Push Puppets have one of the best names in music today and they have just released a classy new single “All Together On 3”. The band are based in the Palatine community near Chicago, Illinois in the USA. The track is a taster for their fourth album ‘Tethered Together’, slated for release later this year. The song is full of gorgeous harmonies with a reflective, elegantly fragile melancholic tone. It evoked memories of Mercury Rev and peak period Crowded House. The orchestration supplements the great rock sound on a cinematic scale. Lead vocalist and guitarist Erich Specht had this to say about the song, “I think “‘All Together On 3″‘ paints a pretty vivid picture of someone needing help out of a tough situation. This one was very satisfying to see fully realized. It has some math rock moments like phrases and patterns of different lengths keeping things interesting“. I believe the song is about seeking help, even if you don’t know how. It conjures a feeling of hope that can exist when we all pull together. The lyrics are hopeful and inspire coming together and kindness, two things that this world needs more than ever right now! This song is a first class earworm and on this evidence the album will be damned good!
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This is the sixth issue in our fun (well I am enjoying it) series where we share the latest post with the most views for a given month and the archive post with the most views. This one covers January 2025. The biggest read post was my review of Johnnie Walker’s Final Sounds Of The 70s Show On BBC Radio 2, from October last year. The biggest post views for a January post went to my review of the Robbie Williams biopic ‘Better Man‘. I wonder what you lovely people will be mostly drawn to in February?
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Here comes the 34th track in the Play It Again Mayhem series. This time it is the turn of my favourite band of the Britpop era in the UK, Gene, with their first single “For The Dead”. It was released as a standalone single in 1994. It sadly only made it to number 86 in the UK singles chart. It has subsequently been made available on the band’s hits collection and the reissue of their debut album ‘Olympian’. It was a double A Side single coupled with “Child’s Body”. The single was released in a limited edition of 1,994 copies via Costermonger Records. The release sold out in two days. The song received a great deal of attention from the music press: Select named it “Single Of The Month”, whilst NME made it their “Single of the Week”.
I saw Gene for the first time in November 1994 at the Old Trout in Windsor. I went to quite a few gigs at that venue, including Oasis in May 1994. Gene were Martin Rossiter lead vocals, keyboards and piano, Steve Mason on guitar, Kevin Miles on bass and Matt James on drums, percussion and occasional backing vocals. To my knowledge Martin Rossiter and Matt James have released solo material and it has been bloody good! