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TOUR NEWS: The She Street Band October 2018 tour

13 Jul 2018

Following a series of sold out shows across London, the world’s first and only all-female Bruce Springsteen cover band, THE SHE STREET BAND, are heading out on their very first tour.

The band is made up of players from the UK, Ireland, Sweden and the United States who formed after bassist Jody Orsborn attended Springsteen’s concert at Wembley in 2016. Walking out of the show in awe after truly cementing her love for The Boss, she recruited a group of like-minded musicians, including Calie Hough (drums), Mara Daniele (guitar), Lynn Roberts (keys), Clare McGrath (glockenspiel), Isabel Lysell (lead guitar) and Yasmin Ogilvie (sax).

Since their sold out debut show at The Moth Club in Hackney, they have gone from strength to strength, whilst whipping up a buzz throughout the music and lifestyle industries. In addition to already being featured in Time Out, NME, Elle Magazine and Grazia, their last London show sold out in just 6-hours, they count members of Springsteen’s own E Street Band amongst their list of supporters (bassist Garry Tallent was papped wearing The She Street Band merch in Nashville this June) and they also feature on the Latitude Festival line up this summer.

This show stopping seven piece promise a night fight for The Boss. Expect to be dancing to all the classic Bruce Springsteen hits like Born To Run, Thunder Road and Dancing in the Dark and a whole heap more… all with a female twist.

“There is surely only one thing that could make the songs of Bruce Springsteen any better. And that is being covered live by a cool-as-f**k all-female band. Well, ta da! It’s happening…” – Elle Magazine

“What a show! Springsteen would be proud. These gals can play.” – Greasy Lake

Tickets go on sale at 10am, Friday 13th July via www.shestreetband.com

3 Oct Brighton The Haunt
4 Oct London Scala
9 Oct Glasgow The Great Eastern
10 Oct Dublin The Grand Social
11 Oct Liverpool Arts Club
12 Oct Manchester Ruby Lounge

TOUR NEWS: Hazel O’Connor – Breaking Glass The film, Q&A and Performance

LSF Staff Writers

13 Jul 2018

A very special evening with award-winning singer songwriter HAZEL O’CONNOR, featuring a rare screening of the digitally re-mastered uncut version of the film followed by an intimate Q&A and live performance of some of the films best loved songs .

Striding into the spotlight and catapulted into fame in 1980 in the iconic movie Breaking Glass, Hazel not only made her lead role her own, but also wrote all the songs. The soundtrack album Breaking Glass went on to go double platinum during its 38 week chart run, defining Hazel O’Connor as a powerful passionate performer and a force to be reckoned with. Joined here onstage by Clare Hirst (Bellestars, Communards, David Bowie) on sax, Sarah Fisher (Eurythmics) on keyboards and Josh Blackmore (Troyka/Strobes ) on percussion, the superb blend of the three voices and stunning musicianship add a sweet touch of class to their vibrant performance.

Live onstage, her unforgettable songs from the film including Eighth Day, Will You, Big Brother, Decadent Days, If Only and more seem even more relevant in our present times. With a special Meet & Greet immediately after the show you’re in for a treat. Unmissable, book early!

Wed 14 Nov – RNCM, Manchester
Sun 18 Nov, Engine Rooms, Southampton
Tue 27 Nov, The Assembly, Leamington Spa

http://www.hazeloconnor.com
https://www.facebook.com/HazelOConnorOfficial/

ALBUM & TOUR NEWS: I See Hawks In L.A. ‘Live and Never Learn’ out now, UK tour July/August 2018

LSF Staff Writers

13 Jul 2018

I See Hawks in L.A. soared relatively trouble free for the first decade of their existence, but in 2018 they’re emerging from a string of confrontations with mortality, life choices, and the slow leakage of youthful possibility. It’s been almost 17 years since the release of their eponymous debut – on September 11, 2001. They didn’t get rich, they didn’t get famous, and yet they’re still here, perhaps benefitting artistically from the rocky passage. The rich flavour of battered soul. It’s clear these Hawks are in it for the music, for each other, and for the adventure of it all.

