Do It Thissen have two new releases – ‘I was a teenage Brexit Thwarter’ by Mzylkypop – out on digital and ‘Apocalypso Now’ EP by Captain Avery & The Cosmic Triceratops Of Intergalactic Peace – out on a clear 10″ lathe-cut & digital
‘I Was A Teenage Brexit Thwarter’ by Mzylkypop
Rush released to coincide with the day the UK leaves the 28 … Hence the catalogue number DIT-028 and the now unfortunately sold out edition of 28 flexis.
Apocalypso Now! EP by Captain Avery & The Cosmic Triceratops Of Intergalactic Peace
Four brand-new tracks of tropical loveliness from the good Captain and his cosmic crew. Each copy of this EP is hand-made in Sheffield! Includes digital pre-order of DIT-015 Apocalypso Now! EP. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
Fresh off the back of their huge UK & European tour, fast-rising British alt-pop band Flawes will release their highly anticipated debut album ‘Highlights’ on January 31st.
The album will be released alongside the spine-tingling title track ‘Highlights’ which was co-written with Nick Atkinson and Ed Holloway (Lewis Capaldi, Gabrielle Aplin).
“The song ‘Highlights’ explores my relationship with social media, and how in certain instances it can affect real life relationships and the real world in a negative way. I tend to always overthink situations, so it’s a cynical look on this that builds up to the line “Nothing’s real but no one needs to know”.”
In what has been an exciting 3 years for the London based band who originally came from Huddersfield, they bolted from the seams and were picked up by Radio 1 before ever having performed live. After the two years of incessant touring that followed (including shows with Ella Eyre, Maximo Park, Francis and the lights, Chloe Howl and Safia), JC, Huss and Freddie took a step back, re-calibrated, and crafted the sound that would go on to define them.
Their debut album ‘Highlights’ is the musical embodiment of this; the band’s sonic evolution over the years. The result is a collection of the very best of their bolder, sleeker and defiantly uplifting sound, tailor-made for both dancefloors and festival fields.
Speaking of the album, the band said: “Highlights’ represents the journey we’ve taken as a band over the last three years. Our sound has naturally evolved and we couldn’t be happier with where it has ended up. These 12 songs are quite literally the highlights from the writing process.”
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the birth of The Von Bondies, a key band in the American garage-rock movement that spread its way across the globe in the early 2000s. Formed in Detroit by singer/guitarist Jason Stollsteimer during an aborted stint at university, he rooted the band’s sound in the youthful energy of punk and the emotional rawness of the blues. “If somehow it had been possible for Jason and me to have had a baby instead of a band when we first started out,” says Donny Blum, longtime drummer of the band, “that baby would now legally be able to drink.”
In celebration, the Von Bondies are getting together to play a string of dates in the UK this summer, their first shows in a decade. “We’re doing the UK first because England was the first country that really embraced us,” says Stollsteimer. Indeed, those early UK shows would lead to dozens of festival slots—playing Glastonbury as well as Reading and Leeds Festival two separate years—in addition to appearances on Later with Jools Holland and a couple of Peel Sessions at the BBC. The band’s major-label debut ‘Pawn Shoppe Heart’ spawned the single ‘C’mon C’mon’, a ubiquitous part of the soundtrack to young Britons’ rowdy Saturday nights out.
This summer’s eight-show tour will take the band around the UK from Birmingham to Brighton, including stops in London and Glasgow. “I think it’s a great time to do this,” says Blum. “We’ve always known that at some point we were going to do more shows. Especially with the world on fire the way it is now, we want to do it before it all burns down”.
Full dates here, tickets go on sale on Friday 31st January.
Thu 14 May – The O2 Institute – Birmingham
Fri 15 May – The Wardrobe – Leeds
Sat 16 May – DSCVR Festival – Leicester
Sun 17 May – O2 Academy Islington
Tue 19 May – The Fleece – Bristol
Wed 20 May – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – Glasgow
Thu 21 May – Gorilla – Manchester
Fri 22 May – Concorde 2 – Brighton
LA post-punk trio Automatic have announced a European and UK tour, with over 15 dates that kick-off next month. Tickets are on sale now.
