Until I took on reviewing this single I had heard of, but not heard, REGAN. Boy, have I missed out. ‘Four Fingers’ is a raucous piece of heavy alternative rock that ticks all of my boxes.
OK so that’s the gut reaction, what’s it sound like. Well, for my admittedly rather ancient ears, there are distinct hints of NWBHM in there – and in particular things that sound like Diamond Head and Saxon – mixed with an alternative rock sound.
The best thing is that amid all the raucous there is a swing and swagger to the track that’ll have you out of your chair – if you’re listening at home that is. I get the feeling, that live, this is a floor filler.
Repeated listening is going to bring you the detail. The swirl of the guitars in the mix, the frankly wonderful backing vocals, the slightly tribal drumming. And boy, do those guitars growl. What I haven’t mentioned yet, and why I don’t know, is that this is melodic, it has a tune you you can hum. Clever that.
If you’ve not – like me – heard anything by REGAN yet then this is a great intro.
As well as enjoying music from the festival’s incredible line-up of top name acts – including headliners JAMES and HACIENDA CLASSICAL – the third stage ‘IN THE LADY GARDEN’ has a whole host of fun to offer.
On Saturday the Liverpool International Air Guitar Competition will be taking place throughout the day, with entrants battling it out to show their best moves to the crowd. Entries for the Air Guitar Competition should be made to hello@tinyCOW.co.uk with their name, age and top three songs to rock out to.
The stage also plays host to an array of special solo acoustic performers and respected journalist and author Simon Price who will be ‘In Conversation With’ some of the weekend’s stars including Charlotte Church and Lucy Spraggan. Liverpool’s top fashion and lifestyle blogger Stephi La Reine will also share her style expertise in the Fashionista Hour.
On Sunday there will be exclusive acoustic performances from ex-Augustines frontman William McCarthy, who makes his return to Liverpool after his former band played their final show there last year. Kent singer Nic Bennett, The Voice UK 2016 contestant Cody Frost and more will also feature. Closing the stage will be the grand ‘Duelling Pianos’, a thrilling contest between virtuoso ivory ticklers in a life or death struggle to showcase their skills!
One lucky ticket buyer will also be walking away with £1,000 and two tickets to next year’s HOPE & GLORY in the festival’s Victoriana fancy dress competition – expect handle-bar moustaches, bearded ladies and bloomers galore!
Across the whole site there will even more weird and wonderful pop up comedians and entertainment including the Football Legends charity darts match, celebrity charity arm wrestling, The Victorian Acrobatic Team, Harminder the Elephant and Dinosaur Baby in the Pram, the highly entertaining sights of inflatable crustaceans’ in the ‘Dance Of the Lobsters – Lobsterlicious’, as well as a Foam Party, Prince Albert’s Little Secret (Cocktail bar), Mothers Ruin (Gin bar), Mr Edison’s Electric Emporium, Dr Johnson’s Clandestine Gathering, The Hoop & Stick and Darwin’s Little Darlings.
FULL LINE UP AND STAGE SPLITS
SATURDAY
THE GREAT EXHIBITION STAGE
James
Razorlight
The Fratellis
Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon
The View
Embrace
Badly Drawn Boy
Pigeon Detectives
The Membranes And 25 Piece Choir
Clay
WONDERS OF THE AGE STAGE
Starsailor
Lucy Spraggan
Dave Mccabe (Zutons) w/ Ian Skelly (The Coral)
Chris Helme (The Seahorses)
Ordinary Boys
Wild Front
Haunt The Wood
The Jackobins
SUNDAY
GREAT EXHIBITION STAGE
Hacienda Classical
Ocean Colour Scene
Tom Chaplin
Lightning Seeds
Public Service Broadcasting
Reverend & The Makers
Zak Abel
Show Hawk Duo
Trampolene
WONDERS OF THE AGE STAGE
The Twang
The Shimmer Band
The Blinders
Coquin Migale
Vynce
Avalanche Party
Cabezudos
Glass Mountain
Indigo Velvet
The Dantervilles
‘Super Far’ was co-written by Grammy winning songwriter Ryan Tedder and is available as an instant grat when you pre-order the album along with previous tracks including ’13’, ‘The Breakup’, ‘It Was Love’, ‘Good Girls’ and ‘ILYSB’ – http://preorder.thisislany.com.
