Los Pepes - Sick And Bored

London's power pop kings Los Pepes are back today with a song from a new album that seems to have sneaked out with little fanfare. Maybe all the much deserved praise will begin at the end of this week as that's when it's down for release on the labels Bandcamp page but as it's streaming already I'm going to post one of the tracks today. 

The band line up with Ben Perrier (Vocals/Guitar), Seisuke Nakagawa (Bass/Vocals), Guilherme Rujao (Guitar/Vocals) & Kris "Killer" Kowalski (Drums) and it's fair to say that any new release from them comes with a guarantee it'll be catchy as hell. The new album is no exception. 

It's titled The Happiness Programme, it features both tracks from the excellent single they released earlier this year (Want You Back/Never Get It Right) plus 10 new compositions that are equally as good.

This is an early highlight and it is called Sick And Bored...

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Saves The Day - At Your Funeral

At Your Funeral is the opening track from Saves The Day's third album Stay What You Are. It is probably their most popular track and was played tones on mtv2 back in the early 00's. Due to it being played so much I haven't listened to it for years, but the singer was recently on a Podcast I listen to discussing the song and hearing it brought back all kinds of memories.

The song was written after the singer as a young man went to hang out with a band he really respected at practice and all they did was drink and smoke, so he ended up being disappointed with the experience and saw this as the end of that relationship and having those guys on a pedestal and therefore wrote this song on the back of this. 

It is the typical pop punk 3 barre chord track but they do so much to make it a great track.

Blur - Out of Time

Blur are an English rock band. Formed in London in 1988, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Think Tank is their seventh studio album, released on 5 May 2003. Continuing the jam-based studio constructions of the group's previous album, 13 (1999), the album expanded on the use of sampled rhythm loops and brooding, heavy electronic sounds. There are also heavy influences from dance music, hip hop, dub, jazz, and African music, an indication of songwriter Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests.

Out of Time is the lead single and is a bass-driven track with minimal drums and acoustic guitar accompanied by eastern and orchestral flourishes. The faint gargling noises in the intro is part of a scene from Doctor Who. It reached number five in the UK Singles Chart. Out of Time was Blur's first release in three years and also the band's first release without guitarist Graham Coxon.

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 73 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years" and eighth on its list "Greatest Tracks of the Decade". They later ranked it the 499th best song ever.

The song was accompanied by an anti-war music video directed by John Hardwick, edited by Quin Williams and produced by Mike Wells through London-based production company Helen Langridge Associates (HLA). It was the first of Blur's videos to not feature the band members themselves in any way, consisting entirely of footage from a 2002 BBC Correspondent documentary depicting life aboard the United States aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on duty in the Persian Gulf. Produced and directed by Anthony Makin, shot by Brian Green and Dale Rodkin and edited by Karen O'Connor, Warship was filmed in October 2002 and premiered 1 December 2002 on BBC Two. Hardwick got the idea to use the documentary footage for the music video while watching the film. He showed the band a reference tape cut to fit the song in early February 2003. Blur decided to release it as the finished video. It premiered on 10 March.

The video is centred on Jill Ameperosa, a 24-year-old aircraft maintenance technician. After walking up to the deck, she looks out at sea whilst subtitles on the screen read, "Two days after I get home he leaves. It's just too hard. I used to love him. But you can't love someone you don't know anymore ...".

Albarn described the video as

the antithesis of the 'Top Gun' image of the American military machine. It focuses on the loneliness of somebody working on an aircraft carrier and the fact that a six-month tour of duty means that relationships break down and children go without their parents. That's the reality of it."

Commenting on the video, Hardwick explained,

it occurred to me that some of the personnel revealed in that film communicated a fragility that I felt was echoed in the song. Putting the two together was a comparatively simple task. The video offers an alternative perspective on the individuals who exist at the sharp end of government policy by portraying the armed forces as being staffed by people who have the same needs as all others."

The video won Hardwick a Wood Pencil for music video direction and Williams a Graphite Pencil for music video editing at the 2004 D&AD Awards.

Anthrax - Island Mentality

This is Anthrax the UK anarcho punk band, not Anthrax the US heavy metal band. They formed in Gravesend, Kent, back in 1980 during the time that Crass were sniffing out bullshit and Maggie Thatcher was breeding a generation of voracious capitalists. They were a band that we needed back then and we still need them today. 

They've just released a new album. It's their first for almost a decade, it's titled Serfs Out, and it's available from the band's Grow Your Own Records. As you might expect, they aren't happy with the state of the nation. They attack leaders ("care and compassion are no longer in fashion"), the media ("dumb it down dumb it down, vilify, throw it out there, repeat the lie") and those that enable this current shit show ("I'm so fuckin' proud of my country, I love to watch it fall from grace"). It's an album about the rich conning the poor with the help of a complicit media and it's simultaneously a great listen and a saddening one. It's about food banks, Brexit, greed and dumbing down. It's modern day life, maybe it's life as it's always been and sadly always will be. 

A few of the songs are re recorded versions of tracks that have appeared in recent years, a few are new, all fit together nicely to make up one of the best albums of 2021.

The track I'm highlighting here is the one that concerns itself with little Englanders yearning for a glorious past that didn't actually exist. It's called Island Mentality... 

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Covert Flops - Spy School Dropout

Covert Flops are an Indiana 3 piece (Chad (guitar vox), Adam (drums), Billy (Bass vox)) and if you like The Lillingtons, Ramones, Queers etc then you'll like these guys. Titled Mission: Implausible, they have released a new album and it is more of what you'd expect from them. They're still singing about spies and they're still influenced by The Ramones and The Lillingtons' The Backchannel Broadcast album. They're still lots of fun. The album's available via Mon's Basement Records

This track is called Spy School Dropout... 

