EVENT NEWS: Pocklington Arts Centre, York upcoming events

25 Oct 2021

This covers music events only; for other events please visit the PAC website

2021

Women In Rock
Friday 29 October, 8pm
Tickets £20.00
Since 2016, Women In Rock have been wowing audiences across the UK & Europe with their high-energy performances. Featuring soaring vocals, choreography, audience interaction, striking costumes and backed by a band of world-class musicians, Women In Rock has built a reputation as the leading rock show around. Having performed to audiences of up to 120,000, these women are ready to take you on a spectacular journey through five decades of female rock leaving you cheering for more. Featuring the songs of Cher, Blondie, Janis Joplin, Republica, Belinda Carlisle, Bonnie Tyler, P!nk, Suzi Quatro, Tina Turner & many more. Women In Rock are guaranteed to get you on your feet. Grab your tickets and let’s get ready to sing, dance and ROCK! Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

Ben Caplan
Thursday 11 November, 8pm
Tickets £12.00 advance, £14.00 on the door
Combining timeless melodies with a contemporary folk-rock twist, singer-songwriter Ben Caplan is both the roar of the hurricane and the eye of the storm. He has an uncanny ability to channel both wild abandon and quiet introspection. For the ten-year anniversary of his first release, he has recorded a retrospective collection of stripped back re-interpretations of songs from across his catalogue. The album, ‘Recollection’, will be released in October of 2021 followed by an extensive European and Canadian tour. Support by the award-winning Gabrielle Papillon.

Acoustic Blues & Roots Weekend
Friday 19, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 November
Tickets £165.00 (Weekend), £35.00 (Friday only), £85 (Saturday only including concert) & £12 (Saturday concert only)
Michael Messer and legendary guitarist Robbie McIntosh will lead a weekend of guitar and slide-guitar tuition plus jam sessions, student performances, and a very special Saturday night concert. Robbie is one of the finest guitarists of his, or any generation and has legendary status among his fellow musicians. He has worked with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, The Pretenders, Sir Tom Jones, John Mayer, Norah Jones, Paul Carrack and has played many of the world’s top festivals and venues, as well as making numerous TV and radio appearances. Michael has earned a well-known reputation as a virtuoso slide guitarist, singer, and blues innovator. Throughout his 40-year career, Michael’s music has remained individual and contemporary. His stunning slide guitar playing and superb vocals ooze authenticity and integrity, and his use of turntables in the Second Mind Band marked him as one of the trailblazers of the 21st century blues sound.

Acoustic Blues House Party Ft – Michael Messer and Robbie McIntosh plus special guests
Saturday 20 November, 8pm.
Tickets £12.00
Enjoy an evening immersed in the blues with two of the world’s finest guitarists. Robbie McIntosh has played with Sir Paul McCartney, Pretenders, Norah Jones, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer and many other great artists. Michael Messer is an award winning musician whose reputation as an innovator of the blues and master of slide guitar is well known. Together and with some special guests, they will present an evening of memorable acoustic blues & roots music.

Martyn Joseph
Thursday 2 December, 8pm
Tickets £18.00
Hailed as “The Welsh Springsteen” singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph was awarded a “Wales Folk Award” in April 2019 for “Here Come The Young”, the title track of his most recent album, and in 2018 was honoured with a “Spirit of Folk” Award by Folk Alliance International in Kansas, USA. Compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he has created his own style and reputation as a mesmerizing live performer. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

2022

Teddy Thompson
Saturday 22 January, 8pm
Tickets £20.00
Called ‘one of the most gifted singer-songwriters of his generation’ by The New York Times, singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson is famously the son of singer-songwriters Richard and Linda Thompson. As a kid, he listened to early rock ‘n’ roll and country music exclusively, resulting in a unique voice that is at once rock and country, then pop and folk. He has released five albums to critical acclaim, contributed to the soundtrack of Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning film Brokeback Mountain, has collaborated with Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and recorded two songs for the soundtrack to the Leonard Cohen tribute I’m Your Man. Support from Roseanne Reid – the daughter of The Proclaimers’ Craig Reid. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