Earlier, the band released the music video for ‘Good Girls’ one of the first tracks to be shared from the record and one that has very fast become a fan favorite.
LANY’s highly anticipated 16-track debut album is set for release via Polydor Records on June 30, 2017. The album sees them tap into the trials and tribulations of relationships, feelings of displacement and the endless search for love and a place to call home, very real issues for a band that has been almost constantly on the road for the past two years, playing 135 shows in 2017 in 28 countries alone and 117 in 2016.
The tracklisting for LANY by LANY is:
1. DUMB STUFF
2. THE BREAKUP
3. SUPER FAR
4. OVERTIME
5. FLOWERS ON THE FLOOR
6. PARENTS
7. ILYSB
8. 13
9. HERICANE
10. HURTS
11. GOOD GIRLS
12. PANCAKES
13. TAMPA
14. PURPLE TEETH
15. SO, SOO PRETTY
16. IT WAS LOVE
Tour
MON 4 DEC: HEADLINE BRIGHTON CONCORDE 2
TUE 5 DEC: HEADLINE BRISTOL 02 ACADEMY BRISTOL
THU 7 DEC: HEADLINE LEEDS STYLUS
FRI 8 DEC: HEADLINE GLASGOW QMU
SAT 9 DEC: HEADLINE BIRMINGHAM 02 INSTITUTE
TUE 12 DEC: HEADLINE LONDON 02 SHEPHERDS BUSH
WED 13 DEC: HEADLINE MANCHESTER 02 RITZ MANCHESTER
In the wake of the May 5th release of their “call the police”/“american dream” single and May 6th Saturday Night Live performance of those songs, and having sold out their latest seven-night residency at New York’s Brooklyn Steel in 10 minutes, LCD Soundsystem now confirm details of their long-awaited fourth album and accompanying world tour.
AMERICAN DREAM will be released on 1st September via Columbia Records/DFA and will consist of the following songs:
oh baby
other voices
i used to
change yr mind
how do you sleep?
tonite
call the police
american dream
emotional haircut
black screen
LCD Soundsystem also announce details of an extensive world tour – including UK headline shows in Manchester (The Warehouse Project, 16th & 17th September), Glasgow (The Barrowland Ballroom, 18th September) and London (Alexandra Palace, 22nd September).
Tickets for the UK shows go on sale this Wednesday, 21st June. Check https://lcdsoundsystem.com/ for further information.
Forever Cult have returned with huge new single ‘Codeine’, available to hear now.
The first track to be taken from their forthcoming Homewrecker EP, released July 7th via Clue Records on limited 10″ coloured vinyl, ‘Codeine’ sees the Leeds outfit take their gritty, visceral sound to stunning new heights. They maintain the ferocity that delighted in their last release, whilst simultaneously pushing themselves into exciting new territories, and the result is glorious.
The track comes ahead of a run of UK dates set for July. Tickets for the tour and EP preorders are available here.
The Chesterfield quartet have announced the release of ‘Migraines’, the lead single from their EP out later this summer. Arriving just in time for festival season, the indie pop dreamboats are back with a real summer anthem boasting hazy guitars and buoyant melodies, drawing comparisons to the likes of The Magic Gang and The Night Café.
The foursome’s fierce live reputation continues to soar with dates supporting Clean Cut Kid, RATBOY and Splashh over the last twelve months, and with appearances at Tramlines and Y Not Festival confirmed for next month, the quartet are sure to step things up a gear.
Produced by Alex Greaves (Nave Studios), it is taken from their self-titled EP which will be available on 10” vinyl and all digital platforms.
The award-winning, inner-city music festival Tramlines, has extended its official after party programme to now include an extra night of music, on Sunday 23rd July with a very special DJ set from disco funksters, Crazy P. Due to the popular demand of the previously announced after parties that take place on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd July with the likes of Gerd Janson, Nightmares On Wax and Bugzy Malone, Tramlines will now allow festival goers to continue the party for one more night, with tickets priced at just £5 plus booking. Booking the Monday off work is now strongly advised by festival officials!