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Teenage Bigfoot - The CIA Killed Bill Hicks

Teenage Bigfoot are a trio from Philadelphia featuring Tiffany Tavella (bass/vocals), Joe Gdowik (guitar/vocals) & Jake Wunderlich (drums). They've been plying their fun, 90's pop punk influenced wares since 2013 and have built up a solid back catalogue of music. Their latest release is a new album titled Weapons Against Darkness and it's pretty damn impressive. 

Pop punk influenced it may be but it's the powerful, punchy brand of pop punk, not the anodyne kind. It's pacy, bounce around party music for punks who want to go to a show and get all sweaty.

It's available now on Bloated Kat Records as a name your price download.

This is a highlight, it's titled The CIA Killed Bill Hicks...

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Pinch Points - Reasons To Be Anxious

Lining up with Acacia Coates (vocals/bass), Adam Smith (vocals/guitar), Isabella Orsini (drums) & Jordan Oakley (guitar), Pinch Points are an inventive and fun post punk outfit who've been getting plenty of good press and touring with the likes of Amyl And The Sniffers, Tropical Fuck Storm, Viagra Boys etc.

Reasons To Be Anxious is their latest single and it has back and forth female/male vocals telling us it's better to stay at home curled up under the duvet with the wi fi for company, it's far too stressful an experience venturing outdoors. On the flip side and clocking in at almost 4 minutes, Boy "dives deep into the cesspool of toxic masculinity and the repressed emotions that boys are socialised to deny, with disastrous outcomes for everyone." It's another good release by one of Aus' many great bands and it's going to be followed by a new album next March. 

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Kill Lincoln - That Song

The DC ska-punks released a cover of the Bouncing Souls track That Song as part of the compilation "Having a Bad Time, Wish You Were Here" which is available on vinyl + digital from Bad Time Records. It is a great version of an already brilliant track.

Enjoy!

Klobber - Only In It For The Beer

Klobber are from Madrid and have recently released an excellent album titled Clap Time! The album is available from local label Take The City Records and the label describes them as Madrid's best punk band. I think Accidente may have something to say on that!

The Bandcamp page throws up comparisons with the likes of Zero Boys, Adolescents, The Clash & Circle Jerks. Classic punk rock influenced by some of the genre's greats. Subjects covered include white privilege, the power of the media, addiction and life during the pandemic. They're not just in it for the beer, they're a band with plenty to say. They've got some damn good tunes too. 

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MC16 - United States of Generica

United States of Generica is the new single by Shropshire trio MC16. The band's take on the single is that it "bemoans the process and solution of ‘Saving our High Streets’ which seems to condense down to ‘If we can help rich developers and rich brands become even richer then we will save it." Andy comments that “High streets have just become memories now. I remember some of the great characters of our high street like the man who was always dressed as a cowboy shopping with his Mum, and the busker with only one string on his guitar. Now its just a middle ground of mediocrity!” 

Guitarist and co-vocalist Carson chips in with “You can’t just blame the death of the high street on the internet. High streets are very product focused but me personally, I don’t buy a new brand label t- shirt every week but I would be more of a user if they were more service or experience focused and built on need not gain.” Drummer Duffy tells how “I used to think I was psychic. I could be in any city centre for the very first time and know where all the shops were. But then I realised that all the city centres are all just generic. I am not psychic Pah!”. 

It's a great single and a worthy addition to an impressive back catalogue of single releases which can be found on Bandcamp.

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Dicklord - Don't Tell Me

Byron Bay punks Dicklord sound like a mix up of L7 and Amyl And The Sniffers. They recently released LP number 2, Pre Menstrual Attitude which boasts a dozen songs which mix anger and humour. It's the sound of a band that are pissed off but not po faced. It's not for the faint of heart. It's available on vinyl and cd via Valve Records and their Bandcamp.

This track is called Don't Tell Me... 

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Aborted Tortoise - Stage Banter

Forming in a Perth high school in 2013 by 3 friends, Aborted Tortoise's expanded line up features Connor Lane (Vocals), Tom Milan (Guitar), Charles Wickham (Guitar), John Peers (Bass) and Alex Patching (Drums).

They have just released a new album titled A Album. It was recorded in 2018 but is just being unleashed and it's another winner from down under. It's available from Bargain Bin Records (Aus), Under The Gun Records (US) or Bachelor Records (Europe). You can get it on vinyl (black or yellow) and digital download.

It's hectic garage influenced punk with songs about about "bees, the Goosebumps book series, Coles Minis, getting blasted into the sun and being born." It's a fun listen and a worthy companion on your record shelves to some of the other great recent Aussie releases by bands such as Stiff Richards, Alien Nosejob, The Chats, Private Function, Disco Junk, Civic etc... 

This is Stage Banter... 

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Fatal Blow - One Voice

Fatal Blow are the oi/street punk quartet from South Wales who recently released a new LP titled Black Gold. They started up as a side project of The Oppressed and feature a line up of Paul Cobley (guitar/vocals), Nidge Downs (guitar), Wayne Bending (bass) & Antal Kizmus (drums).

Black Gold is a worthy follow up to Generals And Soldiers with 13 "working class hymns" that will get people singing along at their live shows. Politically astute songs of solidarity, fighting side by side and lost love, it even features a top notch cover of the Tom Robinson Band's Up Against The Wall. You can get it on cd and digital download on their Bandcamp

This is One Voice... 

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The Ramonas - Last Punk In The Village

Brighton punks The Ramonas have released a video for their song Last Punk In The Village. The song is a highlight from their new album, Haphazard, but it's by no means the only "hit." The band (Lisa Lathwell (lead vocals), Maxine Cahill (guitar), Victoria Smith (bass/backing vocals) & Camille Phillips (drums)) are on top form throughout. The lyrics touch on subjects such as the demise of Donald Trump, corruption, sexism, the environment, mental health and Dee Dee Ramone's Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame Speech. Musically, they manage to hit hard but pack in plenty of catchy tunes too. The album's available on cd and digital download whilst a limited edition vinyl release will be available in 2022 on ProRawk records USA. 

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51st State - Great British Public

51st State are a duo from Exeter. They describe their music as Bass & beat punk/dub/industrial. Louder Than War's Nathan Brown, whilst reviewing previous ep Plastic called their sound a hippy-punk mashup of anarcho punk, ska, dub, thrash and space rock. I think it's fair to say the band like to experiment and that you never quite know what to expect. 

On their new single however (or at least on the song they've just released a video for), they've gone for a more traditional anarcho punk sound. And very good it is too. 

The single will be out soon on Grow Your Own Records (as is the case globally, the single is at the mercy of the vinyl pressing plants which are all logjammed at the moment). Pretty sure the wait will be worthwhile. 

This is Great British Public...

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Grit - Parazone

Grit are a female fronted punk band from Dublin who recently released their debut album. Shatterproof is an excellent debut album which builds on the promise of 2 very fine singles. 10 tracks of gritty, oi infused punk rock with catchy tunes and well written lyrics. Topics covered include Irish revolutionary military commander police commissioner and fascist asshole Eoin O'Duffy, struggling to make it through the day, women fearing for their safety if they go out alone, living in poverty etc. It's a release that I didn't know was coming and it's a very welcome surprise.

Parazone is the opening track, it's a song of which the band say "the subject matter seems to be escalating every day. The same story of property vultures and destroyed neighborhoods all over the world. Don't let them kill our city! Dublin still has a soul!"

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Tom Jenkins - Cocaine Hearts

Better known for his indie punk band Straight Lines, Tom Jenkins has been doing some solo bits recently. The new EP Cocaine Hearts / Illusion is exactly what you'd expect from the self-proclaimed "Sunday League songwriter", a statement I disagree with. Illusion was the track that followed Natural Light, but I am going with Cocaine Hearts. Nice guitar work and those dreamy vocals with some thoughtful lyrics thrown in too. Lovely little EP.

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Ludovico Einaudi - Natural Light

As with most I first became aware of his work through This Is England and since then I have been to a number of his performances and they are always great experiences, whether solo or with full orchestra.

Natural Light is the latest single from him which appeared on my Release Radar a couple of weeks back. It was the first song on there and I enjoyed it more than I have some of his more recent works. Calm and peaceful, it has been quite the relaxing background track for me. Looking forward to the new album which I think is out early next year.

Postage - 80-85

Postage are a "mid tempo loud abrasive melodic pop punk" band from Albany, New York, who's line up is Mike Moak (guitars/vocals), Tyler Paige (guitar), Chris Millington (drums) and Eric Pressman (bass). The members are genre veterans having served their time playing in bands such as Signal Lost, Male Patterns, Mystery Girl and After the Fall. 

They released the 4 track Flexi ep in 2019 and then a split single the following year with Mikey Erg. Their Self Titled album is now available to check out in it's entirety and a very enjoyable listen it is. Several of the tracks which were originally on those earlier releases have been given a loving polish. 

All the tracks are catchy and worthy of  multiple plays and I am going with 80-85.

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Dirt Byrds - This Country

Dirt Byrds are a 3 piece from Bangor (Northern Ireland, not Wales!) who line up thus; Keith Farr, John McLachlan & Chipper Robinson.

Their latest release is an album titled Dirt. It's a dozen tracks and the band's intention was to make a record that "sounds like a banging demo rather than a polished studio track, it’s a street punk song after all." They succeeded. 

Dirt sounds great and the songs, written by Keith Farr who wrote songs for Belfast legends Runnin Riot, are timeless classics. There's times when listening to it that you could swear you were listening to outtakes from the sessions for Inflammable Material. Topics covered include refusing to be downtrodden, seaside riots, elections being a waste of time, the battle of Cable Street and parasitic politicians. Definitely an album of the year contender, it's available via Dammit Records on cd and digital download.

This is the opening track and sets us up nicely for the rest of a barnstorming listen. It's called This Country...

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The Pulsebeats - (She Sings Like) Joey Ramone

The Pulsebeats are from Santander and they play a catchy mix of power pop and garage rock. They feature vocalist/guitarist Nathan Whittle (a contributor for Louder Than War who moved from England to Spain 12 years ago and has hooked up with 3 Spaniards (Luis Ibáñez: Guitar, Alejandro Santos: Bass, Raúl García: Drums) in a band that are preparing to release their first album since 2016's Fiction Non-Fiction.

Titled Lookin' Out, it'll be available on Friday on cd and digital download via their Bandcamp.

This is the lead single, it's an up tempo rocker that more than lives up to that cool title.

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The Shifty Grifts & Jet8 - Keeping Me Sane

The final song from the EP I have shared over the last couple of days ees both bands team up. This is such a cool way to finish the split and I wish more bands would do the same. This is an upbeat ska song that gives thanks to the music that helps you find your way through life. There’s a really upbeat and positive feeling to the whole song and it had me smiling throughout. I’m a sucker for easter eggs in songs and there are plenty sprinkled throughout the lyrics that I loved picking out. I really want to hear this song live at some point, with both bands performing it.

Hands Off! is a superb EP. It shows off two brilliant bands from Prague and it has me wondering what the rest of the Czech scene is like. There has been a lot of talk about the ska scene “returning” in recent months and these are two bands you definitely shouldn’t be sleeping on.

