Single of the Week | DELIGHTS – ‘Jungle’

Manchester Band DELIGHTS grab Single of the Week with ‘Jungle’

It’s Sunday, which means it’s the time where we dive into all the new music which has recently been released and pick our favourite single!

This week it’s the Manchester band DELIGHTS, who delight (sorry) us with their brand new track ‘Jungle’!

Listen Below:

The simplistic track has a cool breeze feel about it, as the lead singer compares his lovers mind to a jungle, as they express the desire to get away. The riff is tight creating a nice little indie melody which could stick around for days, could easily see this track being added to a few playlists.

After releasing their first track back in 2017, Delights are still fresh but they can clearly put a quality indie track together, very looking forward to hear more.

Make sure you add this one to your playlist below!

FACEBOOK /  TWITTER  / SPOTIFY

Words by Alex Wise

Interview | The Calamity Answer 10 Questions

Wolverhampton Band The Calamity take on the 10 Questions!

Interview: Present are Billy Haynes (guitar/vocals), Matt Smith (guitar), Steph Haynes (bass) and George Holt (keys).

1. Where did band name come from?

Billy: Out of a hat. The hat’s decision is final. I’m not sure whether the hat is literal or figurative.

2. What made you want to get into music?

B: Creative expression?

Matt: Not wanting to have a shit job.

B: Though we don’t make any money so we have to have shit jobs anyway.

3. Best venue you’ve ever played and why?

Steph: The NAC [Newhampton Arts Centre]. We played at ‘Strummerjam’ there last summer.

M: We put these gigs on at Asylum Art Gallery in Wolves, they’re really good. It’s just a white room with no toilet, everyone has to piss behind the bins. It’s free and a great atmosphere, and we don’t have to deal with promoters.

B: Mmm… promoters.

M: It has a kind of renegade thing to it.

B: I used to love the Adelphi in Hull when I was at uni there, used to play there a lot. It’s like someone’s living room made into a gig venue. We’d like to take the band there at some point.

4. One band/artist you’d love to support?

M: Should we say someone really niche?

S: Nah someone massive. Ariana Grande?

George: Do they have to be still functional? If not then the Velvet Underground.

B: Probably Peter Doherty. I remember seeing him in Coventry once, there were four support acts. It was a sort a cabaret vibe, very cool.

5. What’s the greatest love song ever written?

M:‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ by Foreigner.

B: Erm…

6. The best album you’ve heard this year?

M: ‘Brutalism’ by Idles. Looking forward to listening to their new one.

B: I bought Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Psychocandy’ couple of months ago, love that.

G: ‘Unknown Pleasures’ by Joy Division. Not sure if I listened to it this year or last year though.

S: Not really listened to anything. I think when you play music a lot of people expect you to be an ‘aficionado’; but I’m not that into consuming music, I just enjoy playing it.

7. Most overrated artist of all time?

S: The Calamity.

B: Queen. Definitely Queen. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is terrible and makes me sad.

M: Ed Sheeran.

B: Is he rated?

M: Yeah! All the idiots love Sheeran.

8: What’s the last song you streamed on Spotify?

M: ‘Drunken Angel’ by Lucinda Williams.

G: I can’t get my Spotify to work.

B: I don’t have it. We’re listening to The Fall at the moment though… I listened to a band called Real Estate the other day.

9: Bands to look out for?

G: Raphaella Kornaskis…

B: Bryony Williams…

M: The Calamity?

B: Yeah! I think we’re quite introspective as a collective, our influences are mostly archaic and we can’t afford Saturdays at the Sunflower Lounge. So in terms of the ‘scene’ we’re very much outsiders.

M: We’re trying to do something different, make something that we’d love cos no one else is doing it.

S: Be the band you want to see in the world.

10: Plans for the future?

S: Film a video for our song ‘Pagans’.

B: World domination. Take the band on tour, make new records.

M: I want to be happy and not be bored and working for £7.83 an hour like a twat.

Just would like to say thanks once again to The Calamity for taking the 10 Questions on. Make sure you follow them and check out their music!

Twitter / Facebook / Soundcloud

New Release | Ivory Wave – ‘Frankie’

One of Birmingham’s Finest Ivory Wave Release Autumn Banger ‘Frankie’

One of Birmingham’s hottest bands have released a tune which will cure those post-summer blues, welcome ‘Frankie’!