This latest addition to the Tramlines After Party schedule is yet another in a long line of diverse and carefully curated offerings. Elsewhere there are grime, techno, bass, d&b and house parties with Gilles Peterson, Fuse ODG, Andy Butler (Hercules & Love Affair), Mike Skinner, Faithless (Sister Bliss DJ Set), DJ Marky, DJ Zinc, Camo & Krooked, Artful Dodger, Barely Legal and many, many more.
Party goers will be delighted at the addition of Crazy P. Made up of vocalist Danielle Moore and beat makers and live musicians Chris Todd and Jim Baron, they have been refining their own colourful, cosmic and sugary take on disco since 1995. Labels like 20:20 Vision, Paper Recordings and !K7 have released their music and the group have turned out show stopping performances at clubs and festivals all over the world.
This opportunity to catch Crazy P in the mix at Tramlines is special indeed… especially as tickets for this event cost just £5 plus booking fee and don’t need to be purchased in conjunction with a full Tramlines ticket. Like all the other after parties, tickets will sell fast and with limited capacities, they won’t last long. Head to www.tramlines.org.uk to purchase.
The beauty of the Tramlines After Parties is that each one is like its own mini-festival with local promoters Nice Like Rice, Off Me Nut Records, Tuesday Club and Wild Live all involved. The events are held across an array of the city’s finest venues such as the o2 Academy, The Octagon, Fusion & Foundry and Yellow Arch Studios, now spanning the entire festival weekend of Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd July.
Complete Tramlines Festival 2017 After-Party Lineup
Bugzy Malone / Crazy P / Faithless DJ Set / Gilles Peterson / Fuse ODG / TQD / Camo & Krooked / Gerd Janson / Mike Skinner / Nightmares On Wax DJ Set / Andy Butler (Hercules And Love Affair)
DJ Marky / S.P.Y / DJ Zinc / Coco / Loadstar / Prince Fatty & Horseman / 2 Bad Mice / Cause & Affect / Donae’o / Barely Legal / DJ Target / Artful Dodger / Gotsome / Kideko / Royal T / DJ Q / Flava D
Andy H / A-Kid / Cheff / Deadbeat UK / Displace Crew / Dr Cryptic / Earthworm Jim / Forca / GM Ben / Inja / Junglist Alliance / Kidlib / Killa Jo / K-Orse N Basshound / Lowqui / Mr Muliplex / Nice Like Rice DJs / Pedram / Phatworld b2b Superior Cornrows / Rogue Fiesta / Sekt-87 / Steel City Rhythm / Tippa / Trojan Explosion
The Tuesday Club / Nice Like Rice / Roots / Wildlife / Off Me Nut Records / Quality Control / Jungle Jam
As the title suggests, this was an evening of opera extracts, some old favourites but also some lovely, perhaps less-known music. It featured the big, glorious voices of soloists Paula Sides (soprano) and Gareth Morris (tenor), along with Todmorden Orchestra and Todmorden Choral Society.
Verdi’s “La Traviata” opened, with the overture and its yearning feel, followed by the chorus in the vigorous drinking song (“brindisi”). The soloists then added their rich voices to the celebration.
The orchestra featured alone in the intermezzo from” Manon Lescaut” (Puccini), with its atmospheric description of the sea and a sense of the sadness of voyaging into exile. There was also a beautiful rendering of the peaceful Prelude from Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina”.
The chorus starred in the Peasants’ Chorus from Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”. They conveyed the feelings of the peasants at harvest time, reflecting on their hard work but eventually celebrating success.
The audience loved both soloists. Especial favourites were Paula Sides as Lucia in the mad scene from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and Gareth Morris as the aspiring hero Calaf in “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot. This reviewer also loved the beautiful tone and expressiveness of Paula Sides as Norma in the prayerful “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s “Norma”, and Gareth Morris as Lensky in an aria from “Eugene Onegin”. He brought out the deep sadness of Lensky, who once had everything to live for but who is about to fight a duel.