The Shifty Grifts - Kill the Rich

Following on from yesterday's song, I am sharing a track by the other band on the spilit EP. The Shifty Grifts are also a skacore band from Prague who I knew nothing about until this EP dropped. The first of their songs is titled Kill The Rich. This was my first time listening to the band and I was instantly in love with them. The band are more than happy to jump between melodic punk rock to bouncy ska and even a bit of reggae on the song, showing they have no borders when it comes to their songwriting. Kill The Rich starts with some real intensity before switching to some upbeat ska that will get everyone skanking and then jumping to a more high octane chorus. This is one of those songs that has so much going on and will leave you breathless. The theme of the song follows what Jet8 were also singing about – standing up for yourself and not getting downtrodden by folk who believe they are better than you.

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Jet8 - Rise Up

Jet8 are a Czech skacore band who in 2020 released the incredible Chasing The High album. Now, in 2021, they’re back again with a new split EP with a band I wasn’t previously aware of named The Shifty Grifts – who are also a skacore band from Prague. The split EP is titled Hands Off! and features two new Jet8 songs, two new The Shifty Grifts songs and a collaboration between the two bands.

Jet8's second song on the EP is titled Rise Up. This is a song about being your own person and fighting for what you believe in. Jet8 do these songs so well and this is another fantastic example of that. The track starts off in a very horn heavy manor which really caught my attention and then saxophonist Daniela takes a turn on lead vocals. This was a nice surprise and added a fantastic extra element to the band’s sound. Jet8 are fantastic at writing ferocious choruses that will have a crowd shouting them back at the band with real passion.

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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - I Don’t Believe in Anything

The latest album from The Bosstones, which came out a few months back now, is a glorious example of the band at its greatest, ska- punk acolytes that can write one hell of a catchy, lyrically smart track. For me, you have to go all the way back to 2000’s Pay Attention to find an album that is song for song this consistently solid in The Bosstones’ back catalogue.

I am going with I Don’t Believe in Anything which offers some insight as to how the near-forty-year-old band chose to keep their hands busy over the last year.

The Copyrights - Part Of The Landscape

Midwest poppy punks The Copyrights' first album in seven years, Alone In A Dome, came out a few weeks back via Fat Wreck Chords and ahead of the release, they premiered new single "Part of the Landscape." It's an anthemic punk song with a huge-sounding chorus that should instantly scratch an itch for longtime Copyrights fans, or just as any fans of melodic punk in general.

Vocalist/bassist Adam Fletcher tells us, "'Part of the Landscape' was the first song Luke brought to the table when we started the process of making a new record. After we had recorded it, we all agreed that it was a stone-cold jam, and it gave us some momentum to keep working towards having enough new songs to make a whole album. Growing old in a crumbling midwest city is something I think many people can probably relate to. The line 'you're gonna die alone in a Bucky dome' was the inspiration for the album title and the video. A 'bucky' dome is a reference to Buckminster Fuller; he was an author, futurist, and designer most known for his geodesic dome design. We shot some of the video in Fuller's original geodesic dome home that he lived in while he was in Carbondale."

Check it out below...

The Exbats - Ghost In The Record Store

Tucson's amazing The Exbats have released a new video for The Ghost in the record store. From the band's new album Now Where Were We is out now via Goner records.

Exquisitely amazing and seasonally apt video features the actual cool record store Wooden Tooth Records. A catchy and great track.

This is The Ghost in the record store.

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The Bare Minimum - Woah

The Bare Minimum are a punk band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Playing a heavy but fun brand of punk threaded together by frantically catchy hooks, landing somewhere between irony and nihilism, they subvert pop songs into meditations on bar culture, boredom, and scene politics. So there you go!

Woah is their latest single that I am sharing today.

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The Lee Harveys - Motor City Bluez

Hailing from Dublin and forming in 2009, The Lee Harveys love '77 style punk rock. Not only have they just released a new ep titled 77, they've enlisted one of punk's iconic figures, Rat Scabies, to produce and mix it. 

Motor City Bluez is the lead track on 77 and is joined by another 3 choice cuts from a band at the top of their game. 

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Lady Bird - Infants

Lady Bird are a trio (Sam Cox, Alex Deadman, Joe Walker) from Tunbridge Wells who play a similar style of fresh faced indie punk to another excellent band from that area, Slaves. Their upcoming album is due out on Christmas Day via Alcopop Records and it's one I'm very much looking forward to. You can pre order it on their Bandcamp.

As a teaser of things to come I am sharing Infants.

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Vista Blue - Ya Bang!

Vista Blue released a 4 track ep titled New Nightmares and the songs are inspired by a quartet of horror movies; Halloween III, Candyman, Terror Train & Friday the 13th VI.

As always with the Nashville power pop outfit what we get is a very catchy collection of songs and you can get the ep as a name your price download on their Bandcamp.

This track is the Friday the 13th VI inspired one, or to be more specific it's inspired by the cop in that movie who has a laser scope that he says he's been dying to use. He says, "Wherever the red dot goes... ya bang!" It's one of the most famous and cheesiest quotes from the series and there's a clip of the scene here. 

A fun love song, this is Ya Bang!

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Bart And The Brats - Livin´ In The Future

Based in La Rochelle, France, Bart And The Brats is the solo project featuring Bart De Vraantijk who you may know from bands such as Wild Zeros, Teenage Hearts, The Janitors, The Pneumonias, Skeptics and more. Bart has been brought up on a diet of late 70's punk and no doubt has plenty of Killed By Death and Bloodstains comps in his collection.

The new ep features 3 tracks with sharp guitars, loud bass, pounding drums and snotty vocals. It's titled Livin' In The Future and it's out on Spanish label Take The City Records  

All 3 songs are winners but it's the title track that's on Youtube so that's what you're getting. A prime cut of budget rock, this is Livin' In The Future...

