With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

“The Crow” – Celtic Legacy January 5, 2025

Filed under: Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 6:11 pm
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Irish rockers Celtic Legacy are clearly fans of the Crow, the supernatural superhero. The character was first seen in a 1989 comic book series and has appeared in films in 1994 and 2024. The first saw the sad death of actor Brandon Lee. The band are such huge fans that they have a new song out called “The Crow”. It tells the tale of the titular hero. He gets murdered with his girlfriend. A crow brings him back to life to seek vengeance. The song is dark, heavy and wonderfully constructed melodic metal. The riffs are perfectly persistent. I love the vocal from John Bonham and the guitar solo screams like the best of 80s classic rock. This is a band on top of their game. The chorus eases into you quite easily and locks itself in.

The video is slightly extended by some great Crow related narrated animation based on the original graphic novel. When the first riffs kick in the band appears against the animation background as kind of partially drawn lifelike characters. The video certainly adds to this already great song. The video was filmed, edited and directed by Dave Morrissey, one of the bands guitarists. Weirdly my wife saw the video and is now convinced that I have a doppelganger in bass player Dave Boylan! This is the first new music from the band since 2015. They are already planning two more singles for 2025. I don’t know if they will also be Crow related. But based on this song I will definitely check them out.

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“Fractures” – RORO and Snapir January 4, 2025

Filed under: Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 11:04 pm
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Finnish producers RORO and Snapir have joined forces to put out a collaborative album. It is called ‘Colors Left’ and will be released on 17th January. The latest single from the album is “Fractures”. It starts with some ethereal sounds. These sounds would match some of David Bowie’s best work with Brian Eno on the Berlin Trilogy. They would also fit well with the 1995 Bowie Eno collaboration on ‘1# Outside’. It has an undercurrent of a weird combination of Jean Michel Jarre and the Aphex Twin. The sound captures your attention. It drifts into your mind. It prepares to haunt you for a very long while. This is experimental elactronica at its finest. Based on this the album could be quite special!

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“First Kiss” – Marples

Filed under: Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 9:51 pm
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Sheffield band Marples released a new single at the tail end of last year. It is called “First Kiss” and it is rather good. It opens with almost screaming guitar from Thomas Martin. A hypnotic riff underpins it and powers the tune like a 21st century Chuck Berry. Joseph Neville’s vocal is clear and reminiscent of some fine vocalists from UK music history from Lennon to Alex Turner. The track conveys the nervousness and excitement of a first kiss. At least I think it does, mine was a hell of a long while ago!

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“Candles Burning” – LIREDEL featuring Geoff Bell and Charlie Wareham January 3, 2025

Filed under: Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 1:13 pm
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This is a gorgeous simple song that hits all the right buttons. It has a soothing piano riff and some great vamp style backing vocals. But the cream on top is the performance of LIREDEL, what a fabulous voice. It has some sultry jazz tones and huge emotion with a hint of Amy Winehouse. The message in the song is about loved ones who are no longer with us. It serves as a reminder to keep their spirit alive by lighting a candle for them. Liredel said this about it “The track is about keeping a metaphorical candle lit for those that are no longer here …..it’s a beautiful song about keeping the memory flame alive for all time. Remembering the good times with loved ones and keeping a piece of them alive with you through your memories.” Incidentally, the featured Geoff Bell is the classy British actor. He has appeared in loads of films including ‘Mike Bassett: England Manager’. I have listened to more of LIREDEL’s songs and it is clear that she is a supremely talented artist!

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“All Your Dreams” – Aeon Empire January 2, 2025

Filed under: Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 3:52 pm
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If you like your rock hard and classic then the new single from Aeon Empire is right up your street. “All Your Dreams” was written by Paul Gerard Reed. It overflows with riffs. These riffs remind me of the likes of Deep Purple and Nazareth. The song races along at 100 miles per hour. It crashes into your skull early on. It refuses to back out. Jota Fortinho’s vocals epitomise how a great rock vocalist should sound. The underlying blues element adds to the appeal of this great tune.

Ronnie König , the band’s founder and bass player said this about the track. “This song showcases what our band is all about. Aeon Empire is about delivering rock anthems full of catchy riffs and melodies. We’ve poured our hearts into this album and we can’t wait for the world to hear it.” The video, directed by lead singer Jota Fortinho, is a great showcase for the band too.

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‘Better Man’ December 31, 2024

Filed under: Film,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:38 pm
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I have never been a huge fan of Robbie Williams. But having been to see the Robbie biopic this afternoon at the behest of my wonderful wife Catherine (a.k.a Catwoman) I might have to shift my opinion a little. It is a strange film. Robbie is depicted by a CGI chimpanzee. Jonno Davies portrays him in a motion picture performance. He also voices the character along with Robbie Williams himself. The narration also comes from Williams. Given Robbie Williams’ clear involvement, the film seems very open. It provides an honest take on what fame can do to an individual. The chimpanzee is the only non human cast member and for me that is what really makes this movie work. It covers failed relationships, addiction, depression, suicidal thoughts, the dark side of success and death. All the human characters receive some affection and sympathy. However, original Take That manager Nigel Martin Smith gets some well deserved flak.

The scene in which Robbie hears of the death of his beloved Nan and the subsequent funeral is heartbreaking. The use of “Angels” to soundtrack that moment is poignant and tear jerking. I have always disliked that song. However, I may have to change my view after that scene! Spoiler alert, but the moment Williams confronts his demons and slays them in the Knebworth crowd is incredibly powerful. Who knew that a CGI monkey could tap such reserves of emotion and vulnerability. I have to admit that this film has made me check out a few more Robbie songs. I particularly like the new single which plays over the closing credits, “Forbidden Road”. Lyrically it is stunning, although on some parts the music sounds very similar to Jim Croce’s “I Got A Name”. Even if you are not a Robbie fan, this film is worth seeing.

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The Kunts – Fulford Arms, York – Sunday 8th December 2024 (Matinee)

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:34 pm
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I have championed many of Kunt and the Gangs releases over the tears. In particular when trying to help them get a Christmas number one. Notably “Boris Johnson Is Still A Fucking Cunt” at Chrimbo 2021. That song eventually reached number 5 in the UK chart. Wayne Clements from Basildon is Kunt and the Gang. He is also the Kunts, although with the latter he does have a band of other kunts with him. The support, unsurprisingly, was Kunt and the Gang. Essentially a solo slot by Wayne backed by some rather nifty backing tracks. There were some hilarious tunes. Notably, “Santa’s Sack” was bloody hilarious. “The Ballad Of Captain Tom” rightly rips the old bloke’s family a new one! He was ably supported by Gordon The Gopher as Little Kunt was AWOL.

The second set was Kunt backed by his band of kuntish punky stalwarts. All the hits were there. These included “Boris Johnson Is A Fucking Cunt.” Other hits were “Scrap The Monarchy,” “Bum The Runner,” and “Prince Andrew Is A Sweaty Nonce.” Then there were some other Kunt classics; “Paul Steven’s Party” (probably the best song of the night), “Gentleman’s Wash”, “Sausage Roll Cunt” (a wonderful dig at Ladbaby), “The Wrong Ian Watkins” (poor old H from Steps!), “Fuck Sticks”, and “Bangers And Mash”. We also heard one of the songs from the controversial film ‘Shannon Matthews The Musical The Movie’. The song was “Shannon Ain’t Dead”. Thanks to that song and the film there were some protests planned at the venue. However, the protesters never materialised. Perhaps it was due to the weather or because they had not realised this was a matinee gig. Sadly, that would have been fun.

This was a good gig. Kunt is generally very funny and incredibly irreverent. However, I was left with the feeling that it was heading towards being a bit same old, same old. But an enjoyable night nonetheless!

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Mayhem’s Singles Round Up Number One 2024 December 29, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 11:14 pm
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This is the first, and last, singles round up for 2024. We have reviewed many other singles this year, but all individually. This post draws together five of the best that we missed in the run up to Chrimbo!

“Shake The Slack” – Avalanche Party – some dirty garage blues. It has a punky psychedelic dance edge. This music comes from the finest band on the planet. This chorus will rock the fuck out of every venue they play next year!

“Hunt You Down” – ALT BLK ERA – this starts off with a deliciously dark vibe. It builds into something that would make Depeche Mode jealous. Every time I say that a new track from ALT BLK ERA is their best, they take it as a challenge. They push themselves to create something even better. This is their best yet and the album will be a contender for album of the year next year. I would love to hear a dance remix of “Hunt You Down”. The “hunt you down” chant towards the end of the track is intoxicating

“Not The President” – Delilah Bon – When Delilah is angry, she is a force of nature. While musically this is quite acoustic and almost soft, the lyrics are aimed at the orange moron in the USA. Vocally it is reminiscent of Pink but within even more passion! When Delilah stands up for the downtrodden, persecuted and ignored the world is a better place. Be more Delilah!

“Let’s control it” – HANDSHAKE IN SPACE – a truly uplifting electronic dance anthem. This is 21st Century disco in it’s most perfect form.

“Burning Up” – Blair Gilmour – Blair is reminiscent of Sam Fender on steroids. This song is a mountainous banger of a tune. I was hooked very early on. Now, I am so excited for whatever comes next from this extremely talented Scottish artist.

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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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Asylum – Fulford Arms, York – Friday 6th December 2024 December 10, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:52 pm
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This was yet another show put together by Mr. Northern Radar, Simon Pattinson. He has never let me down yet, would this show change that? Read on to find out. First up was Vagabonds, a band that felt very much like a good school band. To put that into context I had been a judge at the school I work at Battle of the Bands contest the day before this show. They hit the ground running with a fiery cover of the Beastie Boys huge hit “Fight For Your Right”. The first original they played had the feel of early Sex Pistols recordings like the tracks on the ‘Spunk’ bootleg album. Soon after that Vagabonds chose to cover the Oasis song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” – NOOOOOOOOOOOO you don’t need Oasis songs in your set, you are so much better than that. The covers of Green Day, Blink 182, Kiss and the Sex Pistols were ace and closing with a raucous cover of Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody” was a master stroke. This band has great potential and my advice is ditch the Oasis cover and get some more original songs.

The second band to take the stage was the Double Yellows. Their originals were reminiscent of two bands that I have never been a huge fan of, the Pigeon Detectives and Scouting For Girls, however the saving grace is they the Double Yellows took a much deeper and effective post-punk direction. The band clearly brought a great following with them and they were all ready to party. Their fans seem to be mounting a campaign to bring the mullet back, yes really! Their bass player is incredibly talented with shades of Jah Wobble, Stanley Clarke and Mark King in his style. The have the swagger and confidence of a good rock band and just like the Vagabonds they have great potential, but again please ditch Oasis, the closing cover of “Supersonic” really wasn’t needed.

I find it shocking and sad that so many people come to a gig and fuck off after “their band” has played. Quite a lot of punters seemed to do just that after the Double Yellows. If you were among them you missed an absolute treat of a funky, heavy and fun set from Asylum. Musically this bunch were faultless and seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. They whipped the crowd that remained into a minor, but absolute frenzy. Thankfully their set did not include an Oasis cover! This is the only Asylum you need in your life and with them there is no need to wear a strait jacket or live in a padded cell, unless that kind of thing floats your boat! Some of the punters who left earlier did return, somewhat rain soaked, later in the set. It was clear that Asylum came to bring a party to the Fulford Arms and they had one, they even threw in some Christmas songs! Once again Northern Radar pull off a great night, cheers Simon P!

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