are made for dancing, it’s made for partying make no mistake. There’s a groove to their music, as well as the raucous. And that’s the brilliance of Purple Thread.

The band’s live shows can leave you breathless and speechless. They put on one hell of a show, and it’s a show you need to see.

I’ve been thinking hard about how to describe this new release from Wolforna, and the closest I can come is alt-rock meets classic rock. I’m not sure I’d go as far as my helpful friend who described it as ‘Dio period Rainbow plays alternative rock’ but I get what she’s saying.

To explain further it does the quiet/loud thing of alt-rock but the playing is sophisticated classic rock. Carefully chosen exquisite sounds paint an atmospheric picture in sound with the most fabulous vocal soars off them.

The thing I love most about this track is the restraint of it all; the way it holds back from going full-on batshit crazy. And then there’s the space in the sound; all of the players are given a space to shine. Extra feel and atmosphere is added by the careful use of synths; a first for the band.

The vocals I’ve already mentioned as being a highlight but I couldn’t not mention the guitar and drums. The guitar goes from beautifully played quiet passages to full on noise. The drums are inventive; they resisted the temptation to fill every available space, instead they opt for sparse and inventive.

And this song tells a story; the story of a world and society falling apart. Is this now, is this to come? It feels like now to me.

Wolforna are making music their own way, a wonderful way. This song is anthemic, sophisticated and musically beautiful. Get to it. Play loud.