Well we promised you some Christmas surprises, and here is the first of those, a wonderful yuletide message from the rather awesome and incredibly talented the Last Of The Fallen Angels. We loved their massively successful “Phase IV” earlier this year! They have recorded a great little Christmas tune and I am honoured to say that With Just A Hint Of Mayhem has been given an exclusive first airing, yes dear readers, you get to see and hear it first!
The band have a message for you too;
Wishing all With Just A Hint of Mayhem readers a very Merry Christmas from The Last of the Fallen Angels
Day 4 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem, mostly, punk themed 12 days of Christmas series. Yuletide is so close now I can almost smell the Turkey and the sprouts and of course the nut roast if you’re veggie! Todays offering is a 1977 track by a band called the Ravers, who I know next to nothing about, with a song called “Punk Rock Christmas”. Apparently a lot of people thought this sounded like the Sex Pistols all those years ago, personally I don’t see it, but a fun tune nonetheless!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
Another day closer to the annual visit from the bearded weirdy in red and With Just A Hint Of Mayhem continues with a, mostly, punk themed 12 days of Christmas series up until Christmas Eve to take your mind off Covid, Brexshit and anything else that is vexing you! Day 3 brings you Set It Off who formed 12 years ago in Tampa, Florida. This is a rather chirpy ditty, despite the negative title; “This Christmas (I’ll Burn It To The Ground)”
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
It’s even closer to Chrimbo now and With Just A Hint Of Mayhem continues with a, mostly, punk themed 12 days of Christmas series up until Christmas Eve to take your mind off the mind fuck that 2020 has been! Today it is Fall Out Boy. These Illinois noisemakers and Pop Punk pioneers took there name from a comic in the Simpsons, that earns loads of cool Yule points in my opinion. This is the band with an excellently titled song for Christmas, “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out”. Enjoy!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
It’s nearly Chrimbo folks and With Just A Hint Of Mayhem is doing a, mostly, punk themed 12 days of Christmas series from now until Christmas Eve to get you all properly ready for Yuletide at the end of perhaps the strangest year in history! Let’s kick off with Bowling For Soup’s take on “Bobby Wants A Puppy Dog For Christmas”. It is a copy of a country Christmas song written by the legendary Merle Haggard. The Wichita Falls punk funsters sound like they are having great fun with this tune, I love it! The cover was originally released on an album called ‘Merry Flippin’ Christmas’ back in 2011. I am already starting to get my Santa groove on with this! Watch out for the next 11 of these cracking tunes and more Christmas surprises from With Just A Hint Of Mayhem!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
This is the 8th time the mighty Receivers have featured in the virtual pages of With Just A Hint Of Mayhem and this time it is because they have a new single out now. Well technically to those of us who purchased their “Only Human” single on striking magenta vinyl earlier this year it is not so new, as it was the flip side of that fine 7 inch release on Vinyl Eddie Records. But now “Impatience” is available on all major channels and you can still grab a copy of the vinyl single too, just click here to grab one for yourself or as a Chrimbo pressie for your Nan.
I loved “Only Human” but also felt that an even better track lurked on the B-Side and it is great to see “Impatience” begin to get the airplay and recognition that it deserves in it’s own right. It is a psyched up slab of atomically charged garage rock. The magnificent, mesmerising and magical guitar riffs and licks from lead guitarist Alex give the song a dark edge which is supported by a megaphonic Stygian, almost shouted vocal from Nick. Meanwhile the finely tuned rhythm section of Louis and Harry drive the track like a freshly serviced Rolls Royce. I think that his is a step away from the Receivers comfort zone and personally I love a band or artist that is prepared to step over the line and out of the box. This is a stunningly catchy shadowy punk-infused, apocalyptic indie anthem bodes so very well for a Receivers album when it arrives!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
The fifth(?) Delilah Bon single is almost with us, it will come screaming into the world on 11th December and as with all the previous releases it increases my belief even more that the first Delilah Bon album will be an absolute instant classic. Regular readers will know that Delilah Bon is the alter ego of Hands Off Gretel’s wickedly talented front woman. Whereas Lauren knows, owns and lives up to her punk credentials and ethics in everything she does, Delilah does exactly the same but with a much more wild, almost uncontrolled (but not quite) rap abandon. However this next single, “School” draws on her relatively newly born, but fully grown, rap skills and splices them with that hard punk ethos.