Since the release of their Stones Throw debut album Signal in September, the band has soundtracked Hedi Slimane’s Paris Fashion Week show for Céline, toured the USA, and opened for legendary post-punk band Bauhaus’ reunion shows at the Hollywood Palladium. Signal was chosen as an album of the year by Norman Records and Resident Music, who described it as “inventive, enticing and new”.
Automatic, composed of Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals), worked with producer and engineer Joo Joo Ashworth of FROTH for the album. Signal ties together the band’s taste for dub reggae, motorik rhythms and gnarly synth work inspired by bands like NEU! and Suicide with the eerie atmosphere of films by auteurs like David Lynch and Dario Argento, to capture what it’s like to feel at an angle to the world.
Signal speaks directly to the band members’ experiences, tied together by a sense of anxiety and alienation so common to life in the 21st century. “Humanoid” echoes “Too Much Money”s sentiment on the disappointing falsity of social media, “Electrocution” recounts a near-death freak accident singer Izzy experienced – alluded to on the album art – and the title track captures the feeling of being trapped in the drudgery of a mundane life “and the realization that nobody is going to rescue you from it but yourself.” As they put it: “The world is so fucked up, we don’t know how any musician could say, ‘This is all peachy.'”
DATES:
11th February – Brighton, Hope & Ruin
12th February – Manchester, YES
13th February – Glasgow, Flying Duck
14th February – Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
15th February – London, Peckham Audio
Another year another Rifffest, and yeah I know it’s only the second time around but it has the feel of something that’s been going for ages. A change of venue from The Lending Room to Belgrave Music Hall (my new favourite venue in Leeds). And yet another banging line-up – some bands I know and indeed love, and some I haven’t seen or heard before, that’s a really great mix.
99% Cobra
Opening band 99% Cobra (who hail from Hull) set out to start the day with a bang, I say a bang but the level of noise this band produce is loud, fucking loud. They grind out riffs that pummel their way into your ears. It is fucking glorious. And the distortion is almost painful but it’s a pain I found I craved.
And when their singer/guitarist leaves the stage to sing in the crowd, does it get any less loud, no way, the drums pound louder, the other guitarist cranks it up. It seems, strangely and weirdly, louder.
This makes them sound like what they do is pure out and out noise but it’s structured, there’s care in the way it’s put together. 99% Cobra are a band I want to see again. It’s good stuff, really good stuff.
DENSE
Next up were DENSE. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a huge fan of the band, even though this is only the second time I’ve actually seen them live. This means I can just listen, now I know that the three members of DENSE do produce the levels of sonic noise I experienced first on their recorded material.
So for those of you that don’t know what DENSE do, and I know there are some of you out there who’ve not yet got on the DENSE trip, they play ‘psychedelic garage rock’. Although if truth be told this doesn’t even begin to describe the music they play. Their songs build in layers of swirling sound, it comes in waves, wave upon wave of sound. And sometimes, just when you think you can’t take any more, they gave us a brief respite from the noise only to build it up again.
And yes there are layers and layers of distortion but it’s controlled distortion, it’s controlled so we realise that these are songs. These are songs with, I swear there are, tunes, and these may be buried deep in that sound, but they’re there. It’s completely mesmerising.
But it’s the second time I’ve seen them and this means I can listen more closely. And listening closely, I notice more that the drumming is important to DENSE’s music. Sam’s drumming holds all those intricate layers of distortion and fuzz together, it provides the foundation on which their sound is built.
But it’s a show people, and you can’t help being drawn to Dylan – the band’s bassist. He twists and turns, he throw shapes. And somehow, lord knows how, he manages to play the most wonderful bass while doing this. The contrast over on the other side of the stage where Charlie wrings out those fantastic guitar sounds and sings in a way that sounds as though it’s doing irreparable damage to his vocal chords but he does this almost quietly, is compelling. DENSE rock people, go see them if you haven’t, go see them if you have. Although I don’t really think you’ll need me to tell you to go see them if you’ve seen them already, you already know just how good the DENSE live experience is.