The song slips and slides as it makes you feel like the coolest in the room, which is down the the excellent musicality of the track. Having remnants of The Stone Rose and Happy Mondays, it just has that swagger which has become a trademark for Ivory Wave. Love what these guys are doing at the moment, and it won’t be long until we hear even more! In the meantime dig through their tunes, see them live and enjoy!

Catch them Live

September

15th – Worcester – The Marrs Bar

October

20th – Manchester – Night People

25th – Leeds – Lending Room

November

2nd – Birmingham – O2 Institute 2

Words by Alex Wise

New release | Freeda – ‘Go Home’

Freeda release Fun-Packed Guitar Track ‘Go Home’

Manchester based band Freed have released their new track ‘Go Home’, and it will instantly have you bouncing around the room.

Listen Below:

The track has a certain Wombats feel about it, especially with the upbeat rhythm, jumpy melody and catchy hook. You can also hear a hint of Catfish and the Bottlemen on the surface, especially the lyrical/vocal content as lead singer Sean Rowles sings “Go Home Now Darling”!

If you like what you’ve heard and want to see them live you can, check out the date below!

October 20th – This Feeling – Jimmy’s

Words by Alex Wise

 

New Release | Johnny Kills – ‘Seems’

Johnny Kills release Brand New Track ‘Seems’!

Johnny Kills are a three piece garage/indie rock band who span across York, Cambridge London and Brighton, a lot of places for three people to be. This is a debut for them on on WFM, and they’re making it a well worth one.

After releasing ‘Who’s Counting’ earlier on in the year, the band have built up a bit of momentum and really solidified their sound. This can be heard on their latest track ‘Seems’!

Listen Below:

‘Seems’ has a sense of urgency applied to it with the quick I’m late for work pace of the vocals, backed by these melodic distorted guitars! The track has a sense of glammy surf rock about it, something which has hints of Bloody Knees, Wavves and Weezer in parts.

If you wanna here more from the band, make sure you catch them live!

September 22nd –  @ The Finsbury

October 4th – @ Paper Dress Vintage

Support the Band: Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud

Words By Alex Wise

Add the Song to your Spotify Playlist, we have!

New Release | Matt Portland – ‘South Destruction’

This song had the wings and never really got off the ground, but It didn’t need to! I appreciate musical talent. London Born Matt Portland wrote, recorded, and produced this song and to achieve that all your own takes a certain breed of human, that’s skilled and determined.

The intro of guitar was ‘Pink Floydish – wish you were here’, and that automatically had me intrigued. I was looking forward to that coming back in at that chorus, where it was expanded and gave the song the Roast dinner we all crave.
You do hear it again flickering in the background behind a building of keys and relaxed drum tempo, but not how I hoped it would.

But I continued to be dragged into this song anyway, lyrically it was sincere and his vocals were sounding like Alex Turner on a Tom Odell record especially at the beginning.
Overall The heart and soul of this track was the lyrics. ‘carry on when your head drops, you pray that you will stop, the way you make a tough guy tongue tied, the way you make the dark days sunshine’.

Instantly suggested to me that we all need someone to pull our heads out of a dark cloud, and keep pushing us forward!  I feel like the sentiment conveyed has been delivered well, but just a bit apprehensive to push that boat out a bit more.

It has the qualities to be a ‘wave of lighters in the air’ kind of song, where it would be a perfect last song on the set list.

Words by Captain Sound

Live Review | Idles live show + meet & greet @ Record Junkee, Sheffield – 5/9/2018

IDLES Prove Live Why They Are a Must See Band!

I slowly make my way through the sea of people; the place is packed, yet the atmosphere is weirdly calm. My eyes still haven’t adjusted to the extreme contrast in darkness within the venue, compared to the daytime sunshine from outside; and with blurry eyes I’m beginning to wonder if a matinee show at half one in the afternoon, where people are clutching coffee cups, will in any way live up to the energy produced from your typical, alcohol-fuelled evening gig. But then I remember who I’m about to see.

This is an Idles gig, and I’m surrounded by fellow Idles fans, or ‘AF gang’ members, who in my eyes, are some of the most dedicated music fans out there at the moment….who cares what time of day it is – this is going to be amazing!

This statement was quickly confirmed in the time it took Idles frontman Joe Talbot to finally make his way onto the stage to join his fellow band members, who had already been blasting the intro to ‘Colossus’ (the first track off their new album) for a little too long. Well, just enough time for us all to really appreciate the rumbling guitars, while simultaneously being tortured by a painful suspense.

This is it.

