With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

With Just A Hint Of Mayhem – Singles Round-Up 2021 Part 5 May 23, 2021


It’s very close to the end of May and this is our fifth singles round up of 2021.

There are ten quite different tunes from ten clearly talented bands and singers, one of whom (Arcade Fortress) have featured on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem before, but I am confident that all ten will appear here again in the future. This bunch come from Newcastle, West Midlands, Lincoln, Nashville (USA), Aberdeen, Coventry, the Netherlands and London. Inject this bunch of tunes into you as soon as possible. Click here to check out the Spotify playlist with all ten songs on it!

“Be My Saturday” – Sirocco

A very UK mid 90s vibe, the guitar screams perfectly and the vocals will drift across a festival field nicely! The tune also has a fine dose of psych too.

“Sunflower Girl” – Giant And The Georges

This instantly conjures up a feeling of summer for me. A delightful slice of jangly, happy indie with harmonies to die for! It left me with a huge smile and made me feel great!

“Uppercut” – Arcade Fortress

This is a tribute to Pembroke Boxing Club and I reckon it would be a great addition to a training playlist. We reviewed a previous single of theirs a couple of months back and found a Depeche Mode influence. But this shows their versatility as they come on like a resurrected Motorhead! This is pure unadulterated mosh food and I love it!

“Upside Down” – Gabe Baker

A fine portion of classy modern R & B which throws back to the best of Marvin Gaye vocally and the great use of strings (cellos I think) evokes Norman Whitfield’s production work for the Temptations. It is the kind of tune that you must sing along and dance to, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the law! Another song that left me with a huge smile.

“Relay” – Lachlan

A haunting anthemic tune from this talented Scottish singer songwriter. It makes me want to hear more from him, tunes are infectious and stick with you long after they finish!

“Harder Now (For Love)” – Senses

A strong Stone Roses crossed with Kasabian feel musically, but very original as well. Vocals are evocative of Spiritualized and Inspiral Carpets. I reckon this bunch will be great live!

“Brainwashed” – Norquay

This is rock with soul and emotion. Mountainous riffs and awesome vocals. Apparently the song is about a good work colleague of Norquay’s who encountered two suicide bombers while out on a military operation. “NO where to run , NO where to hide, can’t escape a brainwashed suicide!!”

“Out Of Here” – Charlotte Spiral

This is a haunting piano driven piece with a sensuous and heavenly vocal. This would fit perfectly on the soundtrack of a David Lynch film. It is the first track on the new Charlotte Spiral EP, ‘New Light’. Incidentally the Charlotte Spiral is a figure skating move, I never knew that!

“Gonnie” – The Awkward

This is one hell of a feel good tune. Danceable, great hooks, excellent harmonies and counterpoint vocals. My only criticism is that at less than two minutes it is way too short, but I guess playing it on repeat would solve that in a way!

“Cheap Red Wine” – Muca & La Marquise

A very chilled and very dark haunting lament. There is clearly a relationship story here and it fits perfectly into this great tune. The production is first class, especially as the song builds to a real crescendo. It makes me want to check out more from Muca & La Marquise.

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‘Delilah Bon’ – Delilah Bon May 18, 2021

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:35 pm
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Delilah Bon has crashed into a music industry that has not seen anything this fresh for a long time. She is like a rap rock comet that is laying waste to the world in the best way possible, with truly fucking awesome music. Many of you know that Delilah Bon is the alter ego of Lauren Tate, frontwoman of Hands Off Gretel. Delilah is like a wonderfully wicked cartoon that lives, she is a huge icon and role model for women and female empowerment everywhere. If you are a misogynistic arse then stop reading now! Although to be fair what the fuck is a misogynist doing reading my blog anyway? The tracks that Delilah has released over the past year or so have maintained a level of quality that many artists might kill for. All of her videos have been pretty ace too. Now it is time for her self-titled debut album to be unleashed on the world. I have been lucky enough to have had it spinning for a few weeks already. Delilah/ Lauren plays every note and sings/ raps every line, on top of that she produced it herself.

You may be familiar with a few of the tracks here, but for me, as a complete album it is already nailed on to be among the best albums of 2021, if not the very best. It kicks off with “Freak Of The Week” a track that explodes with the force of multiple megatons and a bass line that is so deep the vibrations rearrange your internal organs. Next up is the new single “Soul Sisters” and I reckon it is perhaps her greatest song to date. She uses the lyrics to tackle the negativity she faces from trolls and arseholes on the internet on a regular basis. Vocally this song goes beyond pure rap or rock and Delilah showcases her incredibly powerful voice and her ability to pull off the perfect hook. “Bad Attitude” is full of anger and venom and some supremely smart lyrical couplets, I particularly love “I do have a Sugar Daddy, Her name is myself and she gives me all the money”. If Eminem had been born in Yorkshire rather than Detroit and had he been a girl then “Where My Girls At” is definitely what he/ she might have sounded like. It is a powerful voice of support for all the girls who are afraid to go out or to dress how they want to. Were you ever bullied, belittled, or ignored at school? You were? Then “School” and “Red Dress” are songs for you. Delilah exposes the hypocrisy of all the people who gave her shit at school, including teachers, and who now what to know her.

“Chiquitita” uses a line from the Abba song of the same name “Chiquitita, you and I know”, but that is the only similarity. This is an explosive track that oozes anger and sticks in your head like an armour-clad leech. Perhaps Delilah’s most powerful attack on inherent and casual sexism that sadly still exists in this world is the stunning “Chop Dicks”. If you are male and this tune scares you then I suspect that you are on the wrong side of the argument. I totally support female empowerment and equality, for fuck’s sake we are in the 21st century! In “Homework” Delilah lashes out at the boys and men who expect nothing to change. Over a harsh and jarring beat, she raps with venom about the patriarchy and how many men just expect things to remain the same. She states her position clearly, “I’m an independent woman and I’m powerful”. Not that most of us need to hear that, Delilah/ Lauren is clearly independent, very powerful, a great role model for girls everywhere, and frankly an obscenely talented artist. Satan himself would be scared shitless by “Devil”. A song on which once again Delilah proves she can mix it with the best in the world of rap. Her ciphers and rhymes are clever, sassy, and classy. How about “If you’re burning down my castle then you know I’ll give you hell” for starters? The self-proclaimed Brat Punk tells it exactly like it is on “War On Women” in a world where it is not safe for women to walk the streets and world leaders telling women to cover up to reduce temptation. Imran Khan, we know where you are! She also uses her lyrics here to throw support behind the LGBTQ community alongside women. A true anthem for our times and a search for a better world. The album closes on an absolute high via “I Get A Feelin'”. I actually felt empty when the album finished, for no other reason than I needed to hear it again, buy this record, you really need Delilah Bon in your life, trust me! On a previous review of Delilah Bon, I said “Delilah Bon stands up for the freaks, the forgotten and the downtrodden, embrace her attitude and sass!” That stands even more now the album is here! As a footnote I would like to send a message to the people making the next Harley Quinn film, you need the soundtrack to be provided by Delilah Bon!

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“I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we’ve passed the audition” May 11, 2021


Other than the Beatles I really hadn’t thought about how many bands have played exclusive gigs on rooftops. But there are quite a few, here is a top ten, but I am not brave enough to rank them, so they are in chronological order. The list includes 4 British acts, 4 US artists, 1 Brazilian and an Irish band. Five of the rooftops, were in the US, four in the UK and one in Brazil. Sadly I never witnessed any of these rooftop shows firsthand, but I have been lucky enough to see six of these acts play live 🙂

1955 Elvis Presley – Porky’s Rooftop, Newport, Arkansas, USA – did the King kick it all off?

1967 Roberto Carlos – Copam Building, São Paulo, Brazil – not the footballer with the same name, this fella was known as the King of Latin Music

1968 Jefferson Airplane – The Schuyler Hotel, Manhattan, NYC, USA – way before they converted to a Starship, they laid the foundations for the city they built on rock ‘n’ roll

1969 – Beatles – Apple Building, Saville Row, London, UK – the last live show the Fab Four ever played. The title of this post is a John Lennon quote from that gig.

1987 U2 – Apple Studios, Los Angeles, USA – part of the ‘Rattle And Hum’ shenanigans I think

2010 Bon Jovi – O2 Arena, London, UK – Jon, Richie and the boys stepped onto the roof of the venue they were playing a residency at

2011 Kasabian – Skylight West, NYC, USA – the Leicester lads play a set to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, or maybe the 40th anniversary of Mulberry, or maybe both!

2012 Madness – Buckingham Palace, London, UK – the Nutty Boys played for Her Maj on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee – Brian May also played the rooftop. Hardly the Pistols riverboat trip back in ’77, but I suppose it’ll do.

2013 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Dick’s Drive In, Seattle, USA – I so wish they had played on the roof of a “Thrift Shop”. This wasn’t their only rooftop gig that year, check out the video below.

2021 Bull – EMI Head Office, Kings Cross, London, UK – one of York’s finest showcased their debut album ‘Discover Effortless Living’ with a fab show which was streamed earlier tonight. A small roof for a band, a giant leap for bandkind! Terrible pun I know, but trust me, Bull really are destined for great things!

Given that it was 1955 and there was no social media there appears to be no footage of Elvis’ roof top gig. Bull’s marvellous set is not on YouTube yet, but click here and it might still be available on their Facebook page 🙂

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The WJAHOM Interview Podcast – Taylor Grace of Not Now Norman May 6, 2021

Filed under: Interview,Podcast — justwilliam1959 @ 6:41 pm
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Photo by Paul Murray

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Taylor Grace the bright, talented and dynamic frontwoman Not Now Norman, who are now firmly entrenched as one of my favourite bands! Taylor talks about her musical influences, bullying, songwriting, these strange Covid days and Not Now Norman among many other things. Click here to take a look at the Not Now Norman website and maybe become a Norminion! Click here to check them out on Spotify and have a look at some of their great videos below.

Click here to listen to the interview, I certainly had a lot of fun doing it and I hope that Taylor did too 🙂

If you want to listen to any of the other interviews in this podcast series steer your mouse right here and click!

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“This Is Sisterhood” – Solidarity Not Silence (feat. The Tuts, Petrol Girls, Kathleen Hanna, Colour Me Wednesday, Personal Best) May 4, 2021

Filed under: Observation,Rants,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:16 pm
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Regular readers will know that I love a protest song and I bloody love the best all girl band there has ever been, the Tuts. Well the Tuts are back, with some great friends as Solidarity Not Silence collaborating on a bright, angry, sharp and powerful song about their trials and tribulations since they took a stand for the abused. It has most certainly not been an easy ride and sadly it ain’t over yet! I have copied below the message from the Tuts social media. Kathleen Hanna’s involvement has helped greatly and even Rolling Stone have picked up the story. Please contribute to the cause and stand in solidarity with them and everyone else involved with this song and all the survivors of abuse. If you can’t afford much how about leaving the song on repeat overnight on Spotify? I’ll be doing that and I have also pre ordered the vinyl single! Let me make that bit easy for you, click here for the Spotify link. Very special thanks to the Tuts, Petrol Girls, Kathleen Hanna, Colour Me Wednesday and Personal Best . The scales of justice is weighing on the wrong side right now, let’s help swing it back!

Hello, we’ve been quiet for a while but TODAY we launch our brand NEW SONG ‘THIS IS SISTERHOOD’. We’ve formed a SUPERGROUP under the name SOLIDARITY NOT SILENCE ft The Tuts Petrol Girls Kathleen Hanna Colour Me Wednesday, Personal Best & loads of feminist musicians & choirs, who have provided us with the most powerful gang vocals. We would like to say thank you to everyone who’s featured on this track (you know who you are) and Alcopop Records for releasing it with us. Gingerdope for the video Tunnel Of Reverb & Patrick James Pearson for recording it. This song release is not only to raise funds and awareness for our case and survivors but it’s for the wider issues at hand. It’s for anyone who wasn’t believed, who spoke up and got shut down, for the fuckery caused by the CPS, for that person who is too scared to speak up, who has to live with the haunting trauma. We hope that this song is somewhere you can feel safe, believed and less alone. We hope the message reaches you and the people who need to hear it and helps them as much as it’s helped us. We’ve been fighting this for over 4 years and it’s taught us resilience but also how hard it is to get JUSTICE. We have so much admiration for survivors. FULL VIDEO: https://youtu.be/GDHNlUY2V24 NEW MERCH & VINYL: www.solidaritynotsilence.bandcamp.com Please share it, download it, donate and support each other. Love,The Tuts xxx


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