heavymetalkids.uk

Life In The Jangle Is Hard…

We are covering some serious distance at the blog this week, with a variety of sounds from a variety of places. First up, a true heavymetalkids.uk favourite from an undisclosed location somewhere in the UK…

Ironic Hill – Bad Stuff (self-released)

Following hot on the heels of the cathartic sigh of his self-titled debut album, the mysterious UK based DIY artist Ironic Hill returns with new single Bad Stuff. On this enchanting curio the Mode is set to Depeche, with a familiar lyrical refrain riding atop his trademark blend of violently beautiful feedback and earworm melodies. The B’side remix strips it all back to the noise, revealing the deeply experimental heart beating at the centre of this intriguing and inspiring project.

Charlène Darling – La Porte (Disciples)

Paris born, Brussels based multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Kouklia (aka Charlène Darling) returns with her second studio album La Porte for cult UK label Disciples, following on from 2019’s Iggy Pop-lauded debut Saint-Guidon. Experimental but eminently listenable, La Porte explores themes of misplaced desire and obsession via the medium of beautifully constructed leftfield soundworlds. Dancing artfully between post-punk and seductive avant-pop, the minimalist, playful arrangements cast just the right amount of light and shade on Kouklia’s ruminations on the trials of love and connection, making this album the perfect companion for the longest of Summer days and the coldest Winter nights.

Vanishing Muffins – Taste Of Cherry (Heavenpunks)

Jakarta, Indonesia based noise-pop trio Vanishing Muffins arrive on ferocious form with debut single Taste Of Cherry for Heavenpunks. The band blend a lyrical lightness of touch with a Black Tambourine-esque feedback driven guitar attack, whilst the detached cool of the vocals channels The Jesus And Mary Chain in full bloom. B’side To Be With Someone Who Shouldn’t Be With Me slows the pace and places the emphasis on the melodies, culminating in a chorus that rises above the sonic assault to truly take flight. The band have a new EP due very soon which I have been fortunate enough to hear in explosive demo form, leaving absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is a group on the cusp of something very special.

Sorry Snowman – House On Fire (Club Records)

The recently formed Ottawa based label Club Records, run by fanclubwallet’s Hannah Judge, brings forth the knife-edge tension of Sorry Snowman’s new single House On Fire, the first to be taken from their forthcoming EP And I Hated It Too. This release marks the indie-rock quartets first time in a recording studio and it’s a transition the band have seemingly made with ease, as whilst upping the fidelity, this new cut retains all of the passion and power of this years DIY mini-album Say When. Loaded with huge hooks and heavy emotional pull, House On Fire channels difficult thoughts and feelings into a safe space within which the listener can find solace and take refuge.

Thanks for reading. If you found anything you enjoyed, be sure to LISTEN/BUY/SHARE and help support these wonderful artists and labels. Much love.

Outer World – Forms Of Knowing

After spending the last few years tirelessly championing the DIY scene with radio shows, music blogs and the Courtesy Desk indie store amongst various other pursuits, the incomparable Tracy Wilson (Positive No/Dahlia Seed) marks her return as a recording artist with new project Outer World, a retro-futuristic trip into the kosmische created in collaboration with her partner in both life and music, Kenneth Close.

The need to find a new way to communicate following the debilitating effects of Long Covid on Wilson’s trademark soaring vocals sent the pair on a synths and samples aided voyage into the unknown across the Summer of 2022, a voyage that seemingly led to the stars. With mini-album Who Does The Music Love? due March 2024 via HHBTM Records, lead single Forms Of Knowing is their first transmission and it’s a joy to behold.

Across two and a half vital minutes psychedelic freakbeat rhythms and post-punk guitars do battle with potent French proverbs, and the only winner is our collective ears. Wilson’s voice is the force that binds all of these differing elements, controlled and captivating with a new kind of power. A perfect introduction to the wild variety of styles and textures that await on its accompanying album, Forms Of Knowing is the awe-inspiring sound of hope and heart triumphing over adversity.

Pre-order Who Does The Music Love? via HHBTM Records here.