Another audience favourite was the beautiful love duet from Puccini’s “La Bohème”, in which the gorgeous voices blended as the lovers came together.
The concert concluded with a vigorous performance from the orchestra of Wagner’s “The Ride of the Valkyries”.
I’d heard snippets of The Little Unsaid on download and rather liked them, so when I was invited to review them I was curious, but not expecting anything exceptional. I’ve learnt from experience that a little promise can end in major disappointment, and with the wedding reception venue, the scorching heat, closed doors and lack of fans, it all seem a bit too much effort for a Sunday evening. I was almost wishing I’d stayed at home. Then the band started and I was sitting bolt upright in my chair.
Well that’s not strictly true. This isn’t bolt upright kind of music. This is a chill-but-be-attentive, let-your-emotions-run-away-with- you kind of sound. And, OK, it’s not the first time I’ve felt like this at the start of a potential musical relationship. Often during that first track I find myself thinking ‘Yes this is pretty amazing’ but by about track four when it’s all a bit samey, I realise this is just a passing infatuation. But with The Little Unsaid I soon know I’m in this for the long haul, and it’s going to be one of those tantalising musical relationships which remain forever unrequited. And all the more exciting for it.
John Elliott Credit: Frank Roper Photography
Singer/songwriter John Elliott has a hauntingly beautiful voice (which has an androgenous quality, and can sound either strongly male or ethereally female depending on the mood and demands of each song). His writing has been compared to that of Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake and the band were recent winners of the Steve Reid InNOVAtion Award for boundary-pushing new music creators. The band have recently released their latest album, ‘Imagined Hymns & Chaingang Mantras’, recorded with Radiohead engineer and acclaimed film score producer Graeme Stewart. Their gig at Mirfield was the last event of their present tour, before they appeared at Glastonbury.
The band’s website describe this recent album as inspired by ‘Elliott’s recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder after a year of ongoing personal trauma brought his life and music career to a standstill’. While these emotions are clearly, deeply felt, there’s not a whiff of self indulgence in these beautifully crafted songs. These are significant, in-it-for-the-long-haul tracks about surviving life in all its complexities – trauma, loss, failed relationships, fading youth – and still getting through. Somehow.
It’s not just the power of the lyrics which makes this performance so effective. In addition to singer, John Elliott, (who also plays keyboard and acoustic guitar) there’s Tim Heymerdinger (drums), Maria Brackova (moog and backing singer – and she also performs a wonderful solo at one point), and Alison D’ Souza (electric viola). This phenomenally-talented group of musicians seem to love playing together and at times you catch them smiling at each other with sheer joy – however depressing the song topic at the time.
This is an accomplished and musically effective band and each member visibly puts their whole selves into every moment they’re on stage. There’s a palpable passion, commitment and shared joy in the music that maintains a freshness, song by song. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was the first night of their tour, not their last.
Tim Heymerdinger Credit: Frank Roper Photography
Take a track like ‘Imagined Hymn’ – which the band just happened to start with. This song possesses incredible poignance – blending hope and acute sadness with a tormenting gentleness that promises so much more… Elliot’s singing and the band’s talents and passion create a song which I’d defy anyone not to be affected by. This track is full of beautiful similes and metaphors around creativity and survival, but this verse from the end particularly sums it up for me –
‘Imagination runs as wild as the land
Some days it takes a beating
We hold on to all we can
I imagine where I might be
When the hour has worn on
I imagine where I’ll be when I am gone’
Alison D’ Souza Credit: Frank Roper Photography
There are too many standout tracks for me to name them all but the beauty of ‘Tumbling Snow’ (with its invitation to ‘Come shiver out here with me’) the haunting and powerful, bitter-sweet ‘Chaingang Mantra’ (shifting deceptively in tempo and impact) and the balmy sophistication of ‘Let Desire Back’ In – left me thrilled and wanting more. And it’s the fragility of both the songs and their messages that has me sliding deeper and deeper into this musical love affair…
Another track I just have to mention is ‘Get On the Other Side of that Door!’ Again there are intriguing lyrics, inviting the listener to fill in the gaps for themselves, to substitute their own experiences and emotions. But with verses like
‘I could’ve died and gone to heaven, dear
To choke like this forever here
Is to live between the notes
And all the twisted anecdotes
You give me all I need and more
To get myself on the other side of that door…’
I’m left with the impression that some doors will always stay firmly shut to the likes of you and me. Only angst-ridden musical geniuses have any hope of getting to the other side!
Maria Brackova Credit: Frank Roper Photography
Last but definitely not least, I want to mention ‘Day is Golden’ – the band’s penultimate song of the night. It opens with a verse that sets the mood – the fragile boundary between living with hope despite knowing the impact of despair…
‘I have no home
But the day is golden
I have no home
But the day is golden
The sun is up
And I have seldom felt colder
It’s fine being alive some days’
The lyrics chart a very personal journey (presumably Elliott’s own) about recognising that while some cannot be convinced to ‘hold on another day’ and that feeling ‘senile and useless’ may be part of our lives, there is still the capacity to ‘take it with a pinch most days’.
I especially loved the message of this song’s chorus – which for me sums up the maturity with which this bands performs songs about the turbulence of human emotions…
Don’t you dare be ashamed
All the courage in the world
Is what it takes
To turn to a human being and say
‘I am hanging by a thread, my friend, today’
All in all, this was one of those musical encounters where you know that (just as in life) there will be no glib happy endings, but the ability to feel all the beauty of those unrequited musical yearnings makes it utterly worthwhile.
I know I will be listening to The Little Unsaid for years to come, but I’m glad that my first impression of this band was experiencing them live. These are total performers – fresh, vigorous and rendering each song as though they’d gleefully discovered it for the firs time. These are musical craftspeople, creatively pushing the potential in every song and committed to giving it everything they’ve got.
Following the recent release of his album Aquarium, Edinburgh’s sludge pop lo-fi enthusiast Passion Pusher has announced a string of July UK dates.
UPCOMING LIVE DATES :
7th July – The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow
8th July – Tolbooth, Stirling
11th July – Fuel, Manchester
12th July – Rye Wax, London
13th July – The Full Moon, Cardiff
14th July – Roll For The Soul, Bristol
17th July – Delicious Clam, Sheffield
18th July – Chunk, Leeds
To celebrate his upcoming tour, Passion Pusher shares a video for ‘My Guy’, track written about his best pal.
Filmed on a cheap 8mm secondhand Handycam, the new video was done on a recent holiday to Poland.
James Gage (aka Passion Pusher) says it’s his favourite track on the album, adding : “The video was filmed around the Warsaw old town on a boiling hot morning with a bad hangover. I wanted it to look like a bad holiday vid your uncle would show you along with a slideshow.”
After the success of their poptastic debut single ‘Walk Away’, new 5 piece Yes Lad head out on their first ever UK headline tour this summer. Support across all tour dates will come from Reuben Gray.
Anyone who feared the days of classic yet modern pop, delivered by 5 young guys with personality, who can all sing, dance and write killer hooks were over, need worry no more. 16 year old Reuben Gray, who won an army of teenage fans on this years Britains Got Talent, will join the lads on all these dates:
JULY 2017
Weds 26th NEWCASTLE, O2 Academy 2
Thurs 27th LIVERPOOL, O2 Academy 3
Fri 28th LEEDS, Brudenell Social Club
Sat 29th SHEFFIELD, O2 Academy 2
Sun 30th MANCHESTER, Deaf Institute
August 2017
Tues 1st GLASGOW, King Tuts
Weds 2nd STOKE, Sugarmill
Thurs 3rd BRISTOL, O2 Academy 2
Fri 4th SOUTHPORT, Pontins
Sat 5th BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy 3
Sun 6th BREEN, Pontins
Mon 7th CAMBER, Pontins
Tues 8th PAKEFIELD, Pontins
Yes Lad are: Cian Gleeson (20) from Bolton, Joel Healey (19) from Swinton, Sonny Hardman (18) from Atherton, Lewis Maxwell (17) from Maghull and Jake Donlan (20) from Colne in Lancashire.
