With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 4 – Shrub December 16, 2025

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:14 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts have reached day 4. In case you missed the first three posts that featured the Apocalypse Disco, Radiohead and Black Box Recorder this years theme is very dark and not very festive. But with all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Dementia Don in the White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing of course, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of the forthcoming (???) Armageddon!

Today’s song is the wonderfully titled “Dying Like Some Dinosaurs” by Shrub from their 2013 album, ‘Highceratops.’ The band are from Columbus, Ohio they formed in 2010 when founding member software developer Jay “Shrub” Shawberry who was a student at Bowling Green State University, with his love for reggae and hip-hop, started rapping and producing music in his own basement the year before and wanted to go further in the music industry under his “Shrub Project”. The band name is derived from a nickname Shawberry’s older brother got in college because their last name sounds like “shrubbery” when you’re feeling tipsy, so it’s not from marijuana like many fans think. But make sure you roll yourself a big doobie to take you through the end of the world!

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 3 – Black Box Recorder December 15, 2025

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:10 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts is onto day 3. In case you missed the first two posts that featured the Apocalypse Disco and Radiohead this years theme is quite dark and not very festive. With all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by the Mango Mussolini I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing of course, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of Armageddon!

Today’s choice cut comes from Black Box Recorder, an iconic British band who began their journey in the late 90s. The band consists of Sarah Nixey, Luke Haines (of The Auteurs), and John Moore (formerly of The Jesus and Mary Chain). The song is “It’s Only the End of the World” taken from their 1998 debut album ‘England Made Me’. There is a delightful 60s feel to the song and I would be happy to hear this as the world falls apart.

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“Christmas Is The Deadline” – Party Nails December 14, 2025

Filed under: Christmas,Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 10:09 pm
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We are big fans of Party Nails here at Mayhem Towers, she has featured on these pages a few time in 2025. So when we saw that she had released a Christmas song we, of course, had to give it a spin. It is called “Christmas Is The Deadline” and it is the kind of song that will not only be played this Christmas, but many future Christmases too. It is quite a jolly kind of lo-fi electronica song and the hooks are excellent. I think it tells the tale of how, for many people, Christmas is a huge deadline; getting food in, sending invites to family, buying presents, wrapping presents and so much more. If you get to Christmas day and you find that maybe you have forgotten one vital ingredient for Christmas dinner, just play this song, it will make you feel better, I promise you! Will Party Nails feature on these pages again before 2026? Keep reading, I know she will feature on at least one more post this year! Will it be as a part of Mayhem’s top 50 albums of the year? Maybe! 😉

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 2 – Radiohead

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 7:13 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts is underway and here comes day 2. This years theme is quite dark and not very festive. With all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by the orange shitler in the White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing maybe, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me.

Yesterday the series kicked off with the Apocalypse Disco and the end of the world track for day 2 is “Idioteque” by Radiohead. Thom Yorke wrote the lyrics by cutting up phrases and drawing them from a hat, as he did for much of the ‘Kid A’ album where “Idioteque” resides. The track is deeply apocalyptic and seems to cover climate change, fear or paranoia of technology. media control and manipulation and many global threats. So given all that it had to feature somewhere in this series. Who is in the bunker with you?

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A Christmas Message From the Expression December 13, 2025

Filed under: Christmas,Christmas Message — justwilliam1959 @ 9:00 pm
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I think I am probably on the naughty list this year, how about you? In case you missed the first one the annual Christmas messages from bands and artists that we have featured or reviewed throughout the year are back baby! For the second one we have a message from a a wonderful York band who recently appeared in the final of the Fulford Arms Battle of the Bands contest, ladies and gentlemen I give you the Expression!

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 1 – The Apocalypse Disco

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:28 pm
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As you might have guessed from the title of this post it is time once again for Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts. This years theme is quite dark and not very festive. With all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Putin and his pedo gimp in the White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing maybe, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me.

The end of the world track for day 1 of this series is “Welcome To The Disco” by one of Yorkshire’s (and possibly the UK’s) finest purveyors of dark, electro rave anthems, the Apocalypse Disco! So without further adieu put your head between your legs, kiss your arse goodbye and say hello to Armageddon!

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“It’s All Right (It’s Christmas)” – Grape December 12, 2025

Filed under: Christmas,Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 1:40 pm
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Grape have released a rather fab Christmas song. It starts out with a lovely, unassuming jolly vibe and then the magnificent hook and full band come crashing in perfectly after 70 seconds. But not only is it a good song it is raising money for St Mungo’s, a charity whose purpose is to end homelessness and rebuild lives after homelessness. Grape is a veritable supergroup made up of members of Alt-J, Gang Of Youths and Tellison. You can stream the track for free, but why would you do that when for just £1.50 you can download it and contribute to a great charity. Check out more details on Bandcamp here. Alternatively you can donate direct to St. Mungo’s here. If you can spare even the smallest amount it will help a great cause.

Gus Unger-Hamilton who is a member of Alt-J and also a St Mungo’s ambassador said this about the release “I am extremely proud to be an ambassador for St Mungo’s and, as Londoners, we in GRAPE all feel an acute desire to help people sleeping rough as much as we can. With this song’s lyrical themes of a difficult life in the process of being rebuilt at Christmas, it felt like a no-brainer to release this song in support of the charity.”

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 12 “Twelve Drummers Drumming” December 24, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 11:21 am
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Are you ready for day 12 of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas posts. Yes, the final one is here, how has it all happened so quickly? The fat bearded bloke is doing the final sleigh checks. The elves are finishing off the final presents. The reindeer are having a pre-journey rest and Mrs. Claus is printing the definitive nice and naughty lists. In case you didn’t know, these posts revolve around a theme. This series is based on the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas.” Did you know that as the gifts were cumulative there were 364 gifts in total? What gift was presented on the twelfth day of Christmas? It was of course Twelve Drummers Drumming. The link to today’s tune is really obvious and not particularly tenuous.

The song I have chosen for Day 12 is “My Drummer’s Girlfriend.” This song is by a band that I think will be absolutely huge next year. I certainly hope that they are. I am talking of course, about the magnificent ALT BLK ERA. Since they started to break out they have released some incredible singles, including this one. They have worked with some great artists including Delilah Bon and Wheatus. Their first album is due out early next year. I expect it to appear in my albums of the year list next year. Obviously I promised you a playlist once we got to Day 12 and you can find it below.

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“Santa Claus Hates the Poor” – Mr. Strange December 23, 2024

Filed under: Christmas,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:18 pm
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I seem to mention Christmas a lot in my posts, but I rarely post Christmas songs. So let me change that, at least for now. This one is too good to miss in my opinion. It has a great title, “Santa Claus Hates The Poor” and is brought to you by Mr. Strange. Who is, or are Mr. Strange? Well according to their Spotify bio this is them. “Profound idiocy. Mr. Strange are a four-piece Electro-Rock / Alternative / Art-Rock outfit from the Isle Of Wight (UK) that formed in 2006. Relentlessly weird and not really fitting in anywhere, this bunch of oddballs have a trademark fondness of switching up and twisting musical genre’s whenever the mood takes their fancy …which is often“.

If this doesn’t whet your appetite then check out their stated influences. “Oingo Boingo, Alice Cooper, Mr. Bungle, Gary Numan, Dr. Steel, Electric Six, Nine Inch Nails, Prince, David Bowie, Mushroomhead, XTC, Marilyn Manson, Queens of the Stone Age, Danny Elfman, PiG, Twiztid, Depeche Mode, Faith No More, Insane Clown Posse, and a whole host of New Wave / Post Punk bands from the late 70’s – early 80’s.” If that doesn’t make you want to listen then I am not sure what will! Check out the video for “Santa Claus Hates The Poor” below. On YouTube the song is described as “A dark and mean spirited Christmas song heavily inspired by the likes of Danny Elfman and the Cardiacs.” That is a pretty accurate description in my opinion. The song comes from a dark festive EP called ‘The Festive Misery EP’. The Spotify link for that is below, I think you’ll love it. I do! Does Santa Claus actually hate the poor? I don’t know but that is a strong hypothesis.

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A Christmas Message From Taylor Grace Of Not Now Norman

Filed under: Christmas,Christmas Message — justwilliam1959 @ 3:44 pm
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So tell me, are you on the nice list or the naughty list? Either way may I say a big hello to all the nicies and all the naughties! You have probably noticed a change since COVID. I have let the annual Christmas messages from bands and artists slip a little. These are the bands and artists we have featured or reviewed throughout the year. But now they are back. They kicked off a few days ago with the delightful Herorangecoat. Now, we have a very special Christmas message from rock powerhouse Taylor Grace. Taylor fronts a fabulous UK metal band called Not Now Norman. They play plenty of other stuff too. They are simply a great band.

We reviewed their new album ‘GO HARD OR GO HOME!‘. It also made it into our top 20 albums of the year. We love a bit of Not Now Norman here at Mayhem Towers. You need them in your life too.

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