Talbot takes his place and ‘Colossus’ continues in all its glory, eventually ending in the first mosh pit of the day. The inevitable energy has officially been created and it is here to stay; flailing limbs, sweat, spilt alcohol (and coffee) are all continued into the next massive tune from Joy as An Act of Resistance. Already a favourite with fans, ‘Never Fight a Man with a Perm’ thunders throughout Record Junkee; with people screaming ‘CONCREETE AND LEATHEER’ until they’ll all be needing a much smaller packet of Tunes; but these ones for soothing their poor (but never bored) throats (other sore throat lozenges are available).

As people recover from what has just occurred, the scene of the next 45 minutes or so is set when Talbot announces that this will be a request show. A beautiful, light-hearted energy diffuses throughout the crowd as Talbot appears to channel his inner Cilla Black, greeting various members of the crowd and retrieving their favourite Idles songs. Even though one of my faves – ‘Date Night’, was never played, I guess we got to experience bit of Blind Date instead – “What’s yer name, and where’dyer come from?” echoed numerous times throughout the venue, accompanied by Talbot’s comedic style; “Do you know any Idles songs?”

Fans from all over; Rotherham, Nottingham, Selby, and even Edinburgh, got their chance to request their favourite tracks – ‘1049 Gotho’, ‘Television’ and ‘I’m Scum’ were the first to shape this very special and intimate gig, followed by an ambitious yet ‘stunning’ rendition of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is You’, because why the hell not?

Talbot made his way into the bouncing crowd to round off Brutalism’s ‘White Privilege’ perfectly, with some audience participation; AKA taking it in turns to shout “YEAHH!” down the mic. “How many optimists does it take to change a lightbulb?” was never more apt when a light fixture was later accidently ripped from the roof during a mad crowd surf (with no butler in sight to change it.)

The explosive throwback ‘Queens’ from their 2015 Meat EP was just as explosive as the next request ‘Mother’ where Idles once again mingled with the crowd. While face to face with guitarist Lee Kiernan as he manically played off-stage, it was at that moment I realised how lucky we all were to experience this unique and unforgettable gig. Idles are a band who care about their fans, there is a mutual level of appreciation.

Another stand out moment was during the break down of ‘Exeter’, when guitarists BoBo and Lee summoned the crowd that circled them to crouch on floor; we obliged, everyone mesmerised by their performance. Boundaries were blurred between the fans and the band, we were all in it together. ‘Samaritans’, the penultimate request, was met with adoration, then everyone began to wonder who Talbot would pick to request the final song.

But after selecting someone who claimed to only know one Idles song, Talbot asked if it had already been played – ‘ohhh yes’, meant that the pressure was placed onto some other lucky person. ‘What would you like us to play?” Talbot enquired for the last time. It just had to be ‘Danny Nedelko’.

“He’s made of bones, he’s made of blood
He’s made of flesh, he’s made of love
He’s made of you, he’s made of me
UNITY!”

Never had I attended a gig and left feeling such a sense of unity and optimism, until now.

What lovely guys, what a lovely day.

Words By Meg Wood

New Release | Indoor Pets – ‘Hi’

Photo by Phoebe Fox

Indoor Pets Surprise us All by Releasing New Track ‘Hi‘

For the most part of the year Indoor Pets have kept themselves fairly quiet on the new music front, after releasing ‘So Soon’ earlier on in the year. However after signing to Wichita, and playing a few shows the momentum seems to have been really picking and this song is only just the start I believe.

Listen to the Track Below:

The bands fun-loving, carefree attitude is sprawled all across this song, as I get the vision of it being created with limitless imagination and the lyrics taken down in crayon, it’s just that fun.

One thing you’re guaranteed in an Indoor Pets track is a catchy guitar riff and frontman Jamie hitting those ridiculous high notes, and we get both! Jamie scream “I’ll never get that Hi”, which is simple yet endearing line, and when you have these overdrive guitars behind it creates a huge chorus.

Great to see the band have went into some weird direction since signing for the stunning Wichita, and hopefully we can look forward to some big announcements from the band coming soon!

What do you make of it?

Words by Alex Wise

August 2018 | Top 5 Albums of the Month

IDLES smash the Top 5 List, Along with Two Debut Albums!

 

5) Muncie Girls – ‘Fixed Ideals’  – LISTEN HERE

This was the second album released by Exeter trio Muncie Girls. Working up to the album I went and listened to their debut record again just to see how this one measured up and it’s clear that ‘Fixed Ideals’ is a step further for the band. Their lo-fi riffs are brilliantly under produced giving a raw feel. The hard hitting tracks are opinionated and fun to listen to, with wild drums throughout. FULL REVIEW HERE.