Live and Never Learn is the first new Hawks album since 2013’s Mystery Drug. It’s been five hard years. In March of 2015, member Rob Waller lost his mother suddenly to pancreatic cancer, and Paul Lacques lost both his parents this past year. Most of the songs on Live and Never Learn were written and recorded while they were dealing with these primal griefs, as well as other personal battles dire but with better outcomes. From the Hawks to those who have lost parents: “Now we understand.”

Loving families, good friends, and making music helped get the band through those times, personally and artistically. The Waller/Lacques songwriting is augmented here with contributions from Hawks’ bassist Paul Marshall and drummer Victoria Jacobs. One song, the rocking ‘King of the Rosemead Boogie’, features twisted lyrical and spiritual contributions by members of Old Californio.

Two songs, ‘White Cross’ and ‘Singing in the Wind’, were co-written via email with Peter Davies of the UK’s Good Intentions, and feature the Hawks’ signature electric sounds of reverby Telecaster, thumping Fender bass, and tight harmonies, while the lyrics take listeners from the backstreets of Memphis to the windswept moors of Northern Ireland.

‘Last Man in Tujunga’ brings the Hawks’ back home to the more familiar geography of the smoky Southern California hills. The song, written by the Hawks some years back, tells the story of a breakup unfolding over a cell phone call as the flames get closer. Its appearance here is all the more appropriate and timely, as Marshall was forced to evacuate his Tujunga home twice in the fall of 2017. He was “almost out of minutes” as the “flames were licking at the gates.”

Many of the tracks on Live and Never Learn directly address the band’s personal struggles. “Poour Me” explores the dead-serious theme of a drunk’s self-pity but it’s wrapped up in a light-hearted and humorous approach familiar to any Hawks fan. Dave Zirbel adds classic country pedal steel for this regretful farewell to drinking, as Waller calls out, “I guess I better not have no more.” Zirbel hit the emotional core of many songs on this record, subtle and surprising as always.

Drummer Victoria Jacobs, also an accomplished songwriter, contributes a wistful meditation on the passing of time with her psychedelic folk masterpiece ‘Spinning’. Night worries and fantastical images illuminate this hauntingly beautiful tune. Jacobs also narrates another touching fable in ‘My Parka Saved Me’, recounting her real life head-on collision as a teenager on a winter afternoon by Lake Michigan. The Hawks’ doo-wop vocals, ’50s chords, and Danny McGough’s sweet B3 give the terrifying tale a soft landing.

Some classic Hawks themes also appear on this album. ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘Ballad for the Trees’ reflect the band’s long-time interest in ecology and conservation. ‘Stoned with Melissa’ appears to be another Hawks weed anthem, but with a sad and realistic twist. ‘King of the Rosemead Boogie’ introduces an imagined hero of the San Gabriel Valley in all her (his?) glory. Regret and earth/spirit duality return in ‘Isolation Mountains’ and ‘Tearing Me in Two’, both brought to fruition by the deep fiddle of long-time collaborator Dave Markowitz, and broke-the-mould accordionist Richie Lawrence.

<a href="http://iseehawksinla.bandcamp.com/album/live-and-never-learn">Live and Never Learn by I See Hawks in L.A.</a>

This spring, good news has returned for the Hawks and their families. The band finished tracking and sent the files off to five-time Grammy-winning mixer Alfonso Rodenas (Los Tigres del Norte), who mixed Mystery Drug as well as several other Lacques-produced projects. The mixes came back sounding great, and the Hawks felt a surge of optimism, perhaps irrational, perhaps a crucial tonic to these gloomy times. Now Live and Never Learn is here and the Hawks sound better than ever. With shows in California and the UK coming up this summer they’re feeling good and can’t wait to hit the stage and sing, together again, together as always.

