Millie Manders and The Shutup hail from Norwich/London, and I know this breaks the ‘LSF focuses on music made in Yorkshire’ thing but the thing is I love this album, and I think you will too. So I’m reviewing it. Because I want to. You got that?

Millie Manders and The Shutup is rather a long band name to type every time I want to refer to them so I’m thinking I may use MMATS. Hope that’s OK.

MMATS are a punky band at heart but they add in things – ska, metal, pop – into that sound, so it does that rather lovely thing of sounding both rock raw and polished pop, sometimes at the same time. And it seems important to mention that they have saxophone, great punky saxophone. At times they sound a teensy bit like No Doubt, just a tiny tiny bit and this is a good thing, at least it is for me.

Album opener – ‘Your Story’ – is a pop-punk blast. You’re going to immediately be hit by Millie’s vocals – boy can she sing. Her voice is powerful, it swings between smooth and raw. But there’s more to this song than pop-punk because there’s a hint of ska – it’s in that saxophone. And the words are great, they are words that are worth it. And it has a bloody great tune.

‘Broken Record’ is heavier, it mixes in metal-ish sounds. That saxophone takes on a sound that raises a big grin for me, it’s all X-Ray Spex’s punky. There’s even a rock’n’roll-ish bit. This thing is a joy. If this doesn’t get you up and raving, I don’t know what will. And it has the loveliest layered voice end that left me speechless.

I am kind of reminded of False Advertising at times during ‘Here We Go Again (Black Dog)’, there’s a grunge pop thing going on. That is before it goes all speeded up, punked up Madness. Look to tell the truth this thing has so many changes, but because it has a beat that won’t die and a great tune, it all works.

‘Silent Screams’ is kind of nu-metal punk-hiphop. It has these big metal choruses and sections where Millie raps in her own unique style. And then again it suddenly goes big pop ballad. Look I’m just going to call this one huge song. ‘Bitter’ is another metal-punk song with words spat out at the speed of light, a huge chorus in an old-ish metal style. It fucking rocks people. Guitars squeal, bass throbs, drums pound. Play this fucking loud.

‘Poor Mans Show’ is a hiphop reggae-style song. It’s really really poppy. And really dance-y. What you notice here is that the words of MMAST songs are fantastic, I mean that’s obvious from the songs before this, but this really shows in this song. The song is a comment on the state of this country – for a song that sounds so light and breezy, the words are crushingly heavy.

There is something of a funny intro to ‘Panic Master’. It’s a metal song of protest about the environment. That is a metal song with the most tuneful sax. Sounds strange. Isn’t at all.

For me ‘Glitter Mix’ is one of the album highlights. It’s a big tuneful building rock ballad. The vocals on this are completely mesmirising. I found myself turning it up and up just to hear that voice. And there is the surprise of a piano, and that is a wondrous thing. The first time I heard this I added it to my list of all time favourite rock ballads, it’s that good people.

‘Not Okay’ is a ska-y (at times) pop-punk rocky thing that makes you want to get up and dance round and round until you get dizzy. It has a tune that’s so damn earwormy. Album closer ‘Burnout’ is a rocky song with a great tune (natch) and words that seem to tell the story of being in a band, working two jobs to fund it. I admit I may have got this wrong.

Putting this band into a niche is impossible, but I like that. I love a band who play their music, a band that takes all their influences, all the things they love, and mixes them into something that is theirs. And this may be difficult for some people who have a closely defined ‘I like this, but not this’ stance on music. I started by saying that Millie Manders and The Shutup are a punk band at heart but writing this I start to drift away from that statement; sorry I realise that this may be slightly irritating. This isn’t to say that some of the songs on the album aren’t punky, they are; but there are so many styles of music all blended together that defining them as punk is somewhat misleading. And defining them as a rock band is similarly misleading, given the elements of pop, hiphop and ska. You get the problem I have here?

What I can say, and this is what I really love about this album, is that whatever niche you may put the songs, or completely fail to for that matter; the band know how to write fantastic songs with great tunes and words that are meaningful – these songs are about loss, betrayal, anger, anxiety, heartbreak, bitterness, environmental catastrophe and political unrest. The lyrics are personal and about real things which makes them really worth the effort to listen to properly.

And this seems a good time to mention Millie’s voice – while she changes her delivery style, it’s always clear. When a song calls for audible emotion you got it, when a song calls for power you got it. She goes from metal rawness to sweet pop smoothness. Her vocals are fierce, people.

And these songs are played amazingly well. I had quite a battle between listening to the words and really focusing on the playing. Doing the music thing I found myself forced to my feet, and throwing myself around the room. But the fact that the songs are about something made sitting and listening to it just as rewarding. That makes it an album that I found myself going back to time after time.

This, people, is a great album filled with great songs. Songs to dance to, songs to listen to. Do we need anything more? Thought not, go to it.

The album is available on download, streaming, CD and red vinyl. The physical releases can be ordered from the band at https://millie-manders.com/ alongside a range of limited-edition merchandise that raises funds for The Survivors Trust – an umbrella charity for survivors of rape and sexual abuse – NHS Charities Together, and the mental health charities Mind and Papyrus.

