Heavy blues rockers Vivunder are out on tour this month promoting their latest album Oracles And Prophets (Crusher Records). As a taster of what to expect check out this new video for Son Of Every Lie, taken from the album.
Those tour dates in full -
JUN 12 - DE, Kassel, Goldgrube JUN 13 - DE, Regensburg, Tiki Beat JUN 14 - AT, Vienna, Arena, w/ Black Mountain JUN 16 - XX, Secret Location, Secret Festival JUN 17 - AT, Salzburg, Rockhouse JUN 19 - IT, Castel d'Ario MN, Roccanroll Festival JUN 20 - IT, Milano, Lo Fi Milano JUN 21 - DE, Munich, Backstage, w/ Danava JUN 22 - DE, Solingen, Waldmeister Club JUN 23 - DE, Berlin, Tiefgrund, w/ Danava JUN 24 - DE, Erfurt, Cafe Tiko JUN 25 - DE, Leipzig, Goldhorn JUN 26 - DE, Würzburg, Immerhin JUN 27 - DE, Kiel, Kieler Woche
I was reminded of this LP recently after discussing Bubblegum pop with a pal of mine. I dug it when it came out but it sounds even sweeter now! My original review ran on Subba Cultcha when the album was first released.
Mick
Collins and co. finally release their much promised Bubblegum LP!
Think you know The
Dirtbombs? Purveyors of Detroit garage rock for what seems like
forever, with front man Mick Collins previously responsible for the
force of nature that was The Gories? Yes that band. The band that
have been promising an album of bubblegum pop for almost a decade, an
album most people thought would never materialise. You could almost
think of it as some sort of ruse or joke. Well that album is here and
it's pretty damn good!
Quick history lesson –
Bubblegum for those that don't know is a genre of music that was
created by journeymen record producers back in the late '60s as a
kid-friendly cash-in. With musical roots in the accessible end of
flower-power, beat music and folk-rock, it was often fronted by
manufactured cartoon friendly bands, blokes in animal costumes or
actual cartoons. Think The Banana Splits, The Archies, or 1910
Fruitgum Company. Though despised by serious music fans at the time,
it's since developed a kitsch charm and appeal.
There's something about
the music of one's childhood, it's deeply ingrained and has a sway
over you that the music you hear later doesn't. It's obvious
listening to Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey! (best album title of
the year?) that Mick Collins has a deep affection for this music. The
ten original songs pay homage to this strain of sunshine pop. It's
twee, not in a sexless C86 way, there's just the right amount of fuzz
and groove to keep the faithful happy.
Candy, ice cream,
sunshine and fairground rides all get a look in on this LP of
innocence re-found. The Gories this ain't, but it sure is fun dammit!
I defy anyone to listen to the album's opening track “Sugar On Top”
and not have a smile on their face. Also listen out for the
deliberate melodic steal form The Beach Boys' “God Only Knows” on
album closer “We Come In The Sunshine.”
Garage rock is a genre
that often prides itself in being a ghetto. Mick Collins may upset
the garage rock purists by opting to make music that has roots in
exploitative pop, but hey how cool is it to exploit the exploiters!
Sweet indeed!
The
long awaited second album from Atlanta's TSROS. Mixes psych-rock with
middle eastern scales and rhythms in a most appealing way!
I first became aware of
TSROS when they featured on Fruits De Mer Records' recent 7&7
Is box set of 7” singles covering The Grateful Dead. They were
good at that but what's more of a revelation is the band doing their
own material. Ormythology is the band's second full length
album, several years in the making, self released on a lovingly
hand-stamped CD. It contains a pleasing mix of what some people call
college rock and music of an altogether more Byzantine/Arabesque
nature.
Album opener “Burning
A Hole” contains Nirvana-esque melodies, lyrics of a decidedly 1967
vintage (“cellophane sunflowers, what do you think about time?”)
before nutmegging listeners with killer guitar solos that owe more to
Turkish or Greek music than that of your more traditional guitar
heroes. This is quickly followed by “Teli, Teli, Teli”, an
instrumental which ups the Byzantine ante with guitar flights of
fancy that both stretch out and wig-out in equal measure.
“Time To Fly” is a
more straight ahead Anglo-American rocker, which brings to mind
Teenage Fanclub or The Byrds, characterised by sumptuous vocal
harmonies, and power-pop chord progressions. There's still room for
the lead guitar to surprise and take the song somewhere new. Time To
Fly indeed!
It's refreshing to know
that some bands do look beyond the much mined seams of Hendrix, Page
et al for their inspiration. Time signatures look beyond the usual
rock-fayre, and the melodies are equally at home in a souk or incense
filled temple as they are in a western rock venue. A cliche-free and
illuminating experience is guaranteed for all who are adventurous
enough to listen!
Click here for more
from on The Seventh Ring Of Saturn.
Two
very limited 7” singles featuring Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd covers!
Available at the Fruits De Mer / Mega Dodo joint gig at Putney's Half
Moon this Sunday! (24th
May)
This weekend's hottest
gig ticket is surely the Fruits De Mer/Mega Dodo all-dayer at
Putney's Half Moon. Aside from the stellar line-up, there will also
be ultra-desirable goodie bags for early arrivals. If that wasn't
enough there'll also be a chance to get your your eager mitts on some
other sonic items. Two of which being this pair of limited edition 7”
singles featuring contemporary acts covering early Pink Floyd/Syd
Barrett tracks. Although they've been issued before on FDM's
Momentary Lapse Of Reason double CD (available to “club members”
only), this is their first airing on vinyl. Limited to only 300
copies each, chances are they won't be around for long.
Momentary One
features is marked out by it's sumptuous female vocals, while
Momentary Two is a Syd special. Floyd fans will love all seven
tunes as there's nary a duff track among them. If I was pushed to
pick a favourite I'd probably go for Max Kinghorn-Mills version of
Dark Globe, dreamy, wistful and melancholic. It had me searching out
Barrett's original version with fresh ears. But hey, that's just me.
Track down this pair of 7”s if you can and pick your own favourite,
they're all worthy!
Momentary One
Ilona V – Golden
Hair (Barrett)
Crystal Jacqueline
– Grantchester Meadows (Waters
Cary Grace –
Cirrus Minor (Waters)
Momentary Two
Max Kinghorn-Mills
– Dark Globe (Barrett)
Caudio Cataldi –
She Took A Long Cold Look (Barrett)
The Chemistry Set
– See Emily Play (Barrett)
Todd Dillingham
and Golly McCry – The Gnome (Barrett)
How
I survived the aftermath of the general election with a little help
from Kurt Vonnegut and Beau's latest LP.
After the all too
depressing results of the recent general election sank in, and the
prospect of another five years of Tory government became a reality,
my Twitter feed turned quickly from pre-election optimism and hope,
to despair and blame. It also filled with scaremongering about what
we as a society needed to prepare ourselves for. There was one tweet,
amongst the deluge, that stuck in my mind and seemed to sum up where
our society is heading. It highlighted a quote from Kurt Vonnegut's
Slaughterhouse 5, about how the American poor are encouraged
to despise themselves, perpetuating their position and lack of
opportunity while bolstering that of the rich and powerful. This,
Vonnegut states, is in contrast to many other countries which have
folk tales that value wisdom over wealth, and virtue over
self-serving ambition -
America is a nation
of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor
but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than
anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American
poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest
eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor,
is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question:
“If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?” (Kurt Vonnegut –
Slaughterhouse 5)
It's easy to see the
parallels in modern Britain where our underclass is routinely
ridiculed on TV, or attacked in the press, whereas corporations are
free to avoid taxes if they pay enough donations to the right
political parties. Timely then that the latest album from Beau should
drop through my letterbox around the same time as did many electoral
leaflets and voting reminders. It too chimes themes similar to those
found in Slaughterhouse 5, along with other cautionary tales
about corruption and misuse of wealth. Listening to Beau's latest
work did give me some hope for the spiritual well being of our
nation, which in the immediate wake of the election seemed somehow
broken and in need of some TLC.
Shoeless In The
Desert is a gentle compassionate album, and like those folk tales
it champions wisdom and virtue. Recorded simply and in the timeless
folk way of just voice and one 12-string guitar, no overdubs, it's an
album that's all about melody and message. Themes spread across the
album's fourteen songs include religion, immigration, environmental
concerns, alongside more personal takes on relationships, ageing, and
even a humorous sideswipe at coronary heart disease.