The song deals with how Lauren was put down at school for wanting to succeed as a singer and a musician. I cannot begin to know how that felt as I am a male of the species, although as a council estate kid, like many of my contemporaries, I was also put down by the “powers that be” who tried to convince me that I would amount to nothing. Well Delilah is kicking back big time against this injustice, with a song that hits hard and yet stays in your head like an ultimate earworm. The video is classy too. There are elements of a dark version of Gulliver’s Travels, a very scary teacher (Mrs Bon) played by Lauren. Bubble gum and fiery hair (literally) also feature. If any of Lauren’s former teachers watch this video I would like to think they might feel at least a little bit of guilt.
Fill your time between now and December 11th with some other absolutely banging tunes from Delilah Bon. While you’re watching and listening, why not avail yourself of some rather excellent merch, I have! Just click here for the Delilah Bon shop. Once the single is released I will post a link here too. Delilah Bon stands up for the freaks, the forgotten and the downtrodden, embrace her attitude and sass! Can white girls rap? On this evidence yes they can, well Delilah Bon certainly can!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
Halfway through November, a few weeks to Chrimbo, therefore it must be time for another singles round up! Our 17th of 2020. This one features five great tracks, which were all launched into our locked down shaken up world in recent weeks. These tracks are by acts from Toronto, Los Angeles and three from the UK. Three of these acts, King Nun, Lucid Phase and AXLS, have featured on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem before. I am extremely confident that all of those and the newly featured artists will appear again sometime in the future. Get these songs in your lugholes immediately!
A beautifully crafted slice of modern R & B intertwined with chilled electronica and sprinkled with some magical jazz dust. Rhye is the alter ego of Canadian singer and musician Michael Milosh. He has a new album, ‘Home’, due out early next year and if “Helpless” is a good indicator it will be pretty damned good!
AXLS and their singer Victoria O have featured on these pages a few times and their new single is well worthy of another mention for them. It has a doomy dark Depeche Mode and yet happy synth bass riff with electronic keyboard shapes and washes worthy of Giorgio Moroder. Victoria is on top form vocally and she drives the tune with a swirling, cinematic performance. Kylie’s new album “Disco” is not very disco at all, this floor filling banger is possibly the best disco track I have heard in a while and I was a mobile DJ for more than 30 years!
This is taken from Alexandra’s album “2 Years A Stranger” and it is simply gorgeous. I love the way she uses the space between notes and it is no surprise to me that she has composed film soundtracks. It feels like she can turn a simple, yet beautiful, melody something epic. I am no modern classical aficionado, but I know good music when I hear it. Alexandra will be sound tracking my working day tomorrow!
I was lucky enough to review King Nun’s album, ‘Mass’ last year and was intrigued to hear their take on the Cramps classic “Human Fly”. It was put out just in time for Halloween, so humble apologies for my tardiness. There is a slight hook from the Addams Family theme at the start and two of the band dressed as Addams Family characters for the occasion; Wednesday Adams and Uncle Fester if you wondered. The monochrome video is ace and shows a band that looks like they are really enjoying themselves. My view on cover versions is make it different and make it good. Well King Nun have made it slightly different from the wonderful original version, but most importantly they have made a fucking great version of it!
“Ghost Orchids” – Lucid Phase Featuring the Late Ones
A sublime summery anthem from the uber-chilled Lucid Phase gang. Reggae and dub vibes which cannot fail to make you feel good. I have reviewed a previous Lucid Phase release and I would be more than happy to do more. This is a great band with yet another stand-out song! Check them out, that’s an order. A small request from me, how about a latin version of the song, entitled “Dendrophylax_lindenii”? If you can make a chorus and hook from that I will always be your number one fan!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
I might get some flack for this post, but do you know what? I don’t care. Regular readers will know that I have never been a big fan of boy bands particularly the likes of Boyzone, Westlife and yes, One Direction (or Wand Erection as they have been called). However every so often, or maybe every generation, there is the rare occurrence when a boy band breaks up and one of the team proves that they have something so much more to offer. I guess George Michael is the most shining example of that, some might say so was Robbie Williams, although I have never been a fan of the latter. I should add a small note of praise for Charlie Simpson from Busted who branched out nicely with Fightstar though.