The info

WEBSITE: https://millie-manders.com/
BANDCAMP: https://milliemanders.bandcamp.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/milliemandersmusic
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/milliemanders/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/milliemanders

‘FUZZ II’ is, somewhat misleadingly, not the band’s second or 11th EP but their EP debut. I reviewed the lead single release – Animal’ back in March, and I was mightily impressed (read the review).

Let’s dive in, I can’t wait, this EP is a bloody fucking joy;

The opening track ‘Pulling Teeth’ lies in that grungy psychedelic garage rock with hints of wild post-punk. A tribal surfy drum is the gentle introduction to this, before it bursts into wondrous noise – grungy guitars, stabs of sound that are frankly terrifying. But suddenly it drops into this really disturbing section that sounds of all things like a drunken warped Bauhaus – really – before building into glorious noise. It’s that drunken warped bit that makes this track. The unexpectedness of it is fab.

‘Animal’ takes a fuzzy heavy grunge road but as I said in my review ‘while that description might give you some idea of what they do, it doesn’t indicate the rather subtle touches of sound this track has in places, or the heavy surf sounds, or the hints of psychedelic noise.I like a band who do that, and Fuzz Lightyear do that incredibly well. Pure fuzzy noisy rock is great but those touches are like salt and pepper on food, they season it, they make the noise better’.

But it was with ‘L.F.W.D’ (and no I have not the slightest idea what that might stand for, your guess is as good as mine) that I found this is a band who don’t just tread the same path over and over again. It opens with something that is post-punk to the max, a guitar intro that Siouxsie and The Banshees would have been proud of. But this is before it warps it’s way into something more psychedelic, something that reminds me simultaneously of a way heavy John’s Children (the band that Marc Bolan was in for a while http://johnschildren.info), Samothrace and Black Sabbath. Or possibly even Iron Butterfly. You get the picture? It’s slow, it’s languid, it grinds, it bursts into wild noise, noise that fucking burns your brain.

‘The Lovers’ is another slow burner. It starts with something that sounds rather Goth, punctuated with bursts of noise. Strange stabs, tinkles of guitar, droning vocals. And then it grinds heavy heavy noise. Then it just goes crazy – psychedelic garage, punky – it’s raw, it’s a bloody noise, a lovely noise. A noise that is almost guaranteed to piss off your neighbours if played loud. But this is something you have to do, play it loud and to hell with the consequences. Before fading out in a wonderfully ponderous post-punk way.

Fuzz Lightyear didn’t let me down with this EP, the promises made by ‘Animal’ back in March were completely fulfilled. There isn’t one track on this EP that isn’t fucking fantastic. It’s so good I can’t do anything but use expletives in the way I describe this, I’m driven to it.

This isn’t just noisy psychedelic garage rock, it’s noisy psychedelic garage rock with spice – touches of inventiveness, songwriting craft, musical skill. But in the end fuck does this thing rock. It leaves you beaten down with noise, your head spinning, hurting from the sounds, but with the biggest smile on your face ready to play it again but louder, louder and louder, the better to be immersed in the noise.

The info

A band used to playing dingy basements and rooms filled with rowdy pits, Fuzz Lightyear have made a mark filling venues in Leeds and further afield. Emerging as a band playing riotous psych-tinged garage rock in basements for house shows, they built an audience in their home town with both the crowds and the music getting noisier and more energized. Committed to engaging audiences to the best of their ability, Fuzz Lightyear are not afraid to hit hard with their music and have built a live show to match.

Their evolving sound sits in the middle of post-punk, grunge, and noise-rock, synthesizing many currents of modern and historic rock and punk music.

This is Cold Culprits first collaboration on a release. It’s taken their music off in a different, and frankly exciting direction. More on that a little bit later but first some info.

Casee Wilson is a singer/songwriter; formerly based in Yorkshire but now living in Spain. The collaboration took place during lockdown with them sending music files to each other.

I am used to Cold Culprits producing music with something of a New York punk edge; usually with other things mixed in. ‘Momentum’ is something different. Andy (of the band) describes the sound of the song as ‘grungy electronica’, and while I get that it’s grungy and, being heavy on the keyboards, it’s electronica; somehow the sound for me lies somewhere in that punky New Wave sound of say Martha and The Muffins or possibly even Hazel O’Connor. It’s dirty, slightly punky but it has pop sensibility; It has a tune to die for, a beat that doesn’t stop.

Obviously, the dual vocals are a highlight; their voices compliment each other – Andy’s sneery NY punk, and Casee’s clear as a bell, vocal styles really work well together. And while the keyboards take centre stage – the oh so 80s’ New Wave keyboards – there’s no lack of guitar. And there are some frankly out there drums. Given that they made this electronically the result is a joy; you’d be hard pushed to get that it wasn’t recorded as a band in a room together. It sounds live, there’s a fantastic rawness to the sound.

And yes, I’m aware that referring to Cold Culprits as a band has a certain awkwardness as Andy is Cold Culprits, Cold Culprits is Andy; he plays everything on the songs. But the thing is that Cold Culprits’ music sounds like a band, so I’m going to say band.