In our current
sound-bite and shuffle era it's encouraging to see long-form
songwriting done so well. And no wonder - Beau has been writing,
recording and performing music for over four and a half decades. His
early championing by John Peel tells you all you need to know about
the calibre of his work. (Peel released Beau's debut as the first
release on his Dandelion label). In a fairer world Beau would be a
much valued cultural treasure, up alongside Dylan, Mitchell, Cohen
and the like. As it is the world is not always fair, something that
may become all too apparent over the next few years. Thankfully we
have the likes of Beau to help fight our corner and cushion any
blows. Long may it be so.
As part of an occasional series I'll be posting archive interviews, pieces and reviews I've done for other sites over the years. This is a short but sweet interview I did with James Skelly (The Coral) centred around the release of his Love Undercover LP back in 2013. The Interview originally appeared on Subba-Cultcha.
June 3rd sees the release of Love
Undercover, the
debut album by James Skelly & The Intenders. Skelly is best known
as the main vocalist and songwriter in The Coral, a band that have
released a string of critically acclaimed albums, gaining
Mercury nominations and the respect of their peers along the way.
It's now three years since the last album Butterfly House. With no
new Coral material on the horizon, having abandoned sessions with
producer John Leckie for a sixth album half way through, the
various members have kept themselves busy with side projects and solo
albums. James' brother (and Coral drummer) Ian recently released his
his album Cut
From A Star, a
record that maintains the Coral's gentle psychedelia. Hot on its
heels comes older brother James' effort with new backing band The
Intenders. It's an altogether more soulful, rootsy affair. though
with just enough of The Coral's folk-rock to keep the faithful happy.
Keen to point out that it's a group effort, the band will be touring
throughout the summer (dates below). We caught up with James prior to
the album's release to talk soul music, psych bands and gap years.
Harmonic Distortion – The album's
opening track “You've Got It All” was co-written with Paul
Weller. How did that come about and what's he like to work with?
James Skelly - He sent me a demo,
but it had no words on it. He asked me if I could finish it, so I
wrote the words and the chorus, and then we finished it in his
studio. Ian loved the song and thought it would be right for the
album, so I rang Weller and asked him if I could use it. He said yes.
HD – There's are real live
band dynamic on the album, and I know you're keen to point out the
rest of the band's input on the album. Who have you got playing on
the record and was there an instant chemistry when you all first got
together in the rehearsal room?
JS - I played guitar & vocals,
Paul Duffy - guitar, organ, & vocals, Alfie Skelly - guitar, Nick
Power-piano, Ian Skelly - drums, James Redmond -bass. We've all
played with each other before and we're all close friends, so it was
very natural.
HD – You've worked with some
big name producers in the past, whereas this record is self-produced.
You obviously feel at home in the studio, are there any plans to do
any more production work either for yourself for other artists?
JS - Yes, I love being in the
studio and I've been working with a couple of young bands, Sundowners
and The Circles, It's something I’d like to get into.
HD – Without going as far as
to call Love Undercover a soul album, there's a definite Northern
Soul/R&B vibe going on. Would that be an indication of what
you've been listening to recently?
JS - I've always loved blues and
soul music, I go through phases but that’s what I always go back
to.
HD – I'm really enjoying your
song “Searching For The Sun”, could you tell us a little bit
about how you wrote the song and what inspired it.
JS - I've had that song for a
while, we demoed it with The Coral, then I demoed it. I ended up with
something inbetween the two versions.
HD – The songs on Love
Undercover
come across as less oblique than your songs for The Coral, there's a
tenderness and warmth to a lot of the songs too. It seems to me these
songs are a lot more personal than much of your previous work, would
that be a fair observation?
JS - I'd say the songs are more
direct. I wanted to get to the heart of the matter. I thought the
lyrics on Butterfly House were as good as I was going to get in that
style, so I felt it was time for a change.
HD – I'd say there's a good
case to be made for having one of the most instantly recognisable
male voices from the last decade with Love
Undercover
containing some of your best vocal performances, there seems to be a
real sense of spontaneity and joy in them. Who would you say were
your main influences as a vocalist?
JS - Van Morrison, Steve Marriott,
Ronnie Spector, Dion DiMucci, Bob Marley, Sam Cooke, John Lennon, Ben
E. King, Robert Johnson, Willie Deville, I could go on, but I'll
leave it there.
HD - Would you say there was
less pressure and expectation on this record than say there would be
on a Coral album?
JS - In a way, because I only had
to answer to myself, but I'm my harshest critic, so it didn’t make
a big difference.
HD – Sorry to bring up the
C-word but I have to ask, it's three years since Butterfly
House was
released, is there likely to be another Coral album or tour at any
time in the near future?
