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.

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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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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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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L.A. EXES - Skinny Dipping

L.A. Exes are from, erm, Los Angeles and line up with Steph Barker (drums), Jenny Owens Young (vocals/guitar), Sam Barbera (vocals/bass), and Rachel White (guitar).

After releasing debut single, Temporary Goodbye, in February, they've drip fed a bunch of songs in the run up to the release of debut album Get Some. If 60's influenced indie pop with just that bit of an edge and plenty of melody is your thing then I think you'll be a fan.

A nice, catchy track this is Skinny Dipping.

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Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen - Like I Used To

Two of the most influential songwriters of the past decade, Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen are unafraid of diving headfirst into the red. Think of those climactic howls in “Seventeen” or “Your Love Is Killing Me”; consider the dreamy crescendos of “Shut Up Kiss Me” and “Lark.” While plenty of artists seek inspiration from heroes of emotional abandon like Bruce Springsteen (whom they have each covered excellently), Van Etten and Olsen understand the true power belongs to the listener—when you’ve brought the magic into your own world, and you’re throwing your head back, singing along at the top of your lungs.

Their first collaborative single, “Like I Used To,” lives up to its potential, plays to their strengths, and still manages to pack a surprise. The verse melody sits squarely in Olsen’s comfort zone—a little bit classic country, a little bit girl-group balladry. And the chorus, which arrives on an ascending wave of glockenspiel, like a golden staircase appearing through the fog, is pure Van Etten: a long string of ribbon she unfurls in the wind, equally ragged and triumphant.

The whole thing feels momentous, predestined to be a crowd-pleasing set closer, and the lyrics add to its casual grandeur. “Lighting one up like I used to,” they sing together, “Falling in love like I used to.” Even when the words eschew the directness of previous career peaks (or when they’re straight-up quoting Michael Jordan), the duo makes sure you know they mean it. Produced by John Congleton, the song feels meticulously arranged for them to find the spotlight at any given moment and steal the show, an effect mirrored by Kimberly Stuckwisch’s expertly styled music video. If the good old days are behind us, as they suggest every time the chorus rolls around, the memories have never felt so sweet. 

Chuck Robertson and Friends - Mountain Flower

Chuck Robertson and Friends is a Central Coast Californian rock band fronted by Chuck, the lead singer of the Mad Caddies.

We've heard the ska, the dixieland, the punk, the reggae, now I'm Diggin this country side of Chuck!

Dan Andriano & The Bygones - Sea Level

Dan Andriano has got a new band and a new single here for you to check out.

You can hear that beautiful voice below.

This is Sea Level.

Money Boys - Money Boy

Money Boys are a indie / punk band from Melbourne, Australia. Money Boy is from their recently released EP No Wealth But Life.

Husband - What a World

After pandemic delays and singles being trickled through, the debut album from Husband finally dropped on Friday. They are a London based band and describe themselves as an alternative rock and indie band with music inspired by the likes of Radiohead, Nick Cave, The National and PJ Harvey. You can hear these influences strong throughout the album, so if this is your thing then it is worth checking out the album. Still quite unknown at the moment, but you imagine this will change... What a World has strong In Rainbows era Radiohead for me, which is far from a bad thing.

Husband

Archers Of Loaf - White Trash Heroes

White Trash Heroes seems to be a total marmite track. You either love it or you despise it and there is no in between.

As you can tell from me sharing it, it is definitely the former here. It is the closing track from the album of the same name which was their fourth and final studio album. It is one of the finest tracks the band recorded, with vocals akin to the gentle gruffness of Tom Waits. Sirens whistle continuously like a train journey as the white trash heroes are celebrated (“Dreaming of the white trash heroes/I’m in paradise”). It broods and feels like it is building, but it never explodes which somehow adds to its charm.

Martha - Mini Was a Preteen Arsonist

Another track from Pity Me's Martha today. I didn't know the background of this track until recently when "Inside Story: Mini" came up as part of "Louis Theroux: Docs That Made Me, a collection of Louis favourite documentaries". It is a documentary about an 11-year-old serial arsonist that shocked millions across the UK in 1975. Michael 'Mini' Cooper had already torched a church and set his family home ablaze, knowing his father to be inside. The film follows the angelic looking Mini in a young offenders home in County Durham, as social workers and psychiatrists quiz and probe the charismatic and intelligent tearaway to determine his future. It is fascinating. He is one of those children that speaks like an adult. It's an incredible story that is well worth your time. It is up on iPlayer if you want to check it out. This is Mini Was a Preteen Arsonist.

Lucy Dacus - Night Shift

I first stumbled upon Lucy Dacus n 2018 when she formed Boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. Earlier the same year she released Historian which is her second album. Night Shift is the first track and first single from the album. I feel that you either listen to the first 30 seconds of this or to the whole thing 30 times in a row. It is quite a journey of a song but it is a great track.

Chris Catalyst - King Of Everything

You may not recognise the name, but multi-instrumentalist Chris May for the last twenty or so years has been on stage and played with so many British and American bands, I’m sure loads of you out there will have definitely seen him perform.

The list is endless: but to name a few the likes of Ginger Wildheart, the Sisters of Mercy, Ugly Kid Joe; he has also played keyboards for Terrorvision, and has had his own band Eureka Machines. He also went out as Robochrist, where he performed with stage props and face paint.

During the pandemic he has regularly performed live gigs from his home on You Tube with 50% of proceeds going to different charities.

His latest solo project is titled Kaleidoscopes, and was released on Friday 2nd April.
There are numerous influences throughout with everything from Bowie to The Clash and The Cars.

I am sharing the second track. “King of Everything”  is a post punk number with a terrific catchy melody and an anthemic chorus, and plenty of whoa whoas.

