Sparks are back and oh boy are the Mael brothers on top form. “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” is in my opinion one of their best singles ever. It stands alongside classics like “Amateur Hour” and “The Number One Song In Heaven”. It is the lead single and title track from their new album, their 26th (if you count ‘FFS’, their 2015 collaboration with Franz Ferdinand), scheduled for release in May on Island Records. It is hard to believe that the first album came out more than 50 years ago, particularly given how fresh this new track sounds. It is a fine slab of 21st-century orchestral electro-disco with a hook in the chorus that is to die for!. The video, which features Cate Blanchett, is stunning, well-filmed, well-edited, and both weird and funny in equal doses, I love it! I am now trying to perfect my Cate Blanchett moves! The band is touring from May this year with dates in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, and Japan. These dates include two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London and an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in June. Check out the video below and let me know what you think of the tune.
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I had a great deal of fun interviewing the supremely talented and all-round decent human being Carol Hodge. She released her fourth album just a short while ago and it is damned good. Click here to check out the interview to hear Carol talk about the album, what she is currently listening to, and what it is like playing with artists such as Ginger Wildheart and Steve Ignorant.
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This was a free gig put together by Young Thugs Studio and Jericho Keys of BBC Radio York. It showcased just some of the vast musical talent we have in the north. Kicking it all off in a packed room it was the Feens from Scarborough. Like all the acts performing it was a five-song set, “Eyes Open” and the new track “Eternal Sunshine” were particular highlights for me. This was the third time I have witnessed the Feens playing live and if you like your rock nicely polished but with an edge, you will love them. I can hear elements of Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, 10cc, and New Order in their songs, but those are just minor influences, the Feens have originality and energy in abundance. Next, from the other side of the room, a very Later With Jools style set up, it was the hugely talented Kitty VR. She performed a batch of sublime new songs that she has been working on for a while, she has produced them all herself, and based on this set I can hardly wait for them to be out in the world. Kitty’s voice was pitch-perfect and dazzled the crowd. Kitty has some torch singer tropes and some gorgeous torch songs with a soft blues feel with jazzy undertones. Next, it was a monumental banging DJ set from ace DJ Rory Hoy. We were tightly packed but easily managed some constant fists-in-the-air action and even managed to do as the song instructed when House Of Pain’s “Jump Around” came on.
Now it was time for the grand piano in the corner to take centre stage as Max Dalton, formerly frontman of the rather amazing York rock band Hello Operator. This was all about Max and the piano, although he did have some guitar and percussion support. His new material is very different from what he did with Hello Operator and has a real 1930s vaudevillian jazz in a smoky gin joint vibe and bundles of 21st-century attitude. Lyrically I was reminded of early Leo Sayer, songs that tell stories. Finally, it was up to Kindelan to close proceedings. I first saw Laura Kindelan playing live almost six years ago and I have been a fan ever since. Kindelan’s EP will be released soon, with a launch gig at the Brudenell in Leeds in June. The strength of the songs that will be on that EP are truly immense. “Feast” (an unintentionally saucy tune) and “Hazel Frustration” are my current favourites. This was the first time I have seen Laura perform with a band and what a fine band it is. The sound was fabulously well-mixed and crystal clear. The chorale-style Beach Boys harmonies were ethereal and otherworldly. This is modern R&B with a smooth jazz injection. Kindelan’s songs and music is comparable to Kendrick Lamar and her vocals at times evoke Nina Simone. I love the way Laura and the band use the space between the notes and sometimes embrace the quiet.
It was great to meet so many stalwarts of the York music scene in the crowd at Young Thugs, including Marnie Glum, Nathan Luke, and members of Sun King, Pennine Suite, and the Corsairs. It was also great to have the chance to catch up with Laura Kindelan and Kitty VR at the end of the evening. An immense thank you to Jericho Keys and Young Thugs for making this happen, when is the next one?
Click here to listen to the radio broadcast of the show on BBC Radio York, it is available for 30 days and also includes some interviews with all the artists.
The previously mentioned Nathan Luke was co-director and editor on this rather spiffing video for Kindelan’s “Hazel Frustration”.
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I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing one of York’s finest bands, City Snakes last week. Click here to check out the interview and discover so much more about the City Snakes lads. from the name of the band to musical influences and some fun stuff too, it’s all there! I should point out that owing to a couple of technical issues (damn those gremlins to hell and back) there are two points in the interview where the microphone cut out, so apologies for two little clunky moments. After you have listened to the boys chatting with me why not check out some of their tunes on Spotify.
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This was another gig put together by that wonderful human being Simon Pattinson for Northern Radar at the equally fabulous Fulford Arms. It was all for a great cause too and raised loads of dosh for St. Leonard’s Hospice. It was headlined by the Corsairs, but more of them later. Proceedings were opened by Everything After Midnight, this would be the second time that I have seen them this year. There is a portion of Wolf Alice and a dash of Pale Waves here. There is also a sprinkling of electric folk (think Traffic with a female singer), soft metal (maybe Evanescence), a pinch of British Prog, and obviously a huge amount of Everything After Midnight. Steph’s voice was always good and now she takes it towards greatness. I have previously suggested that Steph has vocals that remind me of Tori Amos and Ellie Roswell, and that remains true. This was a four-band gig and the second to take the stage was Lost Trends, who are clearly no longer lost and I am glad they have been found again. They have not tiptoed their way back, they came with a multi-megaton blast of sound. A long layoff for the Lost Trends boys, mostly driven by Covid, has not dimmed their power and passion one iota. They still have their usual “we can be better than New Order” sound, but now it is overlayed with some magnificent layers of Talking Heads-style NYC electro-funk. The north has produced some great guitarists, notably Mick Ronson and Bill Nelson, I think that we can safely add Pete Knaggs to that gang now!
Third, it was the turn of yet another fine York band, the Rosettas. Frontman Benji had a cold, but he didn’t let that get in the way of a pulsating set from a band that not only knows how to rock but also knows how to party hard. They are clearly all enjoying themselves and that infectious joy is shared by the crowd with some great dancing and singalong opportunities. “I Don’t Like This” is a great song for bringing the crowd together. Their choice of Blur’s “Song 2” as a cover was inspired and went down an absolute storm. A great band and most certainly one to watch for the future. The Corsairs may be a very young band, but this does not get in the way of their stunning ability to produce an absolute belter of a set. They may have started off a little understated but they really grew into this set and eventually knocked it out of the park. Current single “Jackie The Know It All” is a classy slab of prime Arctic Monkeys styling. There are some Kooks and Wombats influences in their songs too. These lads seemed to love their time on stage and undoubtedly converted many people that had not seen them before into fans. I hope that the Corsairs are around for a long while and I hope their first album, when they get to it lives up to the promise of their live set. I 100% believe that it will! As a footnote, I want to mention that someone actually left this gig early because it wasn’t “indie” enough for them. Seriously? What the actual fuck is indie anyway? Click here to take a look at Indie Chart number ones from the 80s. The usual suspects like the Smiths are included, but so is Jason Donovan. I can really feel a What The Fuck Is Indie Anyway article coming soon!
All the pictures, except the gig poster, were taken by Martin Swarbrick
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This was another show from the Northern Radar stalwart Simon Pattinson, he has never let me down with any of the lineups he has created so far. Would this gig be the first letdown? Read on to find out good people. First up was one of York’s finest young bands, City Snakes (look out for an interview with them here very soon). They were a relatively last-minute addition to the bill after the mighty Sun King had to drop out due to illness. and I have seen them in that position before. It never deters them in the slightest and I always feel that they play every gig as if they were headliners and they always look like they are having megatons of fun. This was an incendiary set to kick off the proceedings at the marvellous Fulford Arms. City Snakes get better every time that I see them. The rhythm section could be parachuted into the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and I think it would be hard to spot the change. “Spin Me Round”, “Paranoia” and “Mayfly” are awesome songs but the new single “Black And White” tops those with its fabulous blues-infused garage punk vibe. Get City Snakes in your life now!
Next, it was the turn of Black Skies, a band who have up to now played just a handful of gigs, although for me they sound like they have been playing together for years. They sound a little grungier, heavier, and probably better than Reef. There are also some slivers of the Spin Doctors in there too. They have some staggeringly good songs, notably “Soul” and “Reason”. Their drummer has all of Dave Grohl’s finest tropes and is clearly a key element of Black Skies’ engine room. One particular highlight in a great set was their smoky, heavy, swampy take on Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good”. This version problem took back ownership of the song after Matt Bellamy’s somewhat histrionic and over-the-top take on the tune.
I love the name of headliners Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii and until this gig, I had never heard of or seen them before. How can I tell you exactly what they are like? Well, I will attempt to do that by borrowing one of Rod Serling’s opening narrations from the original Twilight Zone TV series. “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension – a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone“. Believe me, that sums up this great band really well. Imagine a laboratory that stores the DNA of thousands of rock stars. A lab assistant, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, spills the vials containing Jim Morrison, Richard Jobson, Gary Numan, and Ian Curtis. The cleaner then accidentally blends them all in the dustpan and creates the Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii frontman. The band behind him could be a reincarnation of Bowie’s Isolar 2 touring band from 1978 but with Robert Fripp and Tom Verlaine added on guitar. Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii are a truly and wonderfully different band and one that is perfect for this century and this sad, mad world that we live in.
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Carol Hodge, who has been featured on these pages quite a few times has a new album, her fourth, out on 10th March. I have been lucky enough to have been listening to it for a week or two and I can tell you that it is a fine collection of classy future classic songs. The album is called ‘Vertiginous Drops’ and it opens with a full-on production on “Best Will In The Word”. It is a song of good advice, common sense and perhaps most importantly hope. On top of all that it has some magnificent hooks and an uplifting brass refrain. “The Price” has a feel of Depeche Mode in its dark,bass-laden synth opening, but then it turns into an epic synthed-up power ballad when Carol’s vocals kick in. This tune made me think that an album of 80s covers by Carol Hodge would be rather good. “Grayson (Things Could Always Be Worse)” is a fabulous choice for first single from the album. It also has a darkness to it, but once again a vein of hope. Carol’s voice evokes huge emotion in this song. In a parallel universe “Grayson” would top the charts everywhere. I felt peak Human League, but far better vocals than that Oakey fella, when listening to “Never Run Out Of Things To Worry About” and if any track on this record was selected for a dance remix it should be this one. The multi-tracked vocals are ethereal, heavenly, and ravishingly luscious. “Clean The Slate” opens with a gorgeous choral vocal sound and builds to something that is stygian in its darkness with a heavy guitar onslaught, well at least I thought that was a massed guitar attack. Some of Carol’s best music has come from just her and a piano and while this album has immense scope and reach, “Giving It Up Now” is mostly Carol and her piano to the fore, the band is just a little more subtle here, at least until about two minutes in when the song takes off into the musical stratosphere and showcases the strength and range of Carol’s sumptuous voice. The song closes with the very clever coda of “all I can say with certainty is there will be uncertainty“. It sounds obvious, but not many have said it, have they?
If you love Carol’s ballads then you will adore “Oh, Amanda!”. The circus sideshow piano riff part way through adds a delightful eerie tone. I can imagine this track featuring on the soundtrack to one of Neil Gaiman’s darker tales. The next track, “Bitch, Don’t Break My Serenity” has a feel of someone digging through Brian Wilson’s brain and finding the stuff he was never allowed to record. In fact, a Beach Boys cover of this eldritchian style masterpiece would be very special indeed, perhaps with backing vocals by Carol herself and maybe Siouxsie Sioux as well. The harmonics and soft synth drone on “Wrong Side Of The Glass” got me thinking of ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’. I know that isn’t the subject matter, but just a feeling the song gave me. It certainly sums up someone possibly reaching the end of their time, deep down a very sad and yet sublime song. The album closes with what I consider to be Carol’s finest song to date. It evokes a derelict cabaret theatre in 1930s Berlin in the way it feels musically. But lyrically it is staggeringly deep and suggests the underlying futility in this life of ours and maybe how small a part of the universe we are. A true masterpiece of an album on which Carol proves just how big her talent is.
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You wait ages for a Mayhem singles round-up and then three arrive in just over two weeks! Here is the third for 2023, it includes a massive fourteen songs that have been passed on to me or recommended during the previous few weeks and months, there are some amazing tracks. It features three bands that have appeared on Mayhem’s pages before. All three are from York, proving that the music scene in my fabulous adopted city is thriving. Let me know what you think of this great collection of tunes! You will find a YouTube link to each song in the title (or a link to the audio of the track) and a link to the artist’s website or one of their social media pages when you click the artist’s name. You can also find the link to a Spotify playlist of all these songs by clicking here.
The angriest track yet from York’s Skylights, also perhaps their punkiest song to date. So it is their punkiest yet, and their angriest yet, but is it their best yet? I certainly believe it is! A band firing on all cylinders and absolutely on fire! Turnbull’s guitar work on “Rebellion” is sensational!
These lads are taking the fast track from a good band to a great band. This is an incredibly accomplished tune and it is superbly produced. Bass, guitar, drums, and most definitely vocals are turned up to 11. A great tip of the hat to classic rock. You need to see this band live.
This is the follow-up to last year’s classy single “B-Side” and it is a tune that sticks with you. It has shades of everything from the Kooks, the Pigeon Detectives, the Arctic Monkeys, and classic UK post-punk. All of that is rolled up with a first-class pop sensibility
This sounds like a classic US west coast song, but Jonny is based in Oxford in the UK. If you want a song that will make you feel good and have you singing along then put “Soda & Lime” on repeat. This will be added to my summer barbecue playlist.
Soft acoustic style rock reminiscent of Travis at their peak. It has some dark jangly indie guitar but for me what really makes the track is the vocal performance, especially the harmonies.
This lot is all the way from Long Beach, California. They claim to have started creating music to bring the character Fellow Robot to life through music. Fellow Robot is a 140-year-old robot who is the main character from the WIP novel ‘The Robot’s Guide to Music’ written by frontman Anthony Pedroza. I am more than happy to listen to fine rock music like this from a great band while I wait for the book to arrive. Their album is due in May and on the strength of “Talk To Me” it is definitely one to look forward to.
Ryan Brown is an abundantly talented teenage singer-songwriter from the USA. “After Midnight” is a hopeful pop song for these dark times and would give Taylor Swift a run for her money. Her backing harmonies and counterpoint vocals are haunting and add some real depth to a great tune.
A great rumble of a tune, Senses from Coventry have aced it with this single. A bit 21st Century Small Faces with some Paul Weller thrown in, this is damned good.
A multilayered beauty of a tune with some excellent samples. If you like Moby, Portishead, Air, and others like that you will absolutely love this close-to-perfect track put together by Dominic Owen and Tom Carr. I could listen to this for hours, and I probably will.
Some might say that not much great music has come out of Milton Keynes, if they do then point them straight to Wesson. This tune starts out like a 60s psych-folk track a la Traffic. But then it moves into a magnificent pop-rock song which sometimes has a hint of the 1970s Scottish band Pilot, particularly the guitar sound. The video, inspired by ‘Tron’ is fun too. <EDITOR – If any other Milton Keynes bands would like some coverage, do give us a shout. I am sure we could be wrong about MK music!>
German singer-songwriter knows his way around a beautiful melody and some often dark lyrics, but there is a hopeful side to this track too. The song is about someone having to flee a war with their daughter. I can picture myself meditating life to this song, maybe while drinking a cold beer.
This has a 60s girl group vibe and vocals that Rumer would be proud of. The instrumentation is classy and happy to step away at times from simple tones. A song that stays in your mind long after it is over. A real lesson in how to produce an uplifting and sometimes sad song. I will be playing Holly’s new album ‘The Walls’ now I think.
Alexa is Spanish/ American and was raised between Barcelona, Munich, London, Paris, and NYC. The influences from all of those places are apparent in this song which is expansive and cinematic, in both scope and ambition. “Villain” is more than worthy of being a Bond theme.
Swede Hanna Ögonsten’s Spotify bio says “I’m glad you found your way to my silly little music universe in this big cyberspace! Here you’ll find reflections and memories of mine dressed up in danceable alt-pop beats”. I think she is much better than silly and little, her universe is rather big and pretty smart. She is right in describing her work as danceable alt-pop beats though, and “Lost It” is a prime example of a song that is infectiously danceable and memorable. Check out her rather wonderful EP from last year, ‘Bby Boo, Ögonsten & You‘
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Swedish rockers Symphony Of Sweden released rather good albums in 2021 and 2022 and while they don’t have a new one ready just yet they wanted to surprise fans with a new four-track EP, called ‘Get Out Of My Mind’. It rocks like an absolute bastard and if it fails to move you or fails to make you move then check your pulse, you might be dead. “Get Out Of My Head” is a song about lost love, but it’s not a soft song, it is full of bad passion as it shows a protagonist that is wrought by not being able to forget a lover that no longer wants to be their lover. It has some towering melodies and hooks and the vocals overflow with passion. The riffs on “Down And Counting” carry more power than Thanos did when he used the Infinity Gauntlet. The verses reminded me of Europe, but with a harder edge. “Just Let It Bleed” is another track about pain driven from, perhaps, more unrequited love. This is a masterclass on marrying magnificent metal sounds to some awesome orchestration and the backing vocals bring a feel of metal gospel to proceedings. The EP closes with “Lay Them Down (A Broken Son’s Cry)”, a beautiful track about the worthlessness of war and how easy it seems for young lives to be wasted. A very poignant tune in the context of what the world is like right now. Take a lyric like “When will it end. They’re serving in hell. When will this madness end?” If pushed I would have to say that “Lay Them Down” is probably my favourite track on the EP, but there is not a bad one here. Take a listen and check out the band’s albums, you won’t regret it.
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I have seen many gigs at one of York’s finest venues, the Fulford Arms, but never have I experienced anything close to Madam Misfit and her Carnival of Chaos. David Bowie once sang the line “turn and face the strange” and that night we certainly did face the strange. This show wouldn’t have been out of place in one of the weirder episodes of American Horror Story, notably ‘Freak Show’ (series 4 from 2014). It wasn’t just a gig, although Madam Misfit did perform a few tunes, it was more like a travelling carnival sideshow from the US midwest in the 30s. There are a number of different types of carnival sideshows in the USA, one of those is the Ten-in-One which would offer a program of ten sequential acts under one tent for a single admission price. It might include a freak show, but would definitely include “working acts”, Madam Misfits carnival was most definitely built on those working acts. The master of ceremonies was Adam Washington, sporting a red frock coat suit and knee boots to appear just like the finest ringmaster you could imagine, a top hat would have made the outfit perfect. Adam kicked off proceedings with a rendition of “Pure Imagination” from ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, it was a performance that was fit for a London Theatre Stage. He introduced a fine magical, medley of madness delivered by the campest magician in the world, Magic Adam, juggler extraordinaire Ed Mondo, daring, dangerous, and dynamic duo the Safety Last Side Show, and of course the Empress of Chaos herself, Madam Misfit.
The Safety Last Side Show team is a married couple the Indestructible Man and the wonderfully named Velocity Bollocks. A mat of broken glass was arranged on the floor and Velocity proceeded to walk over it barefoot, yes absolutely no shoes were harmed in performing this feat, to be fair I don’t believe her feet were harmed either. Later Ms. Bollocks lay on a bed of nails, which is something that really didn’t look too comfortable to me. The Indestructible Man (or should we call him Mr. Bollocks?) did everything he could to prove his invincibility. He ate a light bulb, I sure as hell didn’t want to be around when that came out at the other end. He deliberately trapped a finger in a rusty old animal trap, he barely winced at this, meanwhile paper cuts make me cry out in pain. Finally, he undertook a couple of daring feats of sword swallowing. The second attempt using a sword with no handle, but attached to a rope which he said he needed to anchor before he swallowed it, a few wags in the audience suggested that he might anchor it to his todger, to be fair he did say it was too small for that. But how he did anchor it was a strange and painful to behold, a surprise to the audience, and indeed shocking for some. He used a staple gun to attach the anchor rope to his torso. It was a brilliant piece of weird theatre, I have one question, apart from did it hurt, how the hell do you practice and rehearse that?
Magic Adam, is certainly magic and also manages to raise the campometer to a mercury-breaking level. He comes across as a larger-than-life Vaudevillian Villain. the trick where he offered £1,000 for simply picking the right number from five, which was very clever indeed. Has he ever had to pay out the grand? I suspect not. Meanwhile, Ed Mondo wowed the crowd with a staggeringly good juggling act which consisted of him juggling up to five bowler hats. He used hands, knees, feet, elbows, and his head and made it look easy. Madam Misfit made a few appearances throughout the whole show and she was there to close proceedings by showcasing some of her rather splendid chap hop tunes. The plentitudinous, evocative, mountebankery that is the new single “Chu Chi Face”, a cover of the old song from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. My particular favourite was the splendiferously performed “Skin You’re In”. The evening was closed with the whole troupe returning to the stage for a pizazz-fuelled take on the Monty Python classic, “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”. This was not just another great gig, it was a staggeringly great show! Huzzah to Madam Misfit and her cunning and courageous courtiers. The Arctic Monkeys once sang the line “four stars out of five”, they certainly weren’t singing about Madam Misfit and her Carnival of Chaos, if they were then they would have sung five stars out of five!
All photos, apart from the show poster, were snapped by the titanically talented Neal Rylatt.
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With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 