JS - Yes, I hope so, it has to be
right though, I wouldn’t want to do it just for the sake of it.
HD – Your song “I'm A Man”
has that Arthur Lee-style Mariachi vibe on it, I'm assuming you still
dig Love, Beefheart and all? Do you keep up with any of the current
crop of psychedelic flavoured acts such Temples or Jacco Gardner?
JS - I've heard Temples, it's good
but there's a lot of lo-fi stuff around, I’m waiting for a young
band to come and smash it.
HD – The song “Darkest
Days” is a sublime ending to the record, with warm sentiments that
characterise much of the album. Do you find yourself getting more
drawn towards introspection as you get older?
JS - I've always been like that,
I'm just hiding it less these days.
HD – You've been releasing critically acclaimed music for over twelve
years. So many flavour-of-the-month bands have come and gone, yet
you're still around, without courting the gossip columns, and still
making great music. What do you put this longevity down to?
JS
- I'd still be doing it even if no one was listening. It's all I
know. I get the impression a lot of bands are just on a gap year.
Swiss
duo's über rare debut EP gets a well deserved wider release. Dance
friendly Krautrock, electro and post-punk funk vie for space on this
12” reissue.
Anyone looking to shake
off the comfort blanket of English language music could do worse than
check out this re-release of Klaus Johann Grobe's debut EP. The Swiss
duo have fans in high places, as evidenced by endorsements and tour
supports from pysch band du jour Temples. Though their music is no
less psychedelic than that made by Temples, it's a musical strand
that owes more to bass-propelled electro than it does to floppy
fringes, vintage clothes and guitar pedals.
If the Temples
recommendation is not enough you'll no doubt be wondering what this
12” slab of vinyl has to offer - Six tracks that mix early '70s
Krautrock, '80s post-punk, Teutonic funk and electro. Add some eerie
sci-fi synth lines and vocals all sung in German and you're somewhere
close. It's a sound that contains echoes of the past while
simultaneously pointing at possibilities for the future. All served
up with a hefty dose of humour and panache.
As the duo's second LP
gets a release via Trouble In Mind Records, Liverpool based label
Salvation Records have wisely re-released this debut EP which was
originally released in 2013 on a very limited pressing (only 168
copies on 10” vinyl). This wider release is now on 12” vinyl and
digital download. Also worth checking out are Salvation's growing
catalogue of fine new underground releases and well-curated reissues.
Klaus Johann Grobe will be making several summer festival appearances
over the coming months, get down the front if you get the chance.
Gentle
elegiac paean to a golden rock 'n' roll youth. The Granite Shore's
debut LP breathes life back into the concept album.
Nothing quite heightens
the poignancy of ageing as experiencing it as a member of a touring
rock band. As fashions change and audiences move on for newer sounds,
it's as if time's ravages are sharpened. A steep learning curve that
shows how life can sometimes move on too quickly, leaving you longing
for a recent past that seems like a long-lost golden age. Nowhere is
this more the case than for those bands that only fleetingly taste a
small amount of mid-level success.
These are the themes
explored on Once More From The Top, the debut long player from
The Granite Shore. Neatly divided into two halves with
self-explanatory titles – In Public, and Behind The
Scenes. Musically it's a gentle
and understated affair, all slow tempos and muted brass, which along
with vocalist/writer Nick Halliwell's closely miked, soft-sung
vocals, enhance the album's sense of wistful longing.
The
trials, tribulations, hard work and small victories of giving your
all to make it in the music world make for good subject matter given
Halliwell's literary bent and knack for capturing mood and spirit.
Tales of music-biz rip-offs, band members' alcohol intake, and
“one-night-stands across East Anglia” somehow sum up the limited,
nuanced experiences of everyband.
Once More From The
Top shares much with Ian
Hunter's Diary Of A Rock And Roll Star, in
that things that appear glamorous to the casual observer quite often
aren't. Funny and sad in equal measures, its elegiac longing is
tempered by wry, dry humour and priceless nail-on-the-head lyrics.
The supposedly fictional experiences Halliwell sings of hint at the
early '70s, a time when there really was money to be made in the
music scene, when there was a thriving circuit of venues with
supportive audiences. Over the album's course they also lament their
slow decline. It will resonate with anyone who's experienced this
either as a musician or a music fan. Enthusiasts of the concept album
will also be glad to know that such a thing still exists.