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The Chevelles - Steve McQueen (I Wish I Was)

The Chevelles are from Perth, Western Australia, and have been around for over 3 decades. They play a mix of power pop, punk and garage rock and feature a line up of Duane Smith (Vocals/guitars), Adrian Allen (Guitars/vocals), Jeff Halley (Bass/vocals) & Ian Tubbs (Drums).

They've been pretty quiet in recent times but are going to be releasing a new album next year. They recently showcased the first single from it. It's on Wicked Cool Records and it's streaming on their Bandcamp

A nice blast of infectious psychedelia, this is Steve McQueen (I Wish I Was)... 

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The Courettes - Won't Let You Go

Brazilian/Danish married duo Flavia & Martin Couri have had a busy year. You'll probably know them better as The Courettes.

If you are a fan of the garage rocking twosome then you need a copy of their new album, Back In Mono. Pitched as “spit ´n´snarl garage rumble-meets-Phil Spector pop” it's a modern day classic. It's 14 killer garage rock tracks given an impressive production job. It's the 60's transported into the modern age. It's an album full of delights. It's available on vinyl, cd and digital download here :  

This song reminds me a little of Love You So by The King Khan & BBQ Show. It's a vibrant up tempo rocker that'll have you bopping around. You may recognise it as a reworking of a track from the 2019 Too Late To Say I'm Sorry ep. It's called Won't Let You Go... 

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Surfbort - Youth Group Therapy

An album that's providing me with much pleasure this morning is Keep On Truckin'. It's by Surfbort and it's essential listening. It's packed with should be hits. It's commercial enough to pick up mainstream acclaim but cool enough to keep us more discerning types happy too. 

We've already had the pleasure of a few of the tracks such as FML, White Claw Enema Bong Hit and new single Big Star but by no means are they the only high points. Songs such as Open Your Eyes, Dicks In Space, Youth Group Therapy (just to name a few) are equally infectious. It's an album that's consistent throughout. 

With so many great highlights to select from, I'm going with Youth Group Therapy.

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Flangipanis - Good Little Taxpayer

Brisbane 4 piece Flangipanis are back with a new album (their 8th) titled Fuckin' Woo which will be released on Friday. Good Little Taxpayer is their single from it and it is an incendiary track, which is typical Flangipanis, walking the line between hardcore and pop punk, there's a big, beefy pummelling sound that doesn't forget to simultaneously be very catchy indeed. Vocalist Jodie Lawlor is on fine form bemoaning the daily grind of the over worked & under paid. We're expected to shut our mouths and be good little drones. It's not just work though that's the problem, society in general is pretty shitty. Jodie's advice, burn it fucking down.

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Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters - Move

Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters are a punk rock n roll band from Melbourne. With a sound "sandwiched somewhere between The Saints and Neil Young at his most ragged". On their latest EP titled Fear/Move, Jackson sings and plays guitar and drums whilst Ryan Potter is on guitar and Deon Slaviero plays bass & organ. 

All 4 tracks are great but an early standout for me is Move...

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Campaign Of Terror - Divide And Fall

Campaign Of Terror are a new UK punk band that have recently posted a couple of songs to Bandcamp with more tracks on their way.

Divide And Fall is about how those in power are encouraging a Them vs Us society. This is Divide and conquer.

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Fine And Great - Stole The Liquor

Fine And Great are a three piece from Munich, Germany, featuring three friends who have played in different bands of varying genres for years. In 2019 they decided to get together for a new band to share their combined love of emotionally charged pop punk music. Early in 2020 they released their first single Three Sheets To The Wind before lockdown happened and put a bit of a halt to everything. Not deterred, the band managed to write and record their first EP, the appropriately titled How To Survive By Getting By which was then released in July 2021 on Midsummer Records.

I am sharing the penultimate song on the EP which is titled Stole The Liquor. Fine And Great also released this track as a single before How To Survive By Getting By came out. This was a great choice as it really encapsulates what Fine And Great are all about. The song is packed with builds, great vocals, harmonies and beautiful story telling. There’s a moment in the song where Manu lets out a shout that you would most likely expect from his other band, Captain Asshole. It’s a rare moment on the EP that really showcases the pain in his voice.

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Chartreux - Harriet

You Didn't Doubt This is the debut from Leipzig's German punks Chartreux. Released on the always brilliant Gunner Records earlier this year, it's only seven songs long which, for me, makes it too stretched to be an EP, but a little short to be classed as a full album. Not that this is in anyway a problem and, as the saying goes, all killer, no filler. Mini album anyone? Further, given the band only played their first show in February last year just before everything stopped, it's obviously been a tricky time to record and release anything so I'm willing to go with the band's assertion this is their first full length record. And it's a great first full length too – DIY skate punk meets hardcore, but with a bit of gruff Gainesville influenced sing-a-long anthemic punk in the mix as well.

I am going with Harriet which is an early standout track. It's also under two minutes, but the vocals are a little more jaunty and lend themselves to a sweaty room, gang sing-along.

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Children Collide - Uh Oh

After a near decade-long hiatus, Aussie three piece Children Collide are back to release new LP ‘Time Itself’. After such a long time away from the scene, it can be difficult to reclaim your place in an industry that’s everchanging. Is the sound that made your name still relevant after all these years, or will the absence of new music cause a thirst for anything new? For Children Collide, it’s all about overcoming time itself.

As tight and sharp as ever, you would never have known this is Children Collide’s first release in nearly a decade. ‘Time Itself’ is a journey, with huge swerves between sounds and styles whilst still maintaining their core self. Although a little repetitive in places, some of the steps taken into noise-rock, grunge, and post-punk are gladly welcome.