But right now I believe a really talented 21st Century pop star who was formerly in a boy band is in our midst and making an amazing mark on the world. I am talking about Harry Styles. I loved his eponymously titled first album from back in 2017 and I think that last years ‘Fine Line’ is even better. The new single, “Golden” is the fifth single to be released from ‘Fine Line’ and I suspect that it won’t be the last. “Golden” harks back to the finest 70s pop rock anthems. The “doo doo doo” part reminds me of America’s “You Can Do Magic” hit from 1982. I will go as far as saying that “Golden” is one of my favourite singles of 2020, it makes me feel good every time I hear it. OK, so now I have confessed to the world that I am a Harry Styles fan and in doing so I hope that I have proved that I am not a music snob, well not too much of one anyway, although I really don’t like Robbie Williams’ music and I have always found Gary Barlow to be a bit of an arse! Oh and I also love the Vogue cover shots that Harry did, that took balls!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
Jorvik Radio, probably the best community radio station in the UK, turned one year old this month and to celebrate they put together an online streamed mini festival on Saturday 7th November. It featured seven very different and very talented acts. Kicking off with the Serotones, a fantastic young band from York. This lot are the bastard children of the Stone Roses and possibly J. Mascis (off of Dinosaur Jr.) too. Yes I know the Shed Seven connection, but I am talking about how they sound. The guitarist has the talent to match John Squire and the vocals are definitely a tad better than Ian Brown’s. Was there a better choice to kick off Jorvik Radio’s first birthday bash? I don’t think so.
Next up were Scarborough’s rather excellent, the Feens, to describe them simply as an indie band would be doing the Feens a great disservice, they are so much more than that with wide ranging influences including Arcade Fire and maybe even Blur. The vocals are incredibly soulful and spot on. What should a band do when they have two stunning singers in their ranks? Use them both to great effect of course. A great performance on vocals from Freddie and Adam.
Bonnie and the Bailers ( although a bit short on Bailers for this gig) are new to me, but I have a hunch they will appear on this site a lot more. Bonnie’s vocals have a tremendous depth of emotion and passion. Without a full band and just guitars she proves just how powerful her voice is. Ably supported by Bull’s guitarist, more of them later, Bonnie powers through an excellent set. “Gravy” is simply weird, wonderful and frankly beautiful. In my opinion Bonnie has the potential to become a Janis Joplin for the 21st Century.
Everyone loves Tony Wright, right? well if you’re a fan of Terrorvision you definitely do. This was a brilliant acoustic set from Tony with support from another guitarist. Wright is now very much a Yorkshire music legend and he plays that role in a very unassuming fashion. The songs are very autobiographical and in the main full-on story songs. It is often said that the mark of a great song is how it sounds in a simple acoustic setting, if that is true then Tony Wright’s set was full of absolute classics. “Do You Love Me” is perhaps one of the finest love songs that I have heard in a long while. In contrast “Janine/ Jeanette” was a bloody hilarious singalong.
Hip Hop from York? Who knew? Keon, playing his first solo non-DJ show for quite a while absolutely smashed it. This bloke knows his stuff and has the great knack and immense talent for spitting perfect ciphers. Flying the flag high for British Hip Hop. Keon also had a wonderful choice of beats to back his linguistic eloquence, particularly Souls Of Mischief. I am most definitely a Keon fan now!
The penultimate act was Hello Operator a band that I have had the pleasure of seeing live quite a few times and they just get better and better every time. They are now a well established full-on rock band drawing their influences from across the whole lineage of British Rock; the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Blur and many more. They have that classic rock sound that Oasis always threatened to achieve but never did. Their eponymous debut album is out now, check it out, you will not be disappointed.
Bull are another great York band that just get better and better each time I see them. There are not many bands like Bull, they are close to genre defying. An incredibly tight band, original, talented and purveyors of great vocals, heavenly harmonies and stupendous songs. If I had to describe them I would say maybe jangly 90s indie spliced with Velvet Underground, Teenage Fanclub, Blur, the Beach Boys and the Clash. They recently signed a record deal so we will have so much more to look forward to from them. OK until real gigs return this rather splendid online show was a strong substitute. A massive happy birthday to Jorvik Radio and may you have many more!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
