The Black Delta Movement - Preservation

Debut long-player from Hull's textural noiseniks! Exporative guitar-driven dark-rock

Avoiding the unsavoury heavy metal route, there's a lineage of guitar-wielding bands that understand the attraction of loud guitar music but also have a concept of taste. They also tend to favour leather jackets and sunglasses over big hair and spandex, feedback-friendly semi-acoustics over pointy headstocked shredding. I guess it all begins with the mighty Velvet Underground, the baton passed at various times to the Stooges, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Thee Hypnotics, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Black Lips, The Jim Jones Revue... you can probably think of a few names of your own to add to the list. Rooted in '60s arty indifference but with a sheer sonic attack that would easily take your head off at the switch of an effects pedal.

Interestingly two of the bands listed above have the word “Black” in their name. Well now there's some new kids on the block who can take their place among them and they too have the darkest of all colours in their name. The Black Delta Movement hail from Hull on the northside of the Humber (hence “delta” – geddit?), their debut LP Preservation is set for release any day now. Centred around the twin guitar attack generated by Matt Burr and Dom Abbott, (Hull's answer to Lou and Sterling), the band have been honing their sound for the best part of a decade. All the hard work and gigs have paid off as you can hear on Preservation. It explores drone, drive, attack, shimmer, melody and that all-important inner headspace.

You wouldn't call this music shoegaze, psychedelia or garage-rock though it does contains elements of all those genres. Add a rhythm section that can shift between baggy funk, motorik, and all out punkish drive and you have something pretty interesting going on. While they undoubtedly have influences (see list in the first paragraph), they also take it it new places, stretch out and see what's possible (hence “movement” – you taking this in?) Take a listen to the track 'King Mosquito' below and you'll get the idea. Exporative guitar-driven dark-rock. Turn up, tune in and feel the noise!

(Slash & Axl? Sterling & Lou? No it's Dom Abbott & Matt Burr.)

Click here for The Black Delta Movement's website.
Click here for Black Delta Movement on Twitter.

Click here for Black Delta Movement on Facebook.

Moloko+ - Bite The Hand/I Wonder (Ltd 7"/cassette)

Nineties nuggets from Hull resurface for limited vinyl and cassette release!

When I think back to the early nineties, I'm equal parts nostalgia and embarrassment. There I was, a young man in my early twenties who could get away with wearing white jeans. I may have thought I was the dog's gonads but truth be told I was more likely a bit of a doofus. Anyway there's the embarrassment dealt with. The nostalgia aspect is bolstered by the fact that there was a lot of great music around. It was pre-Internet so people still “went out” to meet people rather than swiping, liking and commenting on other folks' profiles. Remember that?

I'm reminded of all this thanks to two demos recorded back in those days by Hull band Moloko+. 'Bite The Hand' and 'I Wonder' are now getting a limited 7” vinyl and a cassette release thanks to the Fruits de Mer and Eggs In Aspic labels respectively.

I regularly attended gigs at Hull's Adelphi club around that time but never saw the band play, though I do have hazy memories of seeing the name on the Adelphi's hand written photocopied flyers. It's a shame I never got to see them as the music would have been right up my alley at the time. A hint of The La's, guitar work inspired by Johnny Marr, and songs that pay attention to the melody and and vocal harmonies. There are plenty of bands from that time whose music wasn't as good but managed to secure record deals and column inches of press. Strange world eh!

Moloko+ may be no more but it's reassuring to know that Simon Dowson from the band is still making original music as the frontman in The Gold Needles.

If you fancy a nostalgic bowler hatted nod to the nineties, the music contained on this 7”/ and or cassette is well worth a listen. Just don't ask me fit into those white jeans again!

Click here for Fruits de Mer Records.

Click here for Eggs In Aspic Records.

Click here for The Gold Needles on Twitter.

Small Faces 4 classic album deluxe reissues ... (and the best gig I never went to.)

On May 7th Universal Music will be releasing deluxe editions of four Small Faces studio albums. Namely Small Faces (Decca 1966), From The Beginning (Decca 1967), Small Faces (Immediate 1967) and the classic Ogden's Nut Gone Flake (Immediate 1968). All releases will be expanded into 2-disc editions (3 in the case of Ogden's).

There are people who claim The Small Faces to be a greatest band of the '60s, better than The Who, The Rolling Stones and even The Beatles. These people mostly populate the Medway towns though so such claims should be taken with a contrary pinch of salt.

(Click over the jump for more on The Small Faces and the best gig I never went to)