I am going with one of the early singles Uh oh’ which is a beat heavy party anthem. A riff that’s as distinctive as ‘Seven Nation Army’, it’s instantly memorable and leaves a sickly sweet taste in the mouth. A gentle word of warning – it’s almost impossible not to “uh oh” along in the choruses.

Dazy - Invisible Thing

In August of 2020, James Goodson, a music publicist based in Richmond, started posting songs on Bandcamp under the name Dazy. Goodson played all the instruments on that song, recording them with a sloppy lo-fi urgency, but the songs sounded huge. Dazy’s music is sticky, fuzzy, overwhelmingly catchy power-pop, and it’s got hooks for days. Goodson didn’t make a huge deal about pushing those songs out to the world, but the songs were too good to stay hidden on Bandcamp.

After a series of two-song singles, Goodson released a couple of slightly longer Dazy EPs, Revolving Door and The Crowded Mind, earlier this year. This week, he announced plans to release everything he’d made with Dazy thus far on a new cassette called MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs. That compilation, which is already out in the world, includes three new songs, including the single “Invisible Thing.”

Hearing all 24 of these short, compact bursts of melody in a row is just crazy. This doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that an active band or artist would make. Instead, MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD sounds like a greatest-hits compilation from one of those ’90s bands that signed to a major label after Nirvana but then never blew up even though the songs all kicked ass, since they wouldn’t go along with the label’s plans to record in a pro studio. But this is all just one guy, and he’s still cranking these bad boys out. There’s not one skip on this collection; it’s nuts.

It is the single that I am going with today. This is Invisible Thing.

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Capgun Heroes - Stuck withYou

Chicago-based punk band, Capgun Heroes play fast, hooky pop-punk in the vein of the Ramones, Screeching Weasel, and Riverdales. They are are Joe Capgun (vocals), Matt Cappy (guitar), Andy Hero (guitar), Nick Hero (guitar), Jimmy C. (bass), and Scotty (drums) and if you like your punk rock with plenty of buzzsaw guitars, saccharine melodies and tons of energy, then they have got you covered on their debut full-length. Throughout the dozen songs that make up ‘Last Call For Adderall’, they don’t exactly hide the fact that they worship at the altar of the Ramones, Screeching Weasel and Riverdales to name but a few. But Capgun Heroes bang out these tunes with so much enthusiasm that it goes a long way.

It’s nothing you haven’t heard before and the vocal harmonies aren’t always as airtight as you’d like them to be. But honestly, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Capgun Heroes delivered a fun debut with ‘Last Call For Adderall’.

I am sharing the track "Stuck With You" which has really solid riffage that leads to a bombastic chorus with all instrumentation kicking in gear. It's a catchy enough song, but the real winner on the song are the drum fills. They feel all off and weird and wrong in a way that ends up memorable and fun.  Falling off the rails?  Almost, but it feels so good.

https://capgunheroes.bandcamp.com/album/last-call-for-adderall

Part Time Killer - D.I.C.T.A.T.O.R

Part Time Killer are a melodic punk band from Lahti, Finland who released their latest EP at the end of August. Titled Human Syntax Error it is a great burst of skate and street punk.

I am going with the 2nd track D.I.C.T.A.T.O.R.

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I Feel Fine - Elemenohpea

Is there such a thing as uplifting emo? If your gut says no, then perhaps I Feel Fine can change your mind with The Cold In Every Shelter. The Brighton-based four-piece’s debut full-length is definitely an emotional and introspective record, but at the same time it can be incredibly joyful and even heart-warming. It’s an album which owes a lot to 90s midwestern emo, while also exuding a modern danceable indie-punk energy. Clocking in at 30 minutes, it’s a short, sweet and somehow sunny listen that’s well worth your time.

Easily the stand out feature of I Feel Fine's music is their vocal interplay. Most of The Cold… sees all four band members singing in unison; a mix of gang vocals and beautiful four part harmonies. This lends the record a real sense of camaraderie, like a group of friends singing and shouting through their pain. It’s also sure to produce plenty of live sing-alongs, as proven quickly by opener Something New To Worry About. Many more examples follow, not least in second and third tracks Elemenohpea and Million which round out the album’s strong opening run.

The Cold In Every Shelter is a triumphant debut for I Feel Fine . It’s a varied and well-crafted record that shows tonnes of promise and an impressive maturity already. Given the band have only a few years under their belt, and considering the rude health of the British alternative scene at the moment, the future looks very bright indeed for this creative young quartet.

I am going with Elemenohpea which shows off all the qualities from the album.

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Slothrust - The Next Curse

Slothrust (pronounced sloth-rust) is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band consists of Leah Wellbaum (vocals, guitar), Kyle Bann (bass), and Will Gorin (drums) though Brooks Allison has been on bass duty on their recent tour. Wellbaum and Gorin first began collaborating as students at Sarah Lawrence College. After performing in various school groups, the two joined to create music with a "heavier" sound. In search for a bassist, Bann later joined the band.

The name Slothrust came together as a combination of Wellbaum's former project "Slothbox" and "rust" to signify time passing.

After a number of singles they released their latest album Parallel Timeline last month.  It’s a new direction for Slothrust, and one that might require a few listens to fully adjust to, but once that adjustment takes place, don’t be surprised if it draws you in for repeat listens.

I am sharing The Next Curse which features Lzzy Hale of hard rock group Halestorm. It oozes a confident attitude with powerful vocals alongside a gliding melody and gradually echoing poetic words with gritty guitars.

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Infinite Josh

The long, melodramatic band name. The expansive and oft-shifting lineup. The grandiose, post-rock-infused approach to emo. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die have always been about going big. 