TOUR DATES:

November

17th – Charlottesville, VA @ Visible Records w/ Light Beams, New Boss, Taffy

18th – Silver Spring, MD @ Quarry House Tavern w/ Golden Apples

19th – Richmond, VA @ Banditos w/ Light Beams, Chest Hair

Life In The Jangle Is Hard…

We are being truly spoiled at the moment, with wonderful new sounds appearing relentlessly from all angles. Here’s a few of my favourites…

Tara Clerkin Trio – On The Turning Ground (World Of Echo, out now)

Crafting the kind of beautifully skewed avant-pop soundscapes that could only come from the vibrantly creative city of Bristol, Tara Clerkin Trio follow up 2021’s In Spring with a new EP for World Of Echo. Across five compelling tracks the band create whole worlds for the listener to lose themselves in, with three vocal cuts loaded with intricate melodic flourishes bookended by two dub-infused instrumentals that dazzle with their shifting tones and textures. Measured and moving, On The Turning Ground is the perfect introduction to the Tara Clerkin Trio’s gently intoxicating and ever evolving blend of fractured folk and shimmering electronics.

The Smashing Times – This Sporting Life (K Records/Perennial, out now)

Baltimore based but with Children Maybe Later related links to the Bay Area underground, The Smashing Times are back with their third long player This Sporting Life, following on promptly from last years Bloom. A winning combination of classic pop melodicism and contemporary lo-fi weird, this album sounds like the favourite, dustiest corner of your record collection cut up and reassembled into a kaleidoscopic, psychedelic collage of freakbeat nowness. A perfect blend of the sublime and the surreal, This Sporting Life is a giddy, life-affirming trip.

The Laughing Chimes – A Promise To Keep (Slumberland Records, out now)

A few months on from the glistening pure pop best of 7” that collected highlights from their 2021 debut album In This Town and subsequent Zoo Avenue EP, Southeast Ohio trio The Laughing Chimes return with a marked change of style and mood on new single A Promise To Keep. Riding in with a reverb-laden pulse that could haunt a thousand indie dancefloors, the distant howls of lonely feedback and subtle melodic shifts add new found space and depth to their songcraft. Channeling the Bunnymen-esque sound of the UK indie underground, this single is yet another irresistible step forward from one of the most exciting new bands out there doing it right now.

Dot Dash – 16 Again (Country Mile Records, out now)

Taking its title from the Buzzcocks song of the same name, 16 Again collates fifteen of Washington DC power-pop trio Dot Dash’s finest moments on this new compilation for Country Mile Records, with a stray Television Personalities cover (Jackanory Stories) making up the difference. A self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Hits by a band with no hits’, this release marks the bands first appearance on vinyl following seven albums for Canadian based label The Beautiful Music stretching back to 2011. Armed with relentless energy and a whole-hearted devotion to the thrill of the indie-rock chase, 16 Again is sure to introduce this fine band to a wider, enraptured audience.

Thanks for reading. If you found anything you enjoyed, be sure to LISTEN/BUY/SHARE and help support these wonderful artists and labels. Much love.

Ship Full Of Bombs ep.6

My latest radio show is now available for streaming/download via Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer and other leading podcast apps.

Alternatively, you can visit http://www.sfob.co.uk and scroll down to the widget at the bottom of the page.

Playlist: Monday 6th November

1) The Umbrellas – Three Cheers!

https://theumbrellasca.bandcamp.com/album/fairweather-friend

2) En Attendant Ana – Black Morning

https://enattendantana.bandcamp.com/album/principia

3) The Laughing Chimes – A Promise To Keep

https://thelaughingchimes.bandcamp.com/album/a-promise-to-keep

4) Red Pants – See You At The Turnstile

https://redred.bandcamp.com/album/not-quite-there-yet

5) Blue Ocean – Take A Care

https://blueoceanmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fertile-state

6) The Reds, Pinks & Purples – Dull Panic & Sunday Gloom

https://theredspinksandpurples.bandcamp.com/album/dull-panic-sunday-gloom-3

7) Lightheaded – The Garden

https://areyoufeelinglightheaded.bandcamp.com/album/good-good-great

8) The Smashing Times – Saturday Night And Sunday Morning

https://thesmashingtimes.bandcamp.com/album/this-sporting-life

9) Dancer – Pulp Thriller

https://goldmoldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/as-well

10) Dragged Up – Hex Domestic

https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/hex-domestic-ep

11) The Terminal Buildings – Struck Me Down

https://terminalbuildings.bandcamp.com/album/strike-the-crane-down

12) Seablite – Time Is Weird

https://dandyboyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/grass-stains-and-novocaine-remastered