Due for release in May
on CD & LP. There are also plans for an accompanying book
version.
Four
song EP of skewed indie rock, FFO Pavement, Silver Jews! Available on
vinyl from Sweaters And Pearls Records.
Any piece of 7” vinyl
that contains an insert with quotes about freedom from Susan Sontag
and Alan Watts already has something going for it, that's before you
even place the needle to the groove. Intrigued? You should be.
Harpoon Forever hail
from Rutherford, New Jersey and were formed in 2010 by the band's
mainstay Alex Goldstein. Together they make lo-fi guitar music that
contains echoes of '90s alt-rock yet is imbued with a freshness and
enthusiasm that makes them sound utterly contemporary.
The four songs that
make up the EP are all anti-fashion, anti-trends and all the better
for it. Guitars are played with purpose and spirited abandon, and
compliment the intelligent lyrics and from-the-heart vocals. Built
around a defiant DIY ethic, this is guitar music that will appeal to
anyone who likes their indie-rock slightly left of field.
Think Pavement, think
Silvers Jews, even Phantom Buffalo. It's proof that modern guitar
music hasn't been completely packaged up and commodified. The sound
of a young band searching for an alternative America. Let's hope it's
out there. Look out for the band's shows in and around New Jersey and
NYC.
Limited to 300 copies
on black vinyl. (First 50 copies come with chipboard matchbook style
screened sleeves, with alternate artwork by Travis Kostell.)
A full length LP A
Prince For All Seasons is available now via download or stream
with a vinyl release planned for later in the year.
Bank
holiday Sunday! Five live bands, a free five-track 7” single +
goodie bag! Be there or wish you were!
As if releasing
consistently high standard vinyl releases wasn't enough, Fruits De
Mer Records have teamed up with similarly reputable label, Mega Dodo,
to curate an afternoon and evening of music at Putney's Half Moon
venue. This takes place on Sunday 24th of May. For those
who don't like going out on a school night, fear not, it's a Bank
Holiday the following day! The advance ticket price of £15 gets you
a five band billing along with a whole bunch of freebies including -
* the Games For May 7",
with tracks by all five bands - exclusive to the gig * an
exclusive CD featuring a previously-unreleased album by PIPE (the
predecessors of The Past Tense) * Cary Grace's 'Where You Go' CD
album * a compilation CD from Headspin Records * a compilation
CD from Mega Dodo * a compilation from Stylus Records * a
compilation CD from DJ Marrs Bonfire * a CD by ZX+ * a CD by
The Portraits * a CD by the Blue Giant Zeta Puppies - that's a
7" EP + NINE CDs! plus... * an A3 gig poster * an
'artifact' featuring Todd Dillingham * a sticker from Claudio
Cataldi * and a very silly game from Fruits de Mer & Mega Dodo
The fun starts at 4pm
and goes on till closing time. Along with the live bands there'll be
rare vinyl DJ sets from Marrs Bonfire and Cranium Pie's Julian Smith.
The event is almost certain to sell out so don't hang about buying
your tickets. The five acts playing live (and who feature on the free
7” single) are -
Tir na nOg
Legdendary psych-folk duo formed by Leo O'Kelly and Sonny Cordell in 1970. They'll also be launching The Dark Dance, their first studio album in 40 years at the gig - and there'll be an exclusive 50-run individually lathe-cut 7" available for £10 a time to the first 50 people to buy the album.
Schnauser
Favourites here at
Harmonic Distortion are Bristol's quirk-prog supremists. Read our
review of their Where Business Meets Fashion album here.
The Past Tense
Three-piece band from
Worcester Park/Kingston. Their sound is a fusion of mod, '60s beat,
garage, psych and punk. Their track “Vision (from Another World”
was recorded especially for the event's free 7”.
Crystal Jacqueline
and The Honey Pot
Crystal Jacqueline will
be familiar to Fruits De Mer aficionados. A founding member of the
Honey Pot she'll also be launching latest album Rainflower
(Mega Dodo Records) at this gig. We've heard it and it's pretty
special, review coming soon!
Mark and The Clouds
London based band that
evolved from Instant Flight. Purveyors of '60s tinged power pop
though their offering on the 7” has a more folky vibe, all
12-string acoustic and harmonies. Entitled “Any Part Of Town”
it's only available on the free 7”.
Click here to purchase
tickets online. Click here for the
Fruits De Mer Records website. Click here for the Mega
Dodo website.