I See Hawks in L.A. · July-August 2018 UK Tour

JULY

Thu 19 London Green Note
Fri 20 Cwmcarn, nr. Caerphilly Cwmcarn Hotel
Sat 21 Cardiff Boomswinger Bluegrass Club, The Mackintosh Institute
Tue 24 Merseyside Grateful Fred House Concert
Wed 25 Bristol The Canteen
Thu 26 High Wycombe Kingsmead House Concert
Fri 27 Dinton, nr. Aylesbury Dinton Parish Church
Sat 28 Ecton, nr. Northampton The Three Horseshoes
Sun 29 Worcester Marrs Bar
Mon 30 Birmingham Kitchen Garden Cafe

AUGUST

Wed 1 Bardowie, nr. Glasgow House Concert
Thu 2 Thurso, Highland Mr C’s Bar
Fri 3 Belladrum, nr. Inverness Tartan Heart Festival, Trailer Trash Stage
Sat 4 Belladrum, nr. Inverness Tartan Heart Festival, Potting Shed
Sun 5 Isle of Skye House Concert
Wed 8 Leeds Seven Arts
Thu 9 Nottingham The Maze
Fri 10 Scarborough Woodend Gallery
Sat 11 Acklington, Northumberland Country Cantina Festival, Acklington Village Hall NB. Noon Show
Sat 11 West Kirby, Wirral West Kirby Arts Centre
Sun 12 Worth Matravers, nr. Swanage The Square & Compass

SINGLE REVIEW: Purple Thread – ‘Life’s A Drag’

Frank

13 Jul 2018

There seems right now, and this may only be because I’ve suddenly started noticing, to be a whole load of bands who seemingly take influences from a random selection of musical styles, mix them together, and just come up with music that just makes your jaw drop and at the time sit there scratching your head wondering ‘just how do they make that work?’ And, by the way, I really like a band that do that. Purple Thread do that, they do that in spades.

The ingredients here are punk (UK and New York variants), pop, funk, and dirty dirty grungey rock. The result is like nothing I’ve heard before. I’m reminded (only slightly) of the pop sensibilities of early Blondie, the rush of say X-Ray Spex, odd bits of 80s pop – at one stage I found myself thinking ‘hey that sounds a bit like King’, and then, rather bizarrely, of Vice Squad. Look that may just be me. A more up to date thing it reminded me of in some ways is The Real INK (formerly known as INK. I can only assume they’ve changed their name because of that upstart band touring under the name Ink, I mean honestly do these people think they can chose any band name they want without checking whether there’s somebody who’s taken it already. Sorry got a little ranty there).

Describing this track is virtually impossible, one moment it’s all punky, the next there’s just this rumbling funky bass thing going on. Then there is something that sounds almost sort of – to my admittedly rather strange ears – Rip, Rig & Panic-ish, and then bizarrely there is this pure pop section that’s all smooth and cool. And then there are these bits where all of that just comes together and rocks out. It sounds, even as I write this, that it just shouldn’t work, but, and this is key, it does.

So what, I hear you saying as you sit there shaking your head and wondering if Frank has lost it completely now, makes this thing work? The answer is that the band have a sense of musical arrangement, of how to take these elements and mash them into something that is one coherent whole. They keep this dirty funky thing going through the track and hang the other stuff off it, there’s a structure to this. The other thing is that this is loose, it’s so loose it almost sounds as though it may fall over at times, But there’s a tightness in there too. The rushy punky bits almost go too fast, almost falling apart but then it all comes back together, it’s a joy.

The band can play, that almost goes without saying, there’s no way it would work without that. But they can more than just play, they play really really well. And one of the other things that holds this thing together is the vocals, Liz’s vocals just rock people. One moment she’s all punk, the next she drawls like she’s a New York native, Then she’s all pop, all pure and soaring.

This thing, people, is as dirty funky rocky as hell. It’s funk as played by a 70s’ New York punk band. It’s a raging maelstrom of sound. It is, and I mean this most sincerely, fucking incredible.

‘Life’s a Drag’ is available on all major digital platforms including Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.

The info

Purple Thread are a Leeds based band known for their eclectic style of rock, tinged with a hint of pop, funk and punk.

Liz Mann – Vocals and Guitar
Jack Tildsley – Guitar
James Foreman – Bass
Ryan Bailey – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/purplethreadband/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnDFjingmDZwz-n1Gx6pJEA

SINGLE REVIEW: KLAMMER – ‘Spiral Girl’

Frank

13 Jul 2018

‘Spiral Girl’ is slightly, only slightly mind, less dark than the previous single from KLAMMER ‘Modern God’ (Read our review). It’s more post-punk, more swirly. It’s not, thank the god of your choice, any less gloriously, magnificently, epic-ly huge. It has this wonderfully catchy, horribly earwormy eastern thing going on. A pounding beat, a bass line that just gets your feet going.