Dead Naked Hippies
It’s time for a change, a change from bands who play loud distorted music. And it’s time for Dead Naked Hippies. This isn’t to say that Dead Naked Hippies aren’t loud, they are, it’s just a different kind of loud. They play a kind of alternative rock but it has this angular thing going on – it reminds me slightly of New Wave, just a hint you get that? There’s also, sometimes, something of a grunge-y pop edge.
That hint is reinforced by Lucy’s vocals, she has that New Wave approach. Her vocals are way cool. She’s also very much the visual focal point of the band, striking poses. As a three piece – vocals, drums and guitar – the playing has to be good, and it is, Joe and Jacob really know their stuff.
There wasn’t a point during their set when said to myself ‘well that sounds a bit too much like the song they played earlier’, there’s variety. The songs are really great.
The last (and first) time I saw the band I liked them, this time around I loved what they did.
Calva Louise
The last (and again the first) time I saw Calva Louise was at Falsetival (This was also where I first saw Dead Naked Hippies, coincidently). At Falsetival I must have hit that mid all-dayer low energy point because my recollection of their set was very very hazy. All I remember is that I was somewhat impressed. So it was almost like seeing them for the first time again.
This feeling of ‘well I don’t remember the band being like this’ hit me even more listening to the band this time around. They play music that’s punky in places, alternative with these wild exhilarating psychedelic pop sounds. And there’s one song that stands out in my mind, a song that reminded me of Cardiacs – it had that manic energy and those plinky guitars.
Calva LouiseCalva LouiseCalva LouiseCalva LouiseCalva LouiseCalva Louise
Their set is wild, the energy of the music is grin inducing. They put on a show as well. It’s exciting. This is music that’s meant to be seen and heard live. And in the middle of that excitement they play wonderfully – Jess’s guitar stands out but that’s because she’s a great guitarist.
If you want a live band band to be exciting both musically and visually, and grin inducing, Calva Louise are for you. Go see them.
Refreshed by Dead Naked Hippies and Calva Louise, we (the impressively crowded room) were ready for the final three bands – Brooders, Strange Bones and Crows.
Brooders
Brooders – Founders of Rifffest – were a band I was looking forward to seeing again. Their riff heavy psychedelic grunge is something I really like. And they didn’t disappoint.
So while the casual listener may have Brooders pegged as one of those riffy grunge-y bands, they are way more than this. Yep, they do that locked into a groove loud thing, but it’s not just a set of the that. Their songs have variety – sometimes there are hints of grunge-y space-rock, sometimes they sound a bit garage-y. And their sound is dense, it’s amazing that just three people can make that sound.
Their set is just this all out sonic attack, they play with very little gaps between their songs. As a result you feel drawn in, submerged, in that sound, it’s hypnotic.
Strange Bones
I was looking forward to Strange Bones, a band I’ve heard good things about. By the end of their set I felt drained.
Strange Bones are a riot in musical form. It whipped the crowd into something of a frenzy. Their sound is punky but with this wild rave-y edge. And visually this band are cool, exciting, all of that kind of thing. Their vocalist – Bobby – is a force of nature, stalking the stage, crowd surfing at the drop of a hat.
Seeing a band like that for the first time, it was difficult to ‘think like a reviewer’ I was swept up (swept up as much as I could attempting to take photos) in the energy. Snapshots remain – Bobby crowd surfing with his guitar, a lasting impression that this is a band who back up that energy with great playing, the near impossibility of taking the band as a whole in – this is a band that you can’t take your eyes off.
Like Fudge, a band I love, I am drawn to Strange Bones, it’s that all out riotous thrilling excitement, it’s that the sound the band make is addictive, it’s that feeling you get from the crowd. Strange Bones I will be back.
Crows
And so to the fest closers – Crows. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I’d never heard of Crows before they were announced for Rifffest. I hadn’t the slightest idea what they were like.
I was basically completely blown away by the band. I stood, in the gaps between trying to take pictures, open mouthed.at their music. It’s post-punky, it’s punky, at times it’s almost goth. And at times it’s a noisy wall of sound. And it has something of the intensity of Joy Division – a band that Crows’s music has hints of sometimes.
Visually you are drawn to their singer, he stalks, he glares at the crowd. But you are drawn to his vocals – swapping between two mikes – one producing an echo-y vocal sound that is ethereal and disturbing.