The Shires – Acoustic
Wednesday 26 January, 8pm
SOLD OUT

Andy Fairweather Low
Friday 11 February, 8pm
Tickets £25.00
Legendary Andy Fairweather Low first came to prominence as the lead singer in Amen Corner. The ‘60s saw them clock up hit after pop hit. Songs such as ‘Bend Me Shape Me’, ‘Hello Suzy’, ‘(If Paradise is) Half As Nice’ are internationally remembered to this day. He has worked with such luminaries as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jimi Hendrix, The Band, Elton John, Bill Wyman, and Sheryl Crow plus hundreds more. If you just remember Andy’s early work and major solo hits such as ‘Wide Eyed And Legless’, you’re in for a treat.

The Delines
Tuesday 15 February, 7pm
Tickets £20.00
Country-soul outfit, The Delines come to PAC as part of a European tour in February 2022 with support from Jerry Joseph. The Delines sold out their last UK tour and will be returning with new material for this special date with the full line up. The band hails from Portland, Oregon where they have been working on new material over the past months before the lockdown, which is set to be finished shortly. Look forward to new songs and older classics from their previous albums. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

Herman’s Hermits
Sunday 20 February, 8pm
Tickets £27.00
Herman’s Hermits are one of the biggest selling bands of the 60’s, not just in the UK, but around the world. From their early beginnings in Manchester in 1964, the band have chalked up 23 Hit Singles, 10 Hit Albums, appeared in three major movies and to date they have sold in excess of 75 Million records worldwide. Hits include, There’s A Kind Of Hush, Silhouettes, Can’t You Hear My Heart Beat, Wonderful World, A Must To Avoid, & Mrs Brown You’ve Gotta Lovely Daughter. Enjoy an evening of nostalgia, song and laughter, plus all their Hits brought to life. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

TOYAH
Thursday 3 March, 8pm
Tickets £25.00
A unique chance to experience Toyah up close and personal with a show that has a lively cinematic sound using Toyah’s vocals/ keyboards/ stand-up bass and storytelling. Featuring her beloved hit singles and classic songs, alongside stories from her colourful, forty-year career. Toyah will perform stunning arrangements of hits including It’s A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains, I Want To Be Free and Good Morning Universe alongside modern day classics such as Sensational and Dance In The Hurricane. Toyah’s brand new album ‘Posh Pop’ will be released this autumn and she can currently be seen in her hugely popular Sunday Lunch videos which have amassed viewing figures of over 10million with her husband Robert Fripp.

John Smith
Tuesday 5 April, 8pm
Tickets £15.00
Raised by the Devon seaside and making his bones in the bars and clubs of Liverpool, John has released five albums with over 40 million Spotify streams. He has played to audiences all over the world in living rooms, festival tents and sold-out concert halls. He is a genuine inquisitive truth-seeker, devoted song interpreter, and enchanting writer. As a session musician, he has played guitar with artists as diverse as Joan Baez, David Gray, Joe Henry, Lianne La Havas, and Tom Jones. His latest album, The Fray, was released to critical acclaim in March 2021. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

Beth Nielsen Chapman
Wednesday 20 April, 8pm
SOLD OUT

The Animals
Friday 29 April, 8pm
Tickets £32.50
The Animals were one of the most iconic pop, rhythm and blues bands of the 1960’s.
With over 20 Global Top Ten Hits, including “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, “Don’t Bring Me Down”, “Baby, Let Me Take You Home”, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and their multi-million selling anthem “House Of The Rising Sun”, they remain a seminal rhythm and blues band who still commands great respect. Featuring two original Members, founding member John Steel on Drums and Mickey Gallagher, who replaced Alan Price in 1965 on keyboards. Now on their Farewell Tour with special guest Maggie Bell – hear all the hits and more from this legendary group.

Steeleye Span
Thursday 5 May, 8pm.
SOLD OUT
For Steeleye Span 1970 would mark a major milestone. The band released their debut album Hark The Village Wait, a record that would not only launch one of the most enduring stories in the folk world and beyond but also come to influence further generations of artists. Five decades on and the band, led by the iconic vocals of Maddy Prior, and with a seven-piece line-up featuring some of the most skilled musicians on the UK folk scene, their 50th anniversary tour will be a celebration of the key tracks from that famous album as well as favourites and gems from their long and famous career. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita
Saturday 21 May, 7.30pm
Tickets £22.00
This sublime, critically acclaimed and multi award-winning collaboration between two adventurous virtuoso musicians – Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita – delivers a stunning exhibition of world-class musicianship. Following the success of their debut release Clychau Dibonback in 2013, their long-awaited second album SOAR launched in April 2018, followed by major UK tours in spring and autumn of 2018. Entrancing, mesmerising, intricate and ethereal, this is remarkable music and a thrilling live experience. Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

The Felice Brothers
Thursday 23 June, 8pm
Tickets £20.00
The Felice Brothers’ distinct brand of song-writing and lawless sound has earned them comparisons to Neil Young, Bob Dylan and James Brown. Self-taught musicians Ian and James Felice began playing subway platforms and sidewalks in NYC, in 2006, and have gone on to release nine albums of original songs and to tour extensively throughout the world. Following the release of Life in the Dark, they served as the backing band for Conor Oberst’s 2017 release Salutations and subsequent tour. Their album ‘Undress’ was released last year to critical acclaim and they will be performing songs from this and their extensive back catalogue accompanied by Will Lawrence (drums) and Jesske Hume (bass). Please note this event is now taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

Loudon Wainwright III
Wednesday 7 September, 7.30pm
Tickets £44.00
For the past 52 years, Loudon has carved out a distinguished career as one of our most original singer-songwriters, a six-string diarist with material that is by turns, tongue-in-cheek, tender, sarcastic, heart-wrenching and always deeply personal. Along the way, he’s released over 20 albums, won a Grammy, acted in film and TV, and had his songs recorded by artists including Johnny Cash, Mose Allison, Bonnie Raitt, and his own son, Rufus Wainwright. In October of 2020 Loudon unveiled the album “I’d Rather Lead A Band” in which he is featured as a vocalist with Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks. In 2015 Loudon Wainwright received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in Cardiff. Please note this show will now be Loudon, solo, and not feature Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche due to a scheduling conflict. This show is taking place on a rescheduled date, as listed, with all original tickets remaining valid.

Pocklington Arts Centre
22-24 Market Place
Pocklington, York

Tickets and further information – including non-musical events – can be found at their website: https://www.pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk

SINGLE REVIEW: Zero Cost – ‘Armchair Apathist‘

Frank

23 Oct 2021

And now for something on the raucous side from Hull based melodic punk power trio Zero Cost.

‘Melodic punk power trio’ is a bit of a mouthful so let’s decode that. What we’re talking about here is that it’s punky, yes, but it’s also tinged with something of a Metal sound. And when I say Metal I mean, and you have to bear in mind that I come with older ears, kind of NWOBHM. There’s something very Saxon about the short, sharp and biting guitar break.

Lyrically as far as I can tell it’s about the person who just works, wants the pleasures of life – clean sheets are one of those things – and doesn’t let anything else impinge on their life. This is in fact, what I’m going to describe, as a pretty perfect subject for a punk song. It’s really kind of old-style punk. And this is what it should be.

So that’s the basics, but what does it feel like? It feels like a punk song should feel. Energy, raucousness, rawness. Great guitars, breakneck drumming and a great punk vocal. Three minutes of utter joy.

Play this loud people, very very loud, loud as you dare.

LABEL NEWS: Clue Records announces ’24 Songs’ from The Wedding Present

LSF Staff Writers

20 Oct 2021

A brand new 7″ single every month throughout 2022

You heard it right. The Wedding Present will be releasing a new piece of shiny vinyl every month for a year, starting in January. Does that sound familiar? For Wedding Present fans you may remember The Hit Parade series.

’24’ Songs sees David Gedge writing with legendary Sleeper guitarist Jon Stewart for the first time, and a more perfect union could not have been predicted.