Going into the track it sounds, of all things, like one of those gloriously overblown New Romantic tracks, It’s that heavily fx’ed guitar (although I thought it was a keyboard, I don’t always get that right) those vocals – so wonderfully over-enunciated. And then in a rush it starts to swirl, the guitar starts to ring in that post-punky gothy sort of way and you are taken, you just want to spin and spin.

The other thing I must get to now, is the lyrics, they’re great. The song is a tale of nostalgia, about a woman in her glamorous youth when she was the centre of attention. But it’s also a plea for her not to lose it, to not let her heart go cold. There is a warmth in the words that is incredibly effective. And those words get stuck in your head, I just keep getting the lines

She remembers the time before
The faded seaside glamour

and

Her favourite things have been and gone, but it does really matter
She will always be the one, as crazy as a hatter

Going round in my head. But it’s not just the words it’s the way they are delivered, I love the vocals on this track, the way they are just so carefully sung, And you can hear the words thankfully for lyrics that are so good.

And, as my inner voice keeps reminding me, what I must not forget to mention is that this thing has the most wonderful tune, a tune that if you were so inclined, and I am, you might find yourself humming suddenly. And because beneath all of that glorious sound there is something which is weirdly poppy, you can, as I do, find yourself singing the sing to yourself as you traipse down the supermarket aisle – I say myself but the startled look on the face of the woman with two children in tow the other afternoon indicates that perhaps it wasn’t as under my breath as I imagined.

‘Spiral Girl’ is perhaps more accessible than ‘Modern God’, so if you’re looking for a way into KLAMMER it might be good choice.

This song from KLAMMER is gloriously wonderful, it’s epic, it’s huge. It’s engaging in a ‘sit down and listen to it’ way, and if you’re in the mood for dancing it’ll get you going absolutely crazy in seconds. I, for one, need stuff like this in my life.

‘Spiral Girl’ is available on a limited edition 7″ (300 copies) and as a download. The vinyl version is available from the band’s website https://www.klammer.co.uk
Musicglue https://www.musicglue.com/klammerband/shop
Rough Trade https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/music/klammer-spiral-girl

The info

Klammer came to life in 2014, drawing from the members’ shared love for all things angular, dark, loud and melodic. The W.Yorks based quartet put a contemporary twist on the post-punk attitude. Although there’s plenty of hooks in their songs, there’s a dark and edgy broodiness coursing through the sound of the band.

They’ve gigged and toured with the likes of The Skids, The Undertones, Richie Ramone, The Membranes, Art Brut and played at Rebellion in 2017.

www.klammer.co.uk
www.facebook.com/klammerband

TOUR NEWS: Cattle & Cane Christmas tour dates

LSF Staff Writers

12 Jul 2018

Led by siblings Helen and Joe Hammill, Teesside’s Cattle & Cane are capable of shifting even the hardest of hearts with their perfect soaring harmonies. After spending 2017 sharing stages with the likes of Tom Odell, Brian Wilson and The Head & The Heart, not to mention performing countless sold-out headline dates across the UK, Cattle & Cane have been making quite a name for themselves with their magical live shows.

So far in 2018, they’ve performed in North America for the first time as part of the prestigious Canadian Music Week and they’ve also had the small matter of their biggest ever headline gig at the newly refurbished Middlesbrough Town Hall, not to mention appearances at a plethora of the UK’s best loved boutique festivals.

The band also have the honour of having their lyrics on Middlesbrough FC’s home-shirts for the upcoming season: https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/infant-hercules-takes-pride-of-place-on-new-boro-shirts

Their festive soirees have fast become a thing of legend and this year they are heading to some of the UK’s finest intimate venues.