Their latest album is titled Illusory Walls and it finds the Philly-based unit reduced to five members: David Bello on lead vocals and guitar, Katie Dvorak on lead vocals and synth, Steven Buttery on drums and percussion, Josh Cyr (the band’s sole remaining founding member) on bass and backing vocals, and production maestro Chris Teti on “guitar, vocals, bass, and programming.” Structurally, they are as close to a “normal band” as they’ve ever been. But returning past their scene’s expiration date with a scaled-down lineup has not in any way hemmed in this band’s ambitions. If anything, this is TWIABP’s heaviest, proggiest, most audacious release to date.

TWIABP could have returned with just the final two tracks, called them an album, and no one would have flinched or complained. These are two incredible pieces of music, sprawling in scope yet densely packed with sound and self-referential Easter eggs, each one a journey unto itself. Both of them instantly rank among this band’s finest achievements. The first of the two is the track I am going with. Infinite Josh is a title that calls back to the band’s 2011 EP Josh Is Dead and music that keeps stacking upon itself, building ever skyward in prismatic echoes and choreographed lightning. “Our dreams get drowned in a river of present needs,” Bello repeats in one of the album’s most affecting metaphors. “The years float by like fallen leaves.” Bello’s poetic imagery moves along the horizontal axis, yet the music behind him keeps moving vertically, intensifying as it goes. It’s like watching all creation spiral upward into oblivion.

Moscow Death Brigade - Flares Are Burning

Moscow Death Brigade are taking their Circle Pit Hip-Hop to a new direction with a fully acoustic EP, rapping to acoustic guitar riffs and folk-inspired solos. The EP contains two brand new tracks written specifically for an acoustic guitar and unplugged versions of two of the band’s classic tracks!

Here’s Ski Mask G from MDB talking about the titular track:  “The titular track “FLARES ARE BURNING” talks about something that helps people to over come desperate situations and hard times, that burns like a flare in the darkness guiding you through the ocean of challenges and problems and inspiring you to keep fighting a good fight. Since the first days of MDB our main message was a call for unity, for creating a worldwide brother and sisterhood, since we believe that knowing that you are not alone, can guide a person through the hardest times. The EP was written and recorded during the Pandemic, when things are pretty bad and we think that it seeped into our music – it came out both hopeful and uplifting, but also mostly in a minor key with a dose of anger.”

This is the opening track Flares Are Burning.

The Last Gang - Shameless

The biggest surprise album during 2018 for me, was The Last Gang’s Fat Wreck debut (but sophomore album) Keep Them Counting, so the news of the release of Noise Noise Noise has been one of excitement and anticipation.

Noise Noise Noise has many of the same elements that made Keep Them Counting such a pleasant surprise; hard hitting lyrics, Red’s distinctive vocals, catchy guitar riffs, however Noise Noise Noise wears its reggae ska punk influence on its sleeve, with Red stating she listened to a lot of Trojan Records artists in writing this album. This adds another layer and depth to the album, making Noise Noise Noise an accomplished, albeit unexpected entry into The Last Gang’s catalogue. 

‘Shameless’ is a melodi earworm that will stick in your head, and allows Red to exercise her vocal chops in a way that fans haven’t experienced before.

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I Like Allie - The Chaser (feat. Laura Stevenson)

 I Like Allie are an Italian melodic punk band that recently released their album their first full length album, Rare Instances of Independent Thinking via Paper and Plastick (US), Engineer Records (UK), No Reason Records (Europe), and General Soreness Records (Italy).

If you like melodic punk rock stained with emo then this could be the release for you.

"This record was hard to make. It was born in the late hours of our Tuesday night practice. The vocals ended up taking forever because of the pandemic hitting right in the middle of their recording. But in the end, we got what we wanted even if it took us longer than expected. We're very proud of how it turned out and thankful to all the friends that helped us make this record. We are super excited that you all finally get to hear Rare Instances of Independent Thinking the way we imagined it: front to back in track order. When writing the record we paid attention to where each song was going to go. The main themes of each song are better appreciated listening to the record as a whole. For this reason, we spent a lot of time listening to the masters wanting to get every transition between songs just right. We hope you enjoy it." - Renato (Singer/guitarist)

I am sharing a track that includes some vocals for Laura Stevenson and it is called The Chaser.

Dillinger Four - Gainesville

I've been on a bit of a Dillinger Four kick recently and in particular their latest release Civil War as it gets a lot of flack, which is undeserved in my opinion.

In many ways they are what modern "punk" bands wish they were. Their songs are structured like 80s straight-edge hardcore anthems, but the band is generally too drunk to play them. If they only abandon a couple songs midway through their live shows, that’s considered a success. They rarely tour, much less play outside of the Midwest USA; and, if they had their druthers, they’d probably never leave Minneapolis ever again. Any opportunity that's come along that might in some way further their career, they've taken off running in the opposite direction. They are music's underachiever laureates; either dumb geniuses or genius dummies. But despite their slacker approach, or perhaps because of it, while they may not be a household name like some of their peers, they somehow became what is quite possibly the most beloved, most influential punk band of their generation. The band ushered in a new era of plainclothes punk, putting the emphasis back on substance over style - still fast and abrasive, but with a wiseass edge to it. Their four albums are brilliant, but their productions are so distorted and odd that it's like they're deliberately trying to turn people off - an open challenge to discover the perfect songs buried underneath the mess. What you'd see is exactly what they are: four working class, often intoxicated, self-professed fat guys from Minneapolis. Everything about Dillinger Four comes off as one big shoulder shrug. Hell, their official website is still hosted on Angelfire! The members routinely pass up offers to play tours and festivals that their peers would kill for. Sometimes it's due to work obligations — they all own, manage, or work at bars in Minnesota, with the exception of drummer Lane Pederson who, somewhat miraculously, is a successful clinical psychologist with three books under his belt. Other times, they refuse to miss family obligations like their kids' or wives' birthdays. But most times, they just plain ol' don't feel like it. They could have made a ton of cash, but you have to respect them sticking to their values also. Most wouldn't. They got asked about a festival and replied with "Why would we play something we wouldn't dream of attending ourselves?" Fair point...