The first release includes ‘We Should Be Together’, a gorgeous duet featuring David and Louise Wener [also from Sleeper] and it’s coupled with ‘Don’t Give Up Without A Fight’, which combines classic Wedding Present feistiness with a Krautrock finale.

‘We Should Be Together’ will be available to listen to at The Wedding Present’s official YouTube channel from Tuesday 19 October at 2PM.

Each of the records will come in a beautifully designed sleeve featuring brutalist photography by Jessica McMillan. And there’ll be a hand-numbered collector’s box to put them all in, too.

You can buy them one at a time or subscribe for the whole series by clicking here. They will, of course, also be available at all good record shops.

DAVID GEDGE TALKING ABOUT 24 SONGS

“In 1991, The Wedding Present were rehearsing in a studio in Yorkshire when we hit upon an idea that immediately thrilled us all. Our bass player [Keith Gregory] had been a member of the ‘Sub Pop Singles Club’ – a service that allowed subscribers to receive 7”s released by that Seattle label on a monthly basis. Keith wondered if we, as a band, could attempt a similar thing. In that instant, The Wedding Present’s Hit Parade series was born and, during 1992, we managed to release a brand new 7” single each and every month.

“The Hit Parade went on to become something of a significant milestone in the history of the band and it’s a project about which I’m often asked. As its thirtieth anniversary approached, I began to wonder if we should celebrate it in some way. A ‘Hit Parade Part 2’ didn’t feel quite right, though. Then, someone said to me: “Other bands have released music in similar ways but there has been nothing like the Hit Parade.” And they were right! A 7” single a month seems, somehow, very ‘Wedding Present’. So, inspired by that little idea from three decades ago, we’ve embarked on this new project, 24 Songs.

“Even though The Wedding Present have never been known for taking the easy route, the idea of recording 24 tracks and releasing them in this way could seem daunting to any band. However, I’ve been inspired by the music that has been written since Jon and Melanie joined the group. The thought of celebrating this exciting new line-up with an exciting new series has motivated us all… and I suppose we also didn’t want any of these songs to be hidden away in the middle of an album!”

MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS: Calls For Government action to boost recovery as new report reveals Covid wiped out one in three music jobs

LSF Staff Writers

20 Oct 2021

UK Music has published its This Is Music 2021 annual report, revealing the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the music ecosystem, wiping out 69,000 jobs – one in three of the total workforce.

AIM joins UK Music in calling on the Government to introduce tax incentives and other employment-boosting measures to arm the sector with the tools it needs to rebuild after the pandemic. The sector also needs urgent action from government to alleviate the problems facing musicians and crew touring the EU, a vital export market for UK music.

The measures are outlined in a new Music Industry Strategic Recovery Plan included in the new report.

The key findings about the music industry contained in This Is Music 2021 include:

Employment plunged by 35% from 197,000 in 2019 to 128,000 in 2020
Music industry’s economic contribution fell 46% from a record £5.8bn in 2019 to just £3.1bn in 2020
Music exports dropped 23% from £2.9 billion in 2019 to £2.3 billion in 2020

Hundreds of UK festivals and live music events cancelled after the first in a series of lockdowns was imposed in March 2020 and touring was decimated by similar closures and travel bans and restrictions globally.

The impact was felt right across the industry as studios, warehouses, offices and venues were forced to close, and musicians, crew and others were unable to work. In a sector where three-quarters of workers are self-employed, many fell through gaps in the Government support schemes.

AIM’s Covid-19 Crisis Fund provided financial aid to many freelancers, self-employed contractors and sole directors in these sectors that were hit the hardest before government support schemes were set up. With generous donations from industry stakeholders, over £800,000 was distributed. The AIM Crisis Fund was one of a number of industry initiatives that helped provide crucial financial support during this period.

The report provides clear evidence of the need for swift Government action to help the music industry to bounce back and return to the growth seen ahead of the pandemic.

UK Music, AIM and its other members, are outlining five key areas where swift action from the Government would help the industry create thousands of new jobs and provide a rewarding career for thousands of people:

Tax incentives for the music industry to stimulate growth and jobs – AIM has been leading this work for UK Music and consider it central to recovery and future growth.
Urgent action to remove barriers to touring the EU, the UK’s closest export market
A permanent reduction in VAT rate on live music event tickets
Extending funding and support for music exports, including ISF and MEGS
Boosting funding for music education and for the self-employed to help secure the talent pipeline

There were some positives to take from the year. Physical music and merchandise sales including vinyl performed well as the specialist retail and distribution sectors pivoted quickly to online retail, supported by labels, artists and fans, including through campaigns such as Record Store Day and Love Record Stores.

PPL collected £225.7 million in revenue during 2020. This was less of a reduction in revenues than first feared with a fall of just 17% from £271.8 million in 2019. With PPL collections reflecting previous years’ airplay, it is expected that there will be an ongoing impact on these revenues, but it is testament to clear-sighted management and great work by the PPL team to see collections of this amount considering the circumstances. PPL went beyond this in helping the industry through a difficult time, including generous donations to AIM’s Covid Crisis Fund and others.

In addition to UK Music’s research, UK Music also commissioned Public First to survey the views of the general public on the music industry.

The survey by Public First found:

75% of the public are proud of the UK music industry and its heritage
59% believe music improves the UK’s reputation overseas
74% say music is important to their quality of life
UK listens to 60 billion hours of music a year – the equivalent of 7 million years
1 million people took up a music instrument during lockdown

Read the report

ALBUM REVIEW: Fold – ‘Aphelion: a tribute to Lorraine Hansberry’

Frank

17 Oct 2021

A Fold album can be appreciated on two levels. Firstly musically as fantastic music that is intriguing and compelling and, secondly, on an intellectual level because their music has a message and a meaning. The full experience, of course, is obtained from combining those two into one whole.

So first off this is a tribute album to Lorraine Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965). I admit that I had to look up who she was. She was a playwright and writer, and civil rights activist. There’s some links below which I recommend you follow to learn more about her and her life.

“Largely defined by her trailblazing play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry died in 1965 at the age of thirty-four. A prolific and probing artist, she was also one of the most radical, courageous, and prescient artist-intellectuals of the twentieth century—and one of the least understood.”
Imani Perry

Musically the album fuses Hip-Hop, Rap, Jazz, Soul, recordings of Lorraine Hansberry, plus other spoken words contributions.

Fold say “ Drawing from Lorraine Hansberry’s recorded speeches and interviews, we’ve assembled a body of interrelated narratives and composed 12 tracks around them. These narratives address not only the burning issues of Lorraine’s past, present and future but, through her extraordinary vision, ours as well. Complemented by additional posthumous words from Coretta Scott King and EF Schumacher along with bridges to the present drawn by UK poet Mr Gee, a compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman emerges”.

It’s difficult to review this as I would other albums – either by reviewing every track or selected tracks – because to my mind this album is a cohesive whole rather than a series of songs. I could put it like this; it’s more of a book with chapters, rather than a book of, possibly connected, short stories.

Like a film documentary using film of interviews and voices over appropriate visuals to drive and emphasise the narrative; this is an audio documentary where the music drives and emphasises the narrative. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, it feels very ‘visual’; I found myself seeing an internal visual of the narrative.

My first thought on reading the material that Fold sent me was that perhaps the music would reduce the power of the words but it doesn’t it compliments, increases the power of the words. Fold have clearly spent time and taken care not to overwhelm the words.

The music is incredible; different styles and feels span the album. Sometimes atmospheric, sometimes driving and uplifting. And sonic surprises are there in plenty. And yes, you could listen to the album as music (but that would be missing the point). The words and music perfectly compliment each other.

This album succeeds on many levels – musically, as a narrative and as a gateway to Lorraine Hanberry’s life and work. It puts the message over but gently; at no point does it berate or hammer it home.

I highly recommend this album on all three of those levels. If you were already aware of Lorraine Hanberry’s work then I think it’s going to enhance your understanding. It’s education through entertainment to use a well-worn cliche. It does this so perfectly I don’t have the words to explain.