Crows are a band I want to, no have to, see again, soon, very soon.
One of the UK’s most exciting, credible and influential British groups, The Stranglers have announced an extensive full production UK tour in October and November 2020 and have confirmed that this will be the last time they intend to play together in this way. The band have stated that this will be their final extensive tour of the UK and whilst they may not be checking out completely just yet this will be the last opportunity to see them playing together in a comprehensive touring format. The band promise a set that will be covering tracks from their extensive catalogue spanning over 45 years.
First formed in 1974, The Stranglers no bull***t attitude was embraced by the punk movement of the late’70s,with their first three albums (Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes and Black and White) being released within an astonishing 13 months of each other, scoring hit singles such as Peaches, No More Heroes and Walk On By. Further success was to follow with Always The Sun, Strange Little Girl and the mercurial Golden Brown, amongst many others, earning the group 24 Top 40 singles and 18 Top 40 albums.
As always, audiences can expect to be swept up high on the wave of The Stranglers’ powerful sound, pounding rhythms, soaring melodies, quirky humour and thrillingly daring musicianship for an exhilarating live experience. Due to overwhelming demand from the band’s fans is has been decided to invite Ruts DC to be special guests.
With their final full UK tour and the imminent release of their debut movie, 2020 will be an iconic action – packed year for The Stranglers.
Tue 20 Lincoln Engine Shed
Thu 22 Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Fri 23 Bristol O2 Academy
Sat 24 Cambridge Corn Exchange
Mon 26 Norwich UEA
Tue 27 Brighton Dome
Thu 29 Newcastle O2 Academy
Fri 30 Sheffield City Hall
Sat 31 Birmingham O2 Academy
NOVEMBER 2020
Mon 02 Portsmouth Guildhall
Tue 03 Nottingham Rock City
Thu 05 Aberdeen Music Hall
Sat 07 Glasgow O2 Academy
Mon 09 Stoke Victoria Hall
Tue 10 Leicester De Montfort Hall
Thu 12 Leeds O2 Academy
Sat 14 Manchester O2 Apollo
Mon 16 Guildford G Live
Tue 17 Reading Hexagon
Thu 19 Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Sat 21 London O2 Academy Brixton
CIGARETTES AFTER SEX have released new single “Falling In Love”, the second song to be lifted from their warmly reviewed second album Cry, out now via Partisan Records. The new single follows the recent release of “Heavenly,” which has amassed over 10 million streams in less than six weeks.
Recorded during night time sessions in a mansion on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Cry is a lush, cinematic meditation on the many complex facets of love – meeting, wanting, needing, losing… sometimes all at once.
“This was one of the few songs where I had the music written before we got to Mallorca,” explains frontman Greg Gonzalez. “I wrote the melody and chords in my apartment in Brooklyn in 2017. It wasn’t until two years later that I finally wrote the lyrics, it was during mixing and we literally had one day left. I wrote and sang the song that night, and in the performance you can hear the exhaustion and emotion of finally finishing this record.”
“My girlfriend and I, our relationship was long distance for so long, so we developed as a couple mostly over the phone. The second verse is about how we would go see the same movie at the same time like it was a date, even though we were living in separate cities.
I think there’s something cosmic about this one. I wrote the music before our relationship started. I wasn’t in love at all then, I was just writing about love and what it’d be like to be in love again. Two years later I actually fell in love again, and that’s what it took to finish the song.”
After decamping to Mallorca the same week that their self-titled minimalist pop masterwork debut was released in 2017, Gonzalez and his bandmates – Jacob Tomsky (drums) & Randy Miller (bass) – consciously let the striking location guide the initial Cry sessions. “The sound of this record is completely tied to the location for me,” Gonzalez explains. “Ultimately, I view this record as a film. It was shot in this stunning, exotic location, and it stitches all these different characters and scenes together, but in the end is really about romance, beauty & sexuality. It’s a very personal telling of what those things mean to me.”