I am sharing Gainesville from Civil War which is my favourite on the record, if not one of my favourites of all time. Because of the lyrics "And It Feels Like Summer In October, And I Hope This Day Is Never Over" Gainesville has become the anthem for The Fest, a week end festival in erm Gainesville, which happens every year in late October. It's an uplifting song about not wasting your life waiting for things to happen and instead going out and getting them yourself. This is summed up perfectly in the bridge of the song "Time Was Wasted, We're Moving Way Too Slow, Lets Go Before We're Old, Time Doesn't Wait For Me". This is a fantastic sing-a-long, fist-in-the-air song that I have had stuck in my head all week!

Burial - Hiders

A friend sent me the "Nirvana Reimaged As House & Techno" album earlier in the week, which somehow sent me down a Burial rabbit hole. This is a good read on an album that as I've said previously will always hold a special place for me.

Rather than another track from Untrue, I am going for Hiders from his 2013 EP Rival Dealer. Hiders is Burial in miniature form, a sub-five-minute solo cut and one of the only true standalone tracks in his catalogue. It opens with an anthemic synth figure that starts and stops several times, returning each time with varying fidelity, before a splashy arena-rock drumbeat crashes through the ambience, stepping in time with the cascading synth figure and a vocal sample that seems to hover just slightly above everything else. A beautifully emotional piece from Burial. He uses the piano in this track perfectly.

Loose Nukes - Inferno

Formed in 2016 and from Houston, Texas, Loose Nukes released a split 7" with Under Attack earlier this year and now the Black Mass demos LP which features 11 hard hitting cuts.= has come our way.

If you like your punk music to pummel you senseless then you can find the album on Bandcamp. 

This track's called Inferno...

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Bitch Queens - Burn It Down

Bitch Queens hail from Basel, Switzerland and have been rocking out for over a decade now. If you've not been fortunate enough to discover them yet, expect a heady brew of '77 era punk, sleazy garage and glam rock. Expect catchy tunes and big choruses, expect to be impressed. 

The release their new album on 5th November, will be titled Custom Dystopia and features a dozen tracks (4 of which are already streaming on Bandcamp) and it's available in various packages including black, white or red coloured vinyl. 

Given the album's Bonfire Day release date, the first single is aptly titled, it's called Burn It Down...

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Sniff - Queer

Hailing from Falmouth, Sniff is the new project of Alex Smith from Bobby Funk & Tinnedfruit.

He's recently released a debut Self Titled EP. He's been sat on the tracks a while but they're now out there for everyone to enjoy and he's already added a new track called Horizontal Friend to Bandcamp. Gigs will follow soon once a band has been put together. 

The ep features 5 tracks of indie meets punk and very enjoyable they are too. Today I am sharing the track Queer.

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Thrice - Summer Set Fire to the Rain

Thrice released their 11th studio album Horizons/East last month, the southern Californian band’s third since ending a hiatus in 2015, with an already 12th album forthcoming in the works titled Horizons/West. It's an album I've been sat on for a couple of weeks. With lots of clear influences and varying tracks, I've not been sure which to go with. You have some very Brand New sound tracks from Devil & God sounding, Daisy and even Science Fiction. There is also some that sound a bit Deftones where one could be on In Rainbows. Interesting times.

I have settled on Summer Set Fire to the Rain and it is a triumphant roar unlike anything we’ve heard from them before. Heavy and melodic in equal measures it has some great riffs too.

THICK - Your Mom

Born from the DIY/all-ages scene in New York, THICK make music with the raw defiance of punk and addictive melodies of pop, punchy and catchy and wildly tongue-in-cheek. With their live show typically spawning a mosh pit described by Stereogum as “more like an aggressive hug,” the Brooklyn-based trio brings an unchecked intimacy while building a deep and unshakable solidarity with the audience. 

I am going with the epic speedball punk track “Your Mom” which I would probably describe as 90's influenced Riot Grrrl music. It is a track from their 2019 Epitaph release "5 Years Behind".

Elway - The English Wishbone

Elway has emerged from the Pandemic with some new music, and they’re leading the way with their latest song, “The English Wishbone”, the A-side of a 2-track single which also features 'Kronos V. Kairos'. The title is a reference to Sam Russo and James Hull of Apologies, I Have None — both “twiggy, waifish Englishmen” who remind vocalist Tim Browne of a wishbone and the B-side is possibly a Simpsons reference? This new single somehow has two(?) choruses and some absolutely ripping lead guitar, so check it out and get saved.

Cutters - Midnight Bus

Melbourne punks cutters have dropped a new track and it is a cover of  a song written by John D Loudermilk  which was a big hit in Australia for Betty McQuade.

The Cutters' take on the song is unsurprisingly the most raucous version and it's called Midnight Bus... 

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Pozi - Typing

Pozi are a 3 piece post punk band from London comprising of Toby Burroughs (Drums/Vocals), Tom Jones (Bass/Vocals) & Rosa Brook (Violin/Vocals).

This is the title track of the band's upcoming 5 track ep and it's a song that ags away at you slowly insinuating its way into your consciousness. Dealing with the anxiety and paranoia that can be experienced when you're in a conversation with someone on Whatsapp, it called Typing.

The ep will be out on October 29th on limited edition sea green 12" vinyl via Prah Recordings and you pre order (and listen to 3 tracks) on Bandcamp

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