The info

Fold say:

Drawing from Lorraine Hansberry’s recorded speeches and interviews, we’ve assembled a body of interrelated narratives and composed 12 tracks around them. These narratives address not only the burning issues of Lorraine’s past, present and future but, through her extraordinary vision, ours as well. Complimented by additional posthumous words from Coretta Scott King and EF Schumacher along with bridges to the present drawn by UK poet Mr Gee, a compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman emerges.

The aphelion is the point in the orbit of an object when it is furthest from the sun. Metaphorically speaking, the world of today feels further from the light than ever before. Lorraine Hansberry was among the few in her time who recognised that we are heading in perilous directions. Through her depth of historical knowledge she understood that this hadn’t changed much over many centuries as we’ve remained unable to widely perceive the underlying mechanics of our world. Alas, the world she fought so hard to illuminate still has a dangerously dim outlook. We need her light now more than ever to help guide us out of the darkness.

This tribute is, perhaps selfishly, a way of keeping Lorraine Hansberry alive and hopefully expanding the reach of her legacy. As long as she’s still talking and people are still listening, some part of her lives in the present. To us, in these dark times, that is a deeply comforting thought.

Links

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry

Young, Gifted and Black: who was Lorraine Hansberry?: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/blog/young-gifted-and-black-who-was-lorraine-hansberry

“The Black Revolution and the White Backlash”
Forum at Town Hall sponsored by The Association of Artists for Freedom: http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/lhansberry.html

Making Gay History – Lorraine Hansberry Podcast: https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/lorraine-hansberry/

Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart – documentary: https://www.sightedeyesfeelingheart.com

Imani Perry’s biography Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Looking_for_Lorraine/QtdGDwAAQBAJ

A list of Hansberry’s writings: https://www.lhlt.org/primary-resources

A Raisin In The Sun – BBC Radio: https://archive.org/details/araisininthesun1/A+Raisin+In+The+Sun+1.mp3

EP REVIEW: Ruth Toynton – ‘Retrograde’

Frank

17 Oct 2021

I know very little about Ruth beyond the facts that she’s a Hull based singer and writer who’s in love with Soul, Jazz and Blues. One thing I do know is that the music she makes is wonderful; and that’s the important thing.

What she does is either modern jazzy HipHop soul with a hefty dose of old style jazz or old style jazz with a hefty dose of jazzy HipHop soul; you basically pays yer money and takes your choice.

Opening track ‘In the strange.’ takes a modern take on jazzy soul. There’s what we might describe as ‘the usual jazz instrumentation’ but it’s put together differently. It’s kind of trip-hop like; sounds dart out at you, sounds don’t quite sit where you’d expect them to. It’s beautiful and takes you on a journey. But over this is Ruth’s voice. Her voice is pure, striking, comes with the odd compelling twist, and is all about emotion.

On ‘Is this love?’ what hits you is the bittersweet in the words and in her voice. And this accompanied by the smoothest sparse music. But this is a track that is very much more than the sum of its parts, it has a quiet power.

‘Glowing in the dark’ flits vocally between being HipHop-y and jazz. While musically it sits in the classic jazz with stabs of the new. It’s odd in a very good way; the sounds and vocal don’t seem to fit but they do. I guess you could describe it as being somewhere in the Nu-Soul area, if you had to. I’m not entirely sure.

Final track ‘High’ does jazzy soul to the max. It’s retro but also very much of now. Musically wonderful piano drifts through the track, backing vocals like caramel caress your soul, and a gorgeous trumpet sings to your heart. It is beautiful.

This EP is so incredibly accomplished. The vocals, the music, are all so perfect technically. But the thing is that that isn’t the important thing. This is music with heart and soul. It’s about emotion and mood. It’s about the writing and arrangement but more importantly the way the songs are sung and the music played. Ruth can not only write but has a voice you could fall in love with. These are beautiful songs played and sung beautifully.

EP REVIEW: The Battery Farm – ‘Dirty Den’s March of Suffering’

Frank

15 Oct 2021

The Battery Farm make raw, sometimes raucous, visceral music. This, their second EP, has build on that, they’ve stretched out and showing they are capable of much much more.