 

 

Top 3 Tracks : ‘Jeremy’ , ‘Locked Up’ and ‘Bubble Bath’

 

4) Slaves – ‘Acts Of Fear and Love’ – LISTEN HERE

Over the past five years Isaac and Laurie have continued to grow and develop as a band while keeping their core sound – and this album they offered something a bit different. Of course you still have that raw aggression from the vocal delivery and tireless guitar riffs, but this album had something different which is shown in the song ‘Daddy’. Throughout the album you hear the bands wicked wit, which never gets boring and keeps the album at their high standards. FULL REVIEW HERE

 

Top 3 Tracks : ‘Photo Opportunity’ , ‘Daddy’ and ‘Magnolia’

3) Bad Sounds – ‘Get Better’ – LISTEN HERE

Bad Sounds debut album promised the World to us, from new and innovative sounds and limitless creativity, and they delivered. After a lot of build to it with ‘Wages’ and ‘Evil Powers’ the band really did had a lot to live up to, and it was a relief to hear they done just that throughout the album. Listening to the album is a complete joy, and will have you bopping around the room and whistling those sweet little hooks that they deliver with ease. FULL REVIEW HERE

 

Top 3 Tracks : ‘Wages’ , ‘How You Gonna Lose?’ and ‘Evil Powers’

2) Our Girl – ‘Stranger Today’ – LISTEN HERE

Since they announced their debut album I was waiting with high anticipation, as everything up until then had moved me and left a mark. From songs ‘I Like You’ to ‘Our Girl’ they had it down. With this release they managed to do that at numerous points in the album, with distant sound of ‘Being Around’ to the mumblings on ‘Two Life’, their sound just throws you around room, and it was everything that I wished for on this album. FULL REVIEW HERE!

 

Top 3 Tracks : ‘I Really Like It’ , ‘Being Around’ and ‘Our Girl’

1) IDLES – ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’  – LISTEN HERE

IDLES completely blew us away last year with their debut album ‘Brutalism’ (Album Review Here) which seem to come out of nowhere. Now with expectation resting on their shoulders, it was interesting to see how the band would fair with a second album. The band proved that they did not suffer with second album syndrome, as they made an equally good, if not better, successor. Much like their first album it’s completely packed with piss and vinegar, and the band will not rest until they’ve got everything off their chest. An excellent listen which firmly puts IDLES as one of the best bands the UK have today, cannot wait for the third release! FULL REVIEW HERE.

Top 3 Tracks : ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’ , ‘Love Song’ and ‘Great’

That’s it for this Month, what did you make of the albums in the list? What would you have put in the Top 5? Let us know, in the comments below!

Enjoy!

New Release | The Novus – ‘Break’

The Novus Release Brexit Fuelled Track ‘Break’ and give a real opinion!

I think this new track by The Novus symbolises an under pressure Government, trying to keep its head above water in a post-Brexit society. And we as a country are to scared to speak up, previously and to this very day. All I know is there’s Talk of a deal, or no deal UK. And I can’t help wonder if we need to give Noel Edmonds a phone call, get deal or no deal back on the TV? Featuring Teresa May as a special guest, picking our kids and grand kids futures from 22 boxes at random, which will be filled with pros and cons. The banker will be the European Union Headquarters, offering us imported French wine on the cheap, in exchange for Boris Johnson’s resignation letter as she progresses through the game. And so on and so forth.

Some one give the government a better idea ? Now as you’ve probably gathered, I’m not a Brexit enthusiast. I’m a music fan. This song is electric from the start, and as the vocalist sang “left hand is held high, la la la la la la laaa” I instinctively raised my left hand and sang along. I was in that mad mosh pit without physically being there.

The song was a time machine, transporting me back to the 80’s. When the Smiths burst on the scene, and Morrissey spilled lyrics without a care, conveying controversy and standing by his beliefs. As did the sex pistols. this song paints that exact picture. With the lyrics ‘We’re scared to speak out, about those men who walk those carpet halls’. And I can’t help agree, and make this song one of the best I’ve heard in sometime in that context. The vocals have some mega phone effect, it’s regal, and you’ll hear it from outside as well as you would right up the front of their gig. Like the ring leader of a protest, only in dynamic, political punk-rock style.

What do you make of it?

Words by Captain Sound

Add it to your playlist!