13) The 1981 – In Your Eyes

https://the1981band.bandcamp.com/album/move-on

14) Sweeping Promises – Good Living Is Coming For You

https://sweepingpromises.bandcamp.com/album/good-living-is-coming-for-you-2

15) Big Cry Country – Settle Up

https://bigcrycountry.bandcamp.com/album/living-conditions

16) Fig By Four – Plunge

https://figbyfour.bandcamp.com/album/capture-reveal

17) Jared Leibowich – Can I Hear Your Story

https://www.bandcamp.bruit-direct.org/album/jared-leibowich-secret-spells

18) Helpful People – Bad Animals

https://fwymusic.bandcamp.com/album/brokenblossom-threats

19) The Leaf Library -Goodbye Four Walls

https://theleaflibrary.bandcamp.com/album/library-music-volume-one

20) Silk Cuts -Virginia

https://silkcuts.bandcamp.com/album/virginia-foxes

21) phoneswithchords & Ben Sooy – If Time

https://phoneswithchords.bandcamp.com/album/phoneswithben

22) Single Lash – New Song

https://singlelash.bandcamp.com/album/ladida

23) East Village – Here It Comes

https://heavenlyrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/drop-out

24) The Small Intestines – Under The Weather

https://thesmallintestines.bandcamp.com/album/hide-in-time

25) Cindy -Nothing To It

https://slothmate.bandcamp.com/album/cindy-standard-candle

26) Whitney’s Playland – Symptoms

https://paisleyshirtrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-day-at-the-fair

27) Molly Nilsson – Kids Today

https://mollynilsson.bandcamp.com/album/extreme

28) Look.Up. – Dear William

https://lookupsounds.bandcamp.com/track/dear-william

29) Tony Jay – Feel For Yesterday

https://tonyjay.bandcamp.com/album/perfect-worlds

30) Ornette Coleman – Lonely Woman

Life In The Jangle Is Hard…

Here are some new sounds that have been moving me, maybe they will move you too…

The Small Intestines – Hide In Time (Meritorio Records/Lost and Lonesome, out now)

Tight three-piece harmonies and warm hearted jangle are at the forefront on this Melbourne based groups delightful debut album, featuring members of Chook Race (Trouble In Mind) and Peach Happening. Fans of Felt and The Go-Betweens will find much to love here, as will anyone with a love for beautifully crafted, rough around the edges indie rock with a low-key, homespun feel. Music to fill that Ultimate Painting shaped hole in your soul, with wildly cool cover art to boot.

Fig By Four – Capture Reveal (Bomb The Twist, out now)

Soulful folk stylings and driving indie-rock collide on this debut album from Leeds based multi-instrumentalist Sarah Statham. Drawing inspiration from time spent both in the Lake Distract and working as a music mentor in New York, Statham transcribes heavy themes into highly relatable lyrics, and delivers them with subtle power and grace. Capture Reveal is the far-reaching sound of an artist striving for truth and connection, and it makes for a heady, intoxicating listen.

The Terminal Buildings – Coming To Terms With The Terminal Buildings (self-released, out 17th November)

Inspired by the US indie stylings of Mo Troper and Tony Molina, but with a keen knack for a killer chord change and melodic lilt that is Glasgow through and through, the solo home recordings of The Terminal Buildings really are a joy to behold. Containing songs of various fidelity recorded by any means necessary over the last two years, this compilation is a wonderful introduction to The Terminal Buildings’ prolific output, and totally essential for anyone moved by the unmatched power of the two minute pop song.

Dragged Up – Hex Domestic (Cruel Nature, out now)

Following on from their 2020 debut mini-album D/U, Glasgow slacker-punks Dragged Up are back with a new four song EP for Cruel Nature. In what is a break from the angular, urgent post-punk of fellow Glasgow based acts like Dancer and Current Affairs, Dragged Up approach a similar kind of art from a slightly different angle, cutting through with a garage-psych swagger that unravels at its own pace. The tightest kind of loose, this five piece incorporate shades of 90s US alternative rock into their post-C86 jangle and throb, whilst the proto-punk poetry of closer Blaming The Weather ebbs and flows with a terrible beauty, a band working in perfect harmony amid a very imperfect world.

phoneswithchords – phoneswithBen (Start-Track, out 17th November)

This collaboration between Tennessee DIY artist Arthur Alligood and Ben Sooy from the Colorado based collective A Place For Owls uses the purest of tools to get straight to the heart of the matter. With lyrics and structures shared and nurtured via the internet, the two artists have built a warmly affecting shelter from the storm. Ruminating on the relentlessly inevitable march of time, they frame their thoughts with intimate electronic flourishes and guitars/keys that are sure to move anybody who lets this beautiful music into their life.

Thanks for reading. If you found anything you enjoyed, be sure to LISTEN/BUY/SHARE and help support these wonderful artists and labels. Much love.