DECEMBER 2018

14th – Cardiff – Snails Deli
15th – Manchester – 3 Minute Theatre
16th – Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s
17th – Liverpool – Studio 2
18th – Birmingham – The Castle & Falcon
19th – Hull – Thieving Harry’s
20th – York – Basement
21st – Lincolnshire – Westview Live
22nd – Gateshead – Sage (Hall 2)

Tickets: www.cattleandcane.co.uk

VIDEO & TOUR NEWS: Becky Hill shares video for ‘Sunrise In The East’, October 2018 dates

LSF Staff Writers

12 Jul 2018

Having just dropped brand new single ‘Sunrise In The East’, her first for Polydor Records, Becky Hill has premiered a video for the track. Shot in Vietnam earlier this year, the visual was directed by Michael Holyk (Jake Bugg, Sam Smith, Sundara Karma). “Vietnam is one of my favourite places in the world,” Hill reveals.“To get to do a video there was a dream come true. With 21 hour days and intense shooting it was also the hardest shoot I’ve ever had to do. The team were amazing, everyone knew the job they had to do no matter how little sleep we got. It’s my pleasure to present my brand new video for ‘Sunrise in the East’.”

To coincide with the video release Becky has announced a UK headline tour for this autumn. Tickets are available for pre-order via O2 from 10am 27th June, and on general sale June 29th here, excluding Glasgow tickets which can be purchased here.

With its elastic beats and warm, summery synths, ‘Sunrise In The East’ is a captivating first strike that has won over tastemakers from Popjustice (who described it as having“all the ingredients of a massive crossover pop moment”) and Annie Mac, who praised Becky’s unique voice. Hill wrote the track with Maverick Sabre and Lost Boy and it was produced by ADP. It captures the exhilarating flourish of a new relationship, of discovering someone on a deeper level. ‘Sunrise In The East’ is the first taste from her forthcoming debut album which she is currently working on with the likes of MNEK, MJ Cole and Two Inch Punch.

UK headline tour:

Mon 8th Oct Glasgow Stereo
Tue 9th Oct Manchester Academy 2
Thu 11th Oct Leeds The Wardrobe
Fri 12th Oct Birmingham 02 Institute
Sat 13th Oct Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Mon 15th Oct Bristol Thekla
Tue 16th Oct London, Brixton Electric

http://www.beckyhillofficial.com

VIDEO & TOUR NEWS: Estrons video for ‘Lilac’, headline dates & support dates with Garbage

LSF Staff Writers

11 Jul 2018

Welsh alt-rock outfit Estrons are today sharing a video to accompany latest single “Lilac”. A further evolution sonically from what has come before, immediate and anthemic, the song marries tense vocals from Tali Källström to the off-kilter, cutting guitars that Rhodri Daniel has become known for. Tali comments on the video; “The Lilac video is a short and honest representation of how it feels in those dark moments at the end of a stressful night out. The protagonist fleets between anger and laughter whilst spinning in a vortex of her own mad moment. It’s a simple insight into the human psyche when things aren’t going too well.”

You can catch the band live on the following dates

21 Jul: Sheffield, UK – Tramlines Fringe Festival
28 Jul: Derbyshire, UK – Y Not Fesitval Festival
29 Jul: Cornwall, UK – Leopalooza Festival
04 Aug: Kent, UK – Neverworld Festival
09 Sep: Manchester, UK – Academy*
11 Sep: Nottingham, UK – Rock City*
12 Sep: Newcastle, UK – Northumbria SU Institute*
19 Sep: Paris, FR – L’Olympic Café
20 Sep: Rotterdam, NL – V11
21 Sep: Tilburg, NL – Cul De Sac, Psycho in Mind
22 Sep: Hamburg, DE – Reeperbahn
23 Sep: Berlin, DE – Maze
01 Nov: Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall
02 Nov: Glasgow, UK – King Tut’s
03 Nov: Newcastle, UK – Think Tank
07 Nov: Manchester, UK – Soup Kitchen
08 Nov: Bristol, UK – Louisiana
09 Nov: Nottingham, UK – Bodega
14 Nov: Exeter, UK – Cavern
15 Nov: Birmingham, UK – Castle & Falcon
16 Nov: Brighton, UK – Green Door Store
17 Nov: Caernarfon, UK – Galeri
23 Nov: Carmarthen, UK – The Parrot
1 Dec: Aberystwyth – Arts Centre
06 Dec: Cardiff, UK – Globe

* Supporting Garbage

Tickets available HERE

ALBUM & TOUR NEWS: Alejandro Escovedo’s ‘The Crossing’ out 14th September, tour October/November 2018

LSF Staff Writers

11 Jul 2018

Texas song-writing legend Alejandro Escovedo’s new album is out on 14th September on Yep Roc. Recorded in Villafranca, Italy and co-produced with Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Gomez, Iron & Wine), the album is available for pre-order now on CD, double vinyl LP and digital download HERE.

‘Sonica USA’, the first single taken from the album, features Wayne Kramer of MC5 on guitar is out now.

Alejandro has also confirmed a string of UK shows in October and November.

October
Thurs 25th – Newcastle – Gosforth Civic
Fri 26th – Glasgow – Oran Mor
Sat 27th – Sheffield – The Hubs
Sun 28th – Leeds – The Lending Room
Tues 30th – London – Bush Hall
Weds 31st – Bristol – The Tunnels

November
Thurs 1st – Oxford – Bullingdon

Scorching and cinematic ‘The Crossing’ follows the story of two young immigrants, one from Mexico and one from Italy, as they come to the United States to pursue their American dream and in search of their punk rock idols. As Escovedo puts it, the two protagonists, Salvo and Diego, find they have arrived “in a different America, one that’s not as open and free as they believed it was going to be.” Mirroring Alejandro’s own experience as the child of Mexican immigrants, ‘The Crossing’ is a sweeping, epic seventeen-song suite focusing a poignant, sharply honest lens on the issues of our time and navigating cultural identity, minority rights, ancestral weight and racism in this particularly troubled moment.

Not only is it Alejandro’s first album with Yep Roc, it is his first album recorded in Europe. He co-wrote and performed it with Italian band led by Don Antonio from Mogdilana who has a rich musical history of his own in Italy with his cult band Sacri Cuori. The album was recorded in a month in Villafranca, Italy with Brian Deck co-producing. “The thing about Italians and their music is, they’re always reaching for melody. It’s always very romantic, even when it’s tragic” The band also comprises Denis Valentini on bass, Matteo Monti on drums, Gianni Perinelli and Franz Valtieri and on horns plus Nicola Peruch on keyboards.

‘The Crossing’ also features a host of guest musicians, including The Stooges’ James Williamson on Teenage Luggage and Wayne Kramer from the MC5 on ‘Sonica USA’ (both bands are name checked in the album’s lyrics as well). ‘Waiting For Me’ features Peter Perrett and John Perry from The Only Ones, recording together for the first time since 1980. Joe Ely appears on his own track, ‘Silver City’. ‘Rio Navidad,’ a spoken word song about a Texas ranger, was written by novelist and Richmond Fontaine/The Delines’ bandleader Willy Vlautin and read by his bandmate Freddy Trujillo.

Over the course of 15 albums, Alejandro’s been a punk with San Francisco’s legendary, The Nuns, a cowpunk in Rank & File, an unrepentant rocker in Austin’s True Believers and a solo artists since the early 90s collaborating with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, John Cale, Los Lobos, Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey and Chuck Prophet. No Depression declared him ‘Artist of the Decade’ shortly before he was struck down with Hepatitis B, a disease he was finally clear of before the recording of this new album.

www.alejandroescovedo.com
www.facebook.com/alejandroescovedo/
www.twitter.com/aescovedo1

LIVE REVIEW: Rats, Cats And Birds, Todmorden Choral Society, Todmorden Central Methodist Church, 7th July 2018

Diana Forrest

11 Jul 2018

This creature-themed summer concert had as its main feature a performance of a choral version of Robert Browning’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” in a setting by Parry, who reflected the Victorian mock-seriousness of Browning’s verse, also notable for its elaborately contrived rhymes. This featured soloists Patrick Smith and Daniel Bath, ably expressing the tension between the Pied Piper and the Mayor of Hamelin. The concert opened with a lively performance by Antony Brannick of Scarlatti’s “The Cat’s Fugue”, said to have been inspired by a cat on the keys. There were also appropriate poetry and story readings by Maddy Cullinane and Anthony Peter.

The second half opened with a piano duet for Antony Brannick and Jenny Sheldon: three pieces from Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals”: chickens, the cuckoo, and the tranquil swan. My favourite piece of the evening was Rossini’s “The Cats’ Duet”. We saw as well as heard Sally Deith and Emma Stafford as two rival prima donna cats.