While the music came quickly – often improvised on the spot – it would be another two years before Gonzalez would attempt to complete the accompanying lyrics. Helped by the burgeoning love of a new relationship, the influence of films by Éric Rohmer, and the songs of Selena and Shania Twain among others, Cry blends the carnal subtlety of their debut with a warmer palette. The album was self-produced and engineered by Gonzalez, and mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
Cigarettes After Sex’s self-titled debut has sold over 550k records to date (streaming equivalent), amassing over 360 million Spotify streams, 2.2 million monthly listeners, and 350 million YouTube streams.
Cigarettes After Sex recently announced a run of tour dates across the UK and Europe for March and April 2020, including a stop at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. The new dates follow a global headline tour this autumn, that includes UK shows at Albert Hall, Manchester on 27 November and an already sold out Shepherds Bush Empire the following night. Full routing below, tickets on sale now.
2020 UK tour dates:
MARCH
23/3/20 – Bristol, UK – Academy
24/3/20 – London, UK – Hammersmith Apollo
25/3/20 – Birmingham, UK – Institute
27/3/20 – Leeds, UK – University
28/3/20 – Glasgow – Barrowland
29/3/20 – Liverpool, UK – Academy
The live music circuit is celebrating today as the Government announced details of a 50% reduction in Business Rates for small and medium sized Grassroots Music Venues. The announcement releases over £1.7million back into the grassroots live music sector, which has endured a prolonged crisis illustrated by the closure of 35% of Grassroots Music Venues in the last decade.
Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director, Music Venue Trust, said “This is a much needed and long overdue boost for Grassroots Music Venues. Music Venue Trust has been working hard with government on this issue for the last four years and it is a huge breakthrough for us and the members of the Music Venues Alliance. We’d like to thank our partners at UK Music and Musicians’ Union for their support and help in getting this over the line.”
The extension of the relief will see 230 Grassroots Music Venues across England and Wales benefit, with the average saving per venue equating to a reduction in overheads of £7,500 per annum. It follows other wins for the sector including a new ring-fenced fund announced by Arts Council England in May 2019, which released £1.5million of subsidy into the sector, and changes to planning guidance and the legal framework across the UK which have brought additional protections for music venues from developers and noise complaints through Agent of Change.
Mark Davyd, CEO and Founder, Music Venue Trust “This latest announcement from Government is another foundation stone in the support Music Venue Trust is building so that we can deliver a vibrant, sustainable, world class Grassroots Music Venue sector to artists and audiences. There’s still a lot to be done on this specific issue, and we look forward to working with the governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland to make sure that GMVs across the UK have a level playing field when it comes to Business Rates and Public Subsidies. This issue can be tackled, and it needs a broad coalition of key stakeholders to do that. Government, the Cultural Sector and the live music industry have all acted in the last 12 months to address the crisis in this sector. It’s now time for recording, streaming and publishing interests to play their part. Billions of pounds in revenue are being generated in the music industry from the music that is tested, developed, finds its audience and emerges from these vital spaces. PRS for Music, PPL, Universal, Warners, Sony, Spotify, Apple and Google now need to come to the table and tell us what they are going to do to make sure that continues to happen.”
Nathan Clark, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds said “We are overjoyed to hear this much overdue news of support to Music Venues. Steps made by Music Venue Trust to help recognise the cultural importance of our places and impact on the community is invaluable. This reduction of business rates supports an ability to reinvest, helping new and emerging artists, create accessible events, and further support a vibrant, but financially strained environment for the wider community. A giant step in the right direction!”
Rebecca Walker, The Leadmill, Sheffield commented “Business Rates are one of our largest annual overheads. Thanks to the incredible work of all of the MVT team, this significant reduction will really help us to invest in not only music and the arts, but the staff and infrastructure needed to continue putting on great shows for the people of Sheffield.”
What Happens Next?
Music Venue Trust will be writing to every member of the Music Venues Alliance to individually detail how this news impacts on you. They will provide details of the relief you are due and how to access it.
Music Venue Trust will be writing to all local authorities in the UK with a list of Music Venues Alliance members in their area, to ensure that Grassroots Music Venues access this relief.
Music Venue Trust will be contacting government in Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure that a matching relief is offered to that available in England and Wales.