The first indication that this is something more than just a collection of songs is that this EP starts with what I’m going to call an ‘introductory sound piece’ called ‘Don Brennan’s Lament’. I’m guessing that this is a nod to the Corrie character, and not the baseball player, given their Manchester origins. Although given that the band are mischievous characters it’s quite possible that they are referring to the cricketer.

The first track proper is ‘When The Whip Goes Crack’. This does the quiet/loud thing – tuneful and melodic and then hard and heavy as fuck. And remember that the band are gutter punks, both of these come with a punk attitude and sound to the max. That contrast between the melodic and the heavy is an absolute joy.

‘I’ve Never Been To Gorton’ is, at heart, a modern take on old style punk. The modern take is that this song has lots of clever touches – clever little sounds that pop up, My helpful friend says that it has something of a punk indie feel; I get that. It is of course about parts of Greater Manchester that have been visited but not, as you may have worked out, Gorton.

Another interlude – ‘Sunita’s Last Gasp’. Given the previous reference to Corrie, I’m guessing this is another.

‘Drowning In The Black’ starts eerily; sinister sounds swirl, a rhudding bass. And then it starts to gradually take off. It has, to my ears at least, a sound that mixes ‘that Manchester Sound’ and post-punk. Guitars stab and slash, fast as hell sections that positively reek of loud punk. It’s angry, it’s raw, it’s more than a little bit scary.

And now for something out there, loud and heavy. An unholy mix of punk and heavy rock ‘Roy Keane Isn’t Real’ hammers you into pieces, it roars out of the speakers. It dares you to throw yourself around violently, to annoy the neighbours.

Another interlude ‘Michael Rodwell Dies Alone’, another Corrie reference. There’s a kind of connection in the interludes, isn’t there? One that goes beyond Corrie.

Oh fucking hell do the band throw in one last surprise ‘We’re At The Top’. A ballad, a lament. Glorious backing vocals, slightly Spanish guitar, a lead vocal that tears at your heart. Gorgeous swells of sounds that astound. A build that takes you to the top and let’s you down gently.

This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Yes it’s raw and visceral, but it’s taken that and added sophistication and cleverness. The great thing, the best thing, is that while the music has all these touches, it still has that punk attitude. This is music with attitude and soul. Music that is grounded in the band’s life. It is ‘real’, not constructed. It’s a band doing their own thing because they love it.

This EP is incredibly impressive. The individual songs shine through but the whole is so much more than the sum of the parts. It demands your attention; it makes you want to listen to the whole not skip and choose. Fantastic stuff, listen and be amazed.

EP REVIEW: Delilah Bon – ‘Ready To Kill’

Frank

15 Oct 2021

A super scary Halloween EP release from Delilah Bon (AKA Lauren Tate of Hands Off Gretel). Delilah Bon’s style is a hip-hop/rap/rock mix. It’s fierce people.

Opening with scary doomy sounds ‘Coffin’ features waking from the dead, a dead woman’s scorn. And the words, the words are so cool. The feel is hip hop rock with a huge Goth edge. It’s scary, it’s fierce, you can dance to it. Need anything more.

More atmospheric sounds and spoken word bring the short interlude ‘Ready To Kill’. ‘Voices In My Head’ continues the story. The tale – unless I’m mistaken – of a woman ready to kill. Chainsaws are a feature here. Bursts of heaviness thrill. The bloodlust drips from this track.

‘Cannibal Summer’ where the girl leads a boy to a perfect spot for the cannibal act. Delilah spits the words, the great words, You’ll be on repeat to get them. It’s kind of California Rap twisted to a horrible end. ‘Clown’ is about killer clowns. This is no laugh show. Guitars grind out the horror. ‘Rat Boy’ takes that hip hop rock feel and takes it more into rock, heavy loud rock. Boy oh boy.