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For Those I Love - You Stayed/To Live

For Those I Love is the pseudonym of Dublin-based songwriter/producer/vocalist David Balfe. Recording was under way for this album when Paul Curran, his best friend and fellow member of Burnt Out killed himself.

The resulting album is a tapestry of spoken word poetry, clips of voicenotes from friends on WhatsApp (including Curran) and sounds that draw on memories of driving around at night with mixtapes of The Streets, Burial and Mount Kimbie, ‘For Those I Love’ conjures up all the emotions of an illegal rave (before, during and after), while celebrating friendship and reflecting the true colour of urban life.

It is hop/hop, indie, electronic, trancey.... and it is great, in my opinion. It is not only an immaculate debut, but a beautiful record that speaks to anyone who’s ever loved and lost, anyone who might be mourning or just processing the days of youthful abandon, or perhaps those who need reminding that you can’t have shadows without the light.

It was a tie between You Stayed/To Live and Birthday/The Pain for which track to go with, but I have gone for You Stayed/To Live this week. What I will say is that it might not initially feel like your thing for some. Persevere. You won't regret it.

Forgivers - Some Future

 Members of the Gaslight Anthem, the Ratchets, and Let Me Run have linked up to form a new band, Forgivers, which dropped a debut single, “Some Future.”

The New Jersey-based rock outfit boasts the Gaslight Anthem’s Alex Rosamilia and Alex Levine on guitar and bass, respectively; the Ratchets’ Jed Winokur on guitar; and Trevor Reddell, a recording engineer and member of several bands including Let Me Run, on drums. All four members of Forgivers share vocal duties.

The band’s sound, per a release, is rooted primarily in British outfits like the Cure, Jesus and Mary Chain, the Clash, and Oasis. “Some Future” captures that mix of influences with its steady stomp and the gauzy jangle of the guitars, which ultimately give way to some blistering, stadium-sized solos.

Rosamilia and Levine decided to form Forgivers upon realizing how much they missed playing together after the Gaslight Anthem’s 2018 reunion shows celebrating the 10th anniversary of The ’59 Sound. It was longtime My Chemical Romance guitar tech and North End Recording owner Ed Auletta who suggested Winokur join the band. After Reddell was enlisted on drums, the band began socially distanced rehearsals in Reddell’s garage, which was dubbed “Forgivers Lodge.”

The Aquadolls - Take Me Away

Coming from the suburbs of Los Angeles, the Aquadolls are punk pioneers in the broadest sense and feature Melissa Brooks (guitar, vocals, programming), Keilah Nina (bass guitar and vocals) and Jackie Proctor (drums and vocals). They ooze eclecticism, stacking elements of indie and surf-rock on top of a distinctly pop-punk foundation. While their sound might not exist at a comfortable spot for genre purists, fans of sonic experimentation will surely find their versatility entrancing. Now three full-lengths into their tenure, the band released a video and official recording of their cover of "Take Me Away" by Christina Vida. It is a song they've played on their most recent tours and wanted to add a video for it.

Julien Baker - Song In E

Julien Baker released her 3rd album Little Oblivions at the end of February and it is such a devastatingly sad, beautiful, harrowing and cathartic album. An uncompromising self-reflection of her struggles that doesn't wallow in defeatism, she still plays nearly all the instrument's herself as per her other albums but unlike the others it has a full-band sound.

It's a wildly inventive step forward and I'd recommend listening while reading the lyrics, which are available on Genius.

Song In E is probably my favourite track on first listen. It's a slow, keyboard-based track which throws in a fancy chord or two as Baker’s narrator fesses up to having only herself to blame for her drinking, then twists the dagger into herself even further: “It’s the mercy I can’t take.” 

illuminati hotties - ppl plzer

Illuminati Hotties are an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, California. They were founded in 2017 as a vehicle for the songwriting of Sarah Tudzin.

Sarah Tudzin began her career in music as a recording engineer. In 2018, Tudzin and her band released their debut full-length album, Kiss Yr Frenemies, on Tiny Engines.

In October 2019 Tudzin released a song for download called "ppl plzer," with all proceeds from the track going to the suicide prevention group The Trevor Project. Not only is it a great song, but it comes with a great video as well.

Ash - Angel Interceptor

I was going down the route of mid 90's Indie / Brit Pop bands and landed on Ash's 1977. What a great album and I loved listening to it again. Checking Mixtape to see what had already been added, I was surprised to see that there isn't currently an Ash track on here. I could have gone with a number of tracks, some more obvious than others, but decided to go with Angel Interceptor.

1977 is perhaps best remembered by those who shared in its sentiments – written by a trio of teenagers, for an audience of the same, it preoccupied itself with chugging alcohol, chasing after girls and messing about with martial arts. Frontman Tim Wheeler was just 19 at the time of its release and, like most 19 year-olds, was probably enjoying legal drinking age status, but his songs recall a time just previous to chucking away the fake ID, where park benches were bar stools and a bottle of flavoured wine drink was the choice of the get-drunk-quick teen on their way to a parents-away party.

For me, the album was one of a few that were a gateway into music that I listen to these days. It has ties to friends and influences on my life that are no longer with us. For that reason, Ash and this album will always have a special place for me along with a small selection of others.

This song is meant to be one of the reasons Ash believed they needed a fourth, female member. Originally, the track's high-pitched backing vocals were performed by drummer Rick McMurray, but the band were unsatisfied with them. The title of the song is a reference to fictional aircraft featured in the 1960s sci-fi series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

It's the icing on the already heavily tiered cake. Sweet and seducing cute-punk as only Ash seem to deliver. It is simply great and what I want from them.