Music Venue Trust will continue to work with government on a solution to the Business Rates challenge for Grassroots Music Venues with a rateable value of over £51,000; and will be pressing local authorities to use their own powers to provide relief.
Home Is Where The Heart Is is the first release from the Liverpool five-piece since signing to Modern Sky UK. Recorded at the legendary Parr Street Studios and produced by Rich Turvey (Blossoms, Courteeners, Vistas), Home Is Where The Heart Is is a track brimmed with sonic optimism, yet underpinned by a yearning for closure and comfort.
Frontman and songsmith Kevin Potter’s says “Home Is Where The Heart Is is very much a love song at its core. It’s about that rare time in breakup, where you kind of don’t want to be sad or argue anymore. You just want to appreciate the time and the memories for what they were. It’s about that person being home for the weekend and how a place and a person can take you back in time, and maybe just for one night you pretend you’re still the same kids who fell in love all that time ago.”
It’s a flawless start from a band who are set to have an incredible year. With rumours of an album on the way in the summer, there is no doubt that Home Is Where The Heart Is will not be the last we hear from Paris Youth Foundation, and their sound is one set to adorn festival stages throughout 2020. The release of Home Is Where The Heart Is precedes a seven-date headline tour in February.
In anticipation of their recently announced headline tour for Spring 2020 and THE ANGRY EP, to be released on their own Puke Pop Records on 6 March, HANDS OFF GRETEL have revealed a new video single for MILK, from their 2019 album I WANT THE WORLD.
“Milk is a song I wrote about animal exploitation, which is something I’m so passionate about raising awareness of. I’d say it’s one of the heaviest songs we play live and a personal favourite because it means so much and the lyrics deeply resonate with me. The imagery in the video portrays animal testing and shows myself and Becky covered with meat cuts. The industry is full of vile practices and seeing that in human form will hopefully help people make the connection. I wrote the song about animals, and although this can be related to all forms of exploitation, I wanted the video to be a bold statement: ‘Not your mother, not your milk’.”
LAUREN TATE | HANDS OFF GRETEL
The previously announced ANGRY EP will be available on CD, limited edition 10” white vinyl and all major download and streaming platforms, and can be pre-ordered now from: www.handsoffgretel.co.uk The three tracks – SHE THINKS SHE’S PUNK ROCK N ROLL, DON’T TOUCH and BIGGER THAN ME – are all live favourites that fans have repeatedly asked the band to release, and were recorded with Jim Pinder at Tree House Studio in Chesterfield.
The release coincides with the band’s huge headline DON’T TOUCH tour in early 2020. Speaking about the tour, singer Lauren said: “We are looking forward so much to getting back out on tour and kicking off in Ireland, which will be our first time playing there. Our tour in 2019 was fantastic; we had so many sold out gigs and we’re hoping we can do the same in 2020. The crowds have definitely grown and it’s nice to see the hard work finally paying off; playing to a full room is what any band works towards. There are some new venues on the tour as well, which we’re really looking forward to.”
FEBRUARY
Wed 12 CORK Crane Lane Theatre
Thu 13 DUBLIN Academy 2
Fri 14 BELFAST Voodoo
Thu 27 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
MARCH
Thu 12 LONDON Camden Assembly
Fri 13 BRIGHTON Green Door Store
Sat 14 BRISTOL Thekla
Thu 26 NOTTINGHAM Rough Trade
Fri 27 MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
Sat 28 SHEFFIELD Leadmill 2
APRIL
Wed 08 BRIDGWATER Cobblestones
Thu 09 EXETER Phoenix
Fri 10 SOUTHAMPTON The 1865
Sat 11 BEDFORD Esquires
Wed 22 ABERDEEN Krakatoa
Thu 23 GLASGOW Nice N Sleazy
Fri 24 EDINBURGH Bannermans
Sat 25 LINCOLN Showground [with Skindred]
MAY
Wed 06 CAMBRIDGE Portland Arms
Thu 07 BIRMINGHAM Academy 3
Fri 08 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
Sat 09 BUCKLEY Tivoli
Wed 20 OXFORD Bullingdon
Thu 21 YORK Crescent
Fri 22 BLACKPOOL Waterloo
Sat 23 NEWCASTLE Cluny 2