The temptation is to think of this as a Halloween thrill. It is but there’s more to these tracks than that. They’d be a serious part of any spooky night’s playlist. But there’s more to them than this. These are tracks where the words matter, the words are fantastic, scary fun yes, but really well written. And musically the Halloween theme, the scare is there but it doesn’t go over the top. Right to the edge, even hanging over it, but not over the top into parody. The music is really well put together. And hey this is dance music, so dance to it.

Get your scary on, people.

SINGLE REVIEW: Blue Kubricks – ‘Comfortable Ride’

Frank

15 Oct 2021

Gloriously you can never be sure quite where this band will go. ‘Comfortable Ride’ is one part indie, one part funky disco track, and 100% fun. There are hints of Earth, Wild & Fire aplenty here. It’s sprinkled with choppy guitar riffs, horns. This, people, is the soundtrack to groovy night. This song is so fucking funky.

So that’s it musically but this has words, words that tell a story. Jim explains “This song was written when I was f***** and chucked by a girl in high school who then told me, two months later, she wanted to try again. It is not a nice feeling being treated like a yo-yo, ow no-no. I told her ‘I’m not your comfortable ride’”.

The combination of the words and music makes this so-so good, instantly addictive and a guaranteed floor-filler.

Enough of the words, get on this right now, get up and shake your thing like crazy.

The info

Blue Kubricks are an up-and-coming Leeds-based alt-pop funk-rock band signed to Monomyth Records.

‘Comfortable Ride’ is the lead single from their first full-length EP ‘Manuka’ – it’s all honey!), which will raise money for endangered bees with the charity Flora & Fauna International. The EP is due to be released in February 2022.

ALBUM REVIEW: Sandra’s Wedding – ‘Pleasure Grounds’

Frank

12 Oct 2021

What I’ve come to expect from Sandra’s Wedding is a great tune wonderfully put together with great words. And the songs on this album haven’t let me down.

Opening track ‘When I Stall’ comes with something, a little something, of a Beatles’ feel. That’s the poppy melodic Beatles by the way; because this thing has a tune that’s going to enter your head and not go away.

‘Should Have Got A Trade’ comes with great words, the likes of which I haven’t heard since Squeeze. It’s a tale of life. Another great tune that weirdly, at least to me, comes with a touch of that REM sound; biting jangly guitar, you know the sort of thing.

‘Lovin’ Life’ is a great pop song; fab tune, boppy enough, suitable for all the family. Fantastic little acoustic breakdown. A joy. ‘Love Everyone’ is a pop song that, sonically, comes with a wistful sad edge. This one’s a grower, people; you are sitting there listening to it and suddenly you feel a need to play it on repeat.

Title track ‘Pleasure Grounds’ steps away from that strummy boppy pop to give us a smooth smooth sound, bursts of gorgeous trumpet. It’s got a classic retro pop ballad feel. Matching that feel the words seem to sing of times past on a sunny day. From any Sandra’s Wedding rease of more than three tracks you can expect one big song, this it it. An album highlight for sure.

‘Waiting’ starts quietly, and then bursts into life. A chugging guitar throbs away in the background. But this track does the quiet/loud thing – obviously not in an alt-rock way – but it does. Strangely it sounds like a fairly raucous rock track that’s been ‘calmed down’ soundwise but it still comes with power.

‘Council Pop’ surprises with a psychy-pop feel. Edgy warped guitars, voices echo. Groovy maaaannnn!

‘Devil On My Stuntpegs’ is yet another surprise. Latin feel, sinuous trumpet, strummed guitar. This musically takes you on an ever changing journey; you think you’ve got it pegged, it takes you in another direction. This is put together so well; it builds, it falls. Another surprise, another big song.

Sandra’s Wedding songs have this habit of creeping up on you. There you are listening to what are a set of fantastically put together pop songs and ballads, and suddenly you just can’t stop listening to them. This is because there are always subtle and clever things in their songs musically, and their words are great. Their lyrics are about life, seemingly simple and hugely compelling.

Quite how the band manage to release song after song of perfectly put together music and lyrics I don’t know but they do. And it’s never boring because there’s always a twist, the unexpected. Great songs, great words, played wonderfully; I, for one, don’t need anything else.