As a slight aside, and as a youth of the 80s I am suddenly reminded of the line in the film of Dune – ‘the spice is the worm, and the worm is the spice’. All-nighters at the Scala in King’s Cross when it was still a cinema, watching Dune, the whole audience chanting those phrases back at the screen. Yes, you’d be right my mind does work in rather strange ways at times.

Sorry about that, back to the song. ‘Momentum’ is fantastic. Rock out to it, dance like crazy, you take your choice. Whatever you choose to do, play it loud as you dare, it sounds better the louder it is.

The info

‘Momentum’ is the fifth Cold Culprits single since their April debut. It’s also the first time the band has collaborated with another artist.

A solo project conceived by Andy Watson, Cold Culprits was created when Andy’s previous band began to focus purely on performing cover songs on the regional pub circuit. As Cold Culprits, Andy typically writes, performs and arranges every note and every lyric. But for this latest track, Andy shares the mic with his former vocal coach, Casee Wilson.

As Andy explains, “We’d kicked around the idea of doing something together for a while, but the timing was never quite right. Sometimes it can be a case of life happening when you’re planning other things. Then Casee emigrated to Spain. As two people making a living in creative industries, we’ve found that we’ve had more time on our hands recently. We figured we’d make the most of it.”

The result marks something of a departure for Cold Culprits. “It’s a bit of a change of direction for me,” says Andy. “I wanted to write something that incorporates two distinct voices, something that fits Casee’s vocal style, but also creates a contrast and a sense of underlying conflict.”

Casee adds: “Andy and I come from quite different vocal styles – I tend towards singer-songwriter material, with the occasional foray into light electronica, while Andy’s got this whole edgy grungy punk sound going on – it was interesting to play with the styles to see what would happen when we blended them, and it was a lot of fun.”

With influences like Iggy Pop and The Ramones, Cold Culprits has always embraced the do-it-yourself spirit that typified early punk. And just like previous tracks, Momentum was produced in Andy’s home studio. But with Andy in York and Casee in Madrid, this wasn’t your typical collaboration.

“There was a lot of back and forth of vocal files and ‘how about this?’ comments, rather than the more organic flow in a studio,” says Casee, “but I think it gave us both time to reflect on the shape of the sound – me in particular as I was so aware this was Andy’s baby and I wanted to honour his vision.”

Cold Culprits: https://www.facebook.com/coldculprits/ | http://coldculprits.com/
Casee Wilson: https://www.caseewilson.co.uk

I’m just going to say this, Materialeyes are a prog rock band. I’m also going to say this, this isn’t a problem for me as I’ve loved music described as prog for a long time, a time I can measure in decades. But some people seem to have a block when it comes to prog, their immediate response to it is to describe it as self-indulgent and overblown. I prefer to describe it as just music; it’s music played in the main by people who really know how to play their instruments, as are most, if not all, types of music. So maybe approach it that way.

Before I go on I should warn you that this review may contain references to bands that were around in two periods of prog – the first the late 60s and early 70s and the second in the late 70s/early 80s, the so-called New Wave of British Prog that kind of started just after the NWoBHM movement started. This isn’t to say that these were the only two periods that prog was popular, there have always been bands that identify as being prog – like Muse more recently.

So as the track starts it sounds like a Yes song, it’s those harmonies with a high pitched lead.But strangely it also has the sound of Crosby, Stills and Nash in there. But this is progressive music it soon changes and boy does it change – at points it sounds bluesy, at points funky, and at points jazzy. There are long periods where I am reminded of Nektar (a German band who made one of my all time favourite albums ‘A Tab In The Ocean’), and to a certain extent Camel. There’s what we might call a variety of tempos. So far so prog, I hear you say. But it’s also surprisingly poppy – there’s a tune, a nice beat. And it’s chilled out, maaaannn.

What it doesn’t have is that many lyrics, instead there’s a kind of chorus separated by long periods of playing. So the playing better be good, and it is. The shifts in feel are seamless. It’s obvious that this is a band who know their stuff musically.

It may help to tell you who it doesn’t sound like, or possibly not – there is no hint of Genesis, not a sign of Pink Floyd. Whether this a good thing I leave it for you to decide.

I really like this track but I’m at a loss as to how to encourage you to at least give it a try if you’re not already a fan of prog. Beyond saying that’s it great well played and arranged music that isn’t in the slightest self-indulgent or overblown.

The info

‘Adrenaline High’ developed from an idea Martyn had way back in 1978 when he played in, and wrote music for, Wakefield band Brigante. The song was all but lost until the original lyrics were discovered. Martyn then went to work developing it into a prog piece for Materialeye.

Martyn was also in Roadster – a NWoBHM band from Wakefield and Pontefract who released one single in 1981.

Dave Westmoreland – vocals, keyboards, guitar
Will Lawrey – vocals, guitars
Martyn Howes – vocals, guitars, keyboards

Bandcamp – https://materialeyes.bandcamp.com/track/adrenaline-high
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MaterialEyesBand/
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWfXI7VtAss
Twitter – https://twitter.com/MaterialEyes00
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/track/7Dbe5BJyFaY90p5RbtTeEy