Red Pants – Not Quite There Yet

The art and music of Jason Lambeth has been a constant presence in my life since I discovered his band Red Pants through their 2022 album When We Were Dancing, released via Bay Area DIY tape label Paisley Shirt Records. Working in collaboration with fellow Madison, Wisconsin resident Elsa Nekola, the duo have spent the last few years creating a sound world that is truly their own, pushing the DIY aesthetic to its outer limits with a soaring blend of drone, noise and pure melody.

With layers of guitars and psychedelic keys building a home for Lambeth’s softly sung vocals, and Nekola’s propulsive, urgent rhythms driving the music ever forward, Red Pants’ new album Not Quite There Yet is both their strongest work to date and first to be pressed to vinyl, thanks to their link up with the Madrid based label Meritorio Records.

Across Not Quite There Yet, Red Pants pull off that rarest of feats of sounding for the most part purely like themselves. Whilst echoes of the fuzzed out indie of the likes of Yo La Tengo and Stereolab still remain in places, Red Pants have filtered these influences into something completely fresh and totally now. To label this album as noise-rock is to do a disservice to the hope and light at the heart of its lyrics and melodies, whilst to call it indie-pop would undermine the grit and raw power that pulses through Lambeth’s heady guitar lines.

Highlights are plentiful, and each listen reveals new sonic treasures to lose yourself in. Watch The Sky contains some of Lambeth’s most emotionally charged playing to date, whilst album closer Quiet Eyes’ shifting dynamics shine a light on the truly unique synergy that exists between the two players. Nekola herself sings lead on the stirring Rockwell Kent, and this song is an absolute wonder. This tribute to the gifted American artist & voyager is centred around a hauntingly beautiful vocal that transcends into a soaring, shiver inducing chorus.

Not Quite There Yet is the most fully formed, immersive album that Red Pants have released to date. A wonderful collision of garage-psych urgency and pure pop flourishes that capture you from the very first listen, leaving lasting images and impressions that will keep you coming back again and again. An absolute triumph, and totally essential listening from two of the absolute best out there doing it.

Order via Meritorio Records here.

Life In The Jangle Is Hard…

In what is a slightly new way of doing things here at heavymetalkids.uk, I will now be occasionally providing a round up of some of the beautiful sounds I have happened upon/been sent/been alerted to over the last few weeks. Some I’ll dig more than you, some you may even enjoy more than me, but it’s all good that much is certain…

Soft Science – Lines (Shelflife/Spinout Nuggets, out now)

There is a mid-eighties sheen to the production of this spellbinding album that puts me in mind of UK bands such as The Wake or The Chameleons, but shot through with an unmistakable California dreampop cool that is very much of the now. Treading a path somewhere between fellow CA bands such as Seablite and Massage, but with an added darkwave element bringing just a hint of danger, the addictive melodies and crystalline guitar lines make for a particularly satisfying listen.

Big Cry Country – Living Conditions (self-released, out now)

Big hooks and memorable melodies abound on this debut EP from Washington DC based quartet Big Cry Country. The songs centre around vocalist Roxanne Bublitz’s recent move from DC to Brooklyn, and the turmoil and anxiety that such a life altering move can bring. Whilst the soaring chorus’s and glistening production may paint a vivid pure pop-punk portrait there is also a very real depth to these recordings, with multiple layers bubbling away beneath the surface that are sure to capture even the hardest of hearts. Very cool artwork too.

Single Lash – Ladida (self-released, out now)

Sophisticated, dark-hearted jangle and synth textures are at the forefront of this Austin, Texas based project, hitting a similar spot (in my mind at least) to those wonderful White Rose Transmission albums that Carlo Van Putten (The Convent) and Adrian Borland (The Sound) combined to make in the mid to late nineties. The album is built around the stirring songwriting prowess of Nicolas Nadeau, whose searching lyrics frequently cut to the bone, whilst the guitar/flute contributions of Neil Lord & Kristine Reaume (Joys Union Group) create whole worlds for the listener to lose themselves in. All of these elements combined make for a bitter-sweetly satisfying whole that demands repeated listening.

Jared Leibowich – Secret Spells (bruit direct disques, out now)

This is the kind of wildly inventive DIY indie-pop that almost makes me wish I had an extra pair of ears to help take it all in. Melodies for days and harmonies The Beach Boys would be proud of, with a psychedelic, almost baroque edge that at times reminds me of Papercuts’ wonderful Past Life Regression LP from last year. Music that works it’s magic at any time of day or night, both rousing and comforting in equal measure.

Look.Up. – Dear William (self-released, out now)

The self proclaimed ‘audio graffiti’ of mysterious UK based artist Look.Up is heady, intoxicating stuff. This latest cut, the William Shatner sampling Dear William, is a pulsing electronic rumination on the fragility of life, built on a foundation that brings to mind the expansive house/techno arrangements of The Mix era Kraftwerk. The bio talks of Look.Up’s time spent working in the music industry and the bitter taste it left, and this project is very much the sound of an artist breaking free from the ties that bind, following their heart to a brighter future.

Thanks for reading. If you found anything you enjoyed, be sure to LISTEN/BUY/SHARE and help support these wonderful artists and labels. Much love.

Cindy – Standard Candle Demos

If I was to be sent to a desert island for the remainder of my stint here on Earth and was allowed just one album for company, this is the one I would choose, no question. There is something incredibly comforting about the thought of knowing that this would be the only music I could ever hear.

Standard Candle Demos was first released in November 2021 by Paisley Shirt Records as a companion piece to third Cindy album 1:2, and comprises home demos mostly recorded by Karina Gill alone, with occasional assistance from friend and Flowertown collaborator Mike Ramos. Since it’s initial release I have regularly returned to it and with each listen its stature has grown, to a point where I now consider it one of the most important parts of my entire music collection.

Some of these songs would be destined for this years Why Not Now? album and here, in their purest form, August and The Price Is Right in particular are epic in their starkness. Other tracks, such as Nothing To It and Standard Candle #2 are currently only available via these recordings, with every inch of their initial inspiration laid bare. The compilation only Thin As Flags is also featured here in a remarkable take that shines a light on Gill’s beautifully understated guitar work.

These songs in this form have become the soundtrack to the parts of my life that nobody else can see or understand, and they bring calmness and clarity when all I feel around me is chaos. If I’m too excited to sleep I reach for this album to bring me back to Earth. If I’m feeling low or lost I reach for this album to help me find my centre. Whatever is happening in my life, I can always rely on these songs to guide me home.

The recordings are lo-fi and even more so than Cindy’s core catalogue require the fullest time and commitment of the listener. At times it feels as if the slightest breeze could blow these arrangements away completely, but in truth I often feel that way about myself too. There is power and beauty in vulnerability however, and this is truly some of the most powerful, beautiful music I have ever heard.

Out now via Paisley Shirt Records.

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

Vinyl edition via Sloth Mate Productions here.

UK exclusive order link here.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples – Murder, Oral Sex & Cigarettes

Three years on from my introduction to both Glenn Donaldson and the wider Bay Area underground scene thanks to the wonderful Red, Pinks & Purples collection You Might Be Happy Someday, I still get an unmatched tingle of excitement whenever a new EP or album quietly arrives online.

This time out it’s the dramatically titled Murder, Oral Sex & Cigarettes EP, encompassing six new RPPs cuts to cry to. Recorded, as is normal, mostly by Donaldson alone, there are some shifting dynamics at play this time out with the addition of Lewis Gallardo’s aching slide guitar on Use This Song If You Need One, and Clay Ruby’s devastatingly emotive piano on the showstopping finale Late To The Party.

Ever prolific, and with the promise of a UK tour hanging tantalisingly in the near future, there has never been a better time to let The Reds, Pinks & Purples into your heart. These timeless homespun creations go far beyond the labels of jangle or indie-pop, carrying with them the power to move all who hear them, with words to which we can all relate and melodies to soundtrack the wildest or saddest of days. As essential as ever.

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:

Dancer – As Well

These days, I find myself falling in and out of love with post-punk. Maybe it’s over-familiarisation or just me being too tired to be angry enough to enjoy it fully, but something really has to grab my attention if I am to step away from the jangle and get my punk stomp back on.

Step forward then Glasgow four-piece Dancer, whose new EP As Well has been pushing all the right buttons. Comprising members of Nightshift, Current Affairs, Order Of The Toad and Robert Sotelo, the band breathe new pop-infused life into post-punks wiry frame, and fill it with heart, soul and no little swagger.

For all the deft instrumental interplay and driving rhythms at play across the EPs five tracks, it’s vocalist Gemma Fleet who truly elevates these songs with her razor sharp delivery and deadly turn of phrase. The deadpan spoken introductions to each song are a masterstroke, and the whole thing shimmers along urgently on a wave of energy and raw power.

Recorded live-to-tape with absolutely no fuss or flab, tunes like Love and Pulp Thriller aren’t afraid to face up to the messiest, hardest parts of trying to navigate the never ending-ness of now, and I for one am grateful that Dancer are here to help us through.

Out now via GoldMold Records

LISTEN/BUY/SHARE: