That talented bard of punky ballads and singer of modern sonnets, Mr McDooze has released yet another classy single, “Skint”. He bemoans his skintness with a rather jolly acousticy punky ditty. Being skint is something that I am sure many of us can relate to, I certainly can, which is why this track works so well. I love the lyrics, especially the lines “I’m skint does that make me a stockbroker” and “I’m skint does that make me the Prime Minister”, probably yes on both counts! Our Prime Minister is probably not skint in a monetary sense, but he is skint in terms of empathy and the ability to tell the truth to name but two! The video is rather spiffing too, it features Doozer in a kind of stop frame motion flow, which is really effective. Click here to check out more of his stuff on Spotify and click here to go to his website. If you’re not too skint yourself why not buy some Doozer McDooze merch, you know you want to!
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It’s March and we are overdue a singles round up, our third of 2021. Seven classy tunes from seven proper talented bands and singers, none of whom have featured on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem before, but will almost certainly appear here again. This lot come from Italy, Scilly Isles, West Yorkshire, York, London, Stoke, Nottingham and Berkshire (via the USA). Crank your volume up to 11 and beyond and turn yourself on to these epic tunes!
Wow, just wow! This is completely “out there” in a way that I have never heard before. It is a an alluring, resplendent cacophony of post-punk style electronic music. The vocals are ethereal and the instrumentation is the definition of genre defying. tAngerinecAt say that the song “narrates waking from a nightmare, coughing blood laced with shards of broken glass – the psychological aftermath of contaminated intimate relationships, angst, and isolation”. I think I kind of get that feel from continued listening. This is a truly awesome track! If they haven’t been commissioned for a film soundtrack yet, then someone needs to do it now!
GIUNGLA is Emanuela Drei, Italian-born singer-songwriter based in Bologna. And apparently Giungla in Italian means ‘jungle’. This is not the Junglist Massive, but it is a fine portion of sharp edged dance music with a chilled moody vocal. At times it feels like a surgically joined Grimes and Christine and the Queens. I am loving this a lot!
This psyched up two piece are from the Scilly Isles, never a hot bed of rock ‘n’ roll, but the West Wickhams will change that! “Who’s Out There” is a Cramps style treatise on whether there is extraterrestrial life. The track has been around for a few weeks and has been championed by Steve Lamacq, proving once again what great taste he has!
Going Feral describe themselves as a post-rock/ post metal instrumental outfit. They formed in late 2019 and plan to release an EP later this year. As a foretaste of that future release the almost ten minute opus that is “Too Late, Already It’s Too Late” is epic in its scope and ambition. Reminiscent of the best cuts from Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I may have to listen to this on repeat for an hour or two, at least until the EP comes out anyway!
Purveyors of fine hard rock from York Garrow Hill are rather brilliant. “Versions” is a great single driven by ace riffing and a rhythm section that knows it’s stuff! Their musical lineage could be traced back to 70s British rock bands as diverse as Uriah Heep and Jethro Tull. I need to hear much more from Garrow Hill and you do too!
The Underclass are one of the best bands to come out of Stoke in years. This is a superior slab of fine danceable indie. Reminiscent of the sound of a young Oasis. I can imagine the Underclass on the same bill as two of my current favourites Apollo Junction and Skylights. A great future, beyond the potteries, beckons for this band!
If you use Tik Tok you are probably familiar with this rather spiffing song already, it became a bit of a Tik Tok sensation last year and it has now hit more than 2.5 million streams on Spotify. There is a Byrdsian quality to the jangly indie guitar work and Will Potter’s voice is as good as Ian Brown’s in his prime, actually it is probably better! The lyrics are simple but pretty damned effective. For me the line “Crying for company with you here with me” says so much more than eight words should. I bloody love this song!
Deva’s vocals bring to mind the best of Tori Amos and Alanis Morrissette. The song has a hard heavy bed of rock riffs and the guitar solos bring an almost glam rock element to the tune. There is a dark feel to the lyrics and the sound and that is something that I really love. I hope Deva builds on this fabulous track!
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Estère is a new and truly thrilling artist from New Zealand with an amazing vocal talent and a superb sound. The single from this excellent album “The Climate In Your Skull” features a funky feel with a fantastic vocal and a great melody. “Into The Belly Of Capricorn” ( Estère has the BEST song titles!) is stranger but very engaging and soulful again with an incredible melody. “Pelican” is more acoustic in feel with a great originality and fabulous arrangement. “Mad About Your Sea” ( title again!) has such an original and engaging opening, the tone of voice here is incredible and the lyrics are captivating. “Pomegranate” has an ethereal opening with a jazz feel and interesting changes of rhythm. “Animal Pleasure” has a superb rhythmic funk opening and a great hypnotic melody.
“Calculated Risk” has a more alternative rock feel and a hint of Bowie in its “Ashes To Ashes” loping rhythm. The vocal floats above this with great skill. “Night Crow” has an African folk song feel . Once again the rhythm carries the melodic vocal. “Red Riding Hood” has deep lyrics and a folk ambience. The synth pop opening to “Nemesis” is excellent and moves into a pop funk feel with exquisite twists and turns of melody. “Won’t Shy Away” shows the depth and resonance of Estère‘s voice with great harmonies in the chorus and another fantastic melody. When people say that there is no good new music out there these days tell them that they need to take a listen to Estère. Her music is original, her words are articulate and insightful, her voice is incredible, her melodies are beautiful and the production on this album is superb. It goes without saying that on the strength of this recording we will be hearing a lot more from this brilliant singer.
Written by Paul Bamlett.
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In a world of ordinary …say hello to the extraordinary talent of Tender Central. Far and away the most captivating music I have heard in aeons. This amazing album opens with “Prelude”, a string orientated piece which provides the perfect introduction to what you are about to hear. “The Game” features beautiful vocals over a fascinating drum rhythm. Equally original and striking is “Ashes” featuring Matthew and the Atlas. “Human” is a little more poppy in feel and is a nice change of pace at this point. Throughout the album the vocals are beautifully controlled and ethereal in nature. “Morning” has a pronounced but very welcome Joni Mitchell feel and rhythm to it. The arrangement here is superb. “Interlude” is a string driven piece which gives us pause before we can be enveloped by the feel of this intriguing album again. “Body” has a Celtic soul feel with captivating and thrilling melodies.
“Tender Central” features a strong vocal over drum rhythm. As with much of this recording the feel is atmospheric and minimal but deeply affecting. “Galloper” has a dance feel but with an original twist. “Hands And Limbs” features a one note piano intro which leads into a spare and melodic ballad with a string backing. The vocals are thrillingly acrobatic. “Lion” has a melancholy feel with somewhat baroque piano , once again the vocal is skillfully delivered. “The Garden” brings us back to the Joni Mitchell feel with a sublime and intricate vocal. This , by any standard, is an excellent album India Bourne and her associate musicians have created music of such originality and finesse here that it is hard to find enough superlatives to describe it. Needless to say I shall be waiting for more of this wonderful artist eagerly.
Written by Paul Bamlett.
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Delilah Bon, rap rock superhero alter ego of Hands Off Gretel lead singer Lauren Tate released another brilliant single recently. It is called “I Don’t Listen To You” and it is the very definition of bad ass. Once again Delilah takes aim at misogyny, sexism, bullying and the patriarchy. It is clear that her aim is more than true as she smashes the centerpiece of the target into oblivion. Is it possible to enhance such a stunningly great track? When you have the support of thousands of loyal fans who share your ideals it is. Lauren has created a video for the single after 10,000 Spotify streams and more than 60,000 followers on TikTok.
Lauren has spoken about the genesis of the track; “The song began as a short empowering message for my TikTok fans. It blew up overnight with other 60K views and hundreds of fan made videos. My inbox filled up with girls begging me to release the full song, thanking me for the confidence the words gave them. I got to work and in 72 hours I produced an entire song. It was really an empowering moment for myself as a writer and producer knowing my words were so important for people. I told my fans “I want to see you strutting your stuff, screaming along with me, I want you to own your sexuality and give the middle finger.”
The film is made up of mimed contributions from a wide range of her fans. It is made by women, for women and represents empowerment for women on International Women’s Day. This film is a call to arms to help the world take that leap forward that might one day mean that International Women’s Day is no longer needed as women reach a true gender parity of rights and conditions with men. But sadly that is years away. The theme of this years International Women’s Day is “Choose To Challenge” and with this song Delilah/ Lauren is calling on all her fans to challenge the norm. Today is all about awareness but the fight for gender parity never stops, but you know that. So to all those Bad Ass Queen Bees out there keep the fight going, don’t let up and never give up! This bloke is right with you! I am pleased to say I actually recognised one of the contributors to the video, the supremely talented Taylor-Grace Mitchell from a great British band, Not Now Norman.
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Captain Ska are back with a wonderfully brutal take down of this scummy, vile UK government! Johnson and his Cabinet most definitely have blood on their hands. Let us not forget that the next time we get the chance to vote. However good the vaccine roll out is, let us not forget that the NHS is organising that, not SERCO or some new company set up by a cabinet members mate! This government is the most inept and evil pack of scumbags I have ever experienced. More than 100,000 dead? That is an absolute fucking disgrace. Don’t give me all that “aw but they are doing their best”, no they’re fucking not! Everything Johnson and his gang have done during Covid has been self centered or arse covering. They are liars who refuse to take responsibility for their actions! Never forget these times, hold these bastards to account and share the fuck out of this video!
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Back in January we featured Not Now Norman‘s “Little Cheryl” in our first singles round up of 2021, well so far this year they have already hit us with two singles! But it’s not just the quantity, it’s the quality. These two are pretty damned good. First up is “Little Frankenstein (The Franken-Lee Remix)” which takes the 2019 original into a much harder riff laden heavy experience and it makes a good song great! This tune proves that Not Now Norman are not just for Halloween, they are for life! The second of this ace brace of singles is “Run Boy (No Longer)” a collaboration with Geo Moon. It sounds like the Prodigy mated with Black Sabbath while secretly being watched by a voyeuristically warped Robert Plant to produce a bouncing electro metal dance baby that everyone will love! The song deals with abuse by toxic people and does it so well. Taylor’s voice is a soaring spectacle of spaced out dance rock on this track and at times reminds me of Madonna. The Game Of Thrones tribute video is pretty sharp too! If you had told me just a few months ago that 2021 would see me becoming a Norminion, I would have laughed in your face (well kind of, but I would still have worn a mask and observed a social distance). You really need to get this band in your life, do it now!
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Manchester’s Pale Waves recently released their sophomore album ‘Who Am I?’ many bands have struggled with the quality of that “difficult” second album, but not Pale Waves. The band appear to have taken a really difficult road to the follow up to 2018’s ‘My Mind Makes Noises’; constant touring, a near fatal bus crash, having to record in the midst of a pandemic and perhaps the weight of expectation after that first LP. But those experiences seem to have inspired them to greatness. This is a stylish and classy collection of perfect pop rock tunes. Heather Baron-Gracie’s voice is strong and reminded me at times of Taylor Swift. But there is also a pure crystal clarity to her vocals which hint at what Karen Carpenter might have done if she had taken more of a rock direction.
The album has so far spawned a quintuple of essential singles including opener “Change” which builds slowly into singalong view of a relationship that needs to change. After four or five spins I think “Fall To Pieces” is one of my favourite tracks on the album, at least for now. This is another track dealing with relationship issues, with lyrics which are at times brutally open. “She’s My Religion” kicks off with instrumentation that might have opened a Cure tune back in the early 80s, then Heather’s voice kicks in and you know instantly that this is a 21st Century song. The lyrical couplet “She’s cold, she’s dark, she’s cynical. She’s forever angry at the world” is sublime wordsmithing! I can picture bouncing around in a sunny festival field on a high while listening to the band perform “Easy”. Excuse the pun but it has an easy pop dance lilt to it. A broken relationship is the subject of “Wish U Were Here” and once again the lyrics sound simple but for me they are the work of a first class genius. How can you not love the pre chorus refrain of “I look at pictures of you, I’m getting nothing back. If there’s really a god, why won’t she give me that?” Next up are a brace of songs that draw on the best of the Go-Gos; “Tomorrow” and “You Don’t Own Me”, the latter of which is one of my favourite tracks on the album, but frankly it is a tough competition. As an album ‘Who Am I?’ really lives up to “all killer, no filler’ status.
I love the message in “I Just Needed You” which perfectly sums up what is the difference between what we want versus what we need. It is also a supremely radio friendly song which would have been played to death back in the hey day of US FM radio in the 70s. “Odd Ones Out” has a real acoustic, almost folky feel and such a gorgeous, dreamy, perfectly harmonised chorus. The band are particularly tight throughout the album but for me they come across as the consummate ace band on “Run To” the rhythm section hits perfect cadence and the harmonies are spot on. The album closes with the title track “Who Am I?” a deep, powerful ballad which feels influenced by Alanis Morrisette. Every so often a song comes along that makes me cry, this is one of them. Heather opens her heart wide and sings with so much emotion and soul. For me this is about the black dog of depression and is simply wonderful. This is a faultless release and a further springboard for what should be much deserved huge success for Pale Waves. It is a record that traverses the strange road the world has travelled in the last 12 months taking us from euphoria to depression and onward to hope! Roll on the return of festivals and gigs, I need to see Pale Waves play live.
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I first became acquainted with the Notorious Lightbulbs almost two years ago when I featured them in the Mayhem Virgins series. They also provided a great Christmas message for all With Just A Hint Of Mayhem readers last December. Well this funk fuelled duo made up of Diego Wilde and Crystal Miss from the North East of England have a new single out, and in keeping with their talent for great titles it’s a another winner, it is called “Mad, Bad & Baggy”. It has a strong jazz funk feel that would get me on the dance floor. The keyboards have a great Joe Sample vibe going on and the band have maintained their expert grasp of crafting a top notch pop melody. Something about it made me imagine George Michael covering it and he would have made it even more special. The Notorious Lightbulbs keep their mysterious air with their ever present steam punk style shades. Is it really that sunny in the North East. Personally I think this is their best release and they have issued some great stuff before this. If you haven’t got into this funky, punky, disco outfit yet then get started now! That’s an order!
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Those roguish rapscallions of rock known as Tommyrot have recently unleashed a new song on the world. It is called “Funky Feeling” and begs the question, can white boys play da funk? Well these boys can! They have clearly tightened the tourniquet and injected themselves with the funk, some punk and some classic British early 70s rock. But just enough to get a rock ‘n’ roll high. The languid chilled and obviously funky bass line is particularly addictive and Tommyrot prove that as well as being a great band they are also cunning linguists as they introduce some French into the lyrics. After last years singles, “Drugs” and “The Happy Ending Song” it is totally transpicuous that this band have many talents and are adept at avoiding being stuck in one particular genre box! Will there be a Tommyrot album sometime? I hope so, but in the meantime I reckon they will be a lot of fun when we get back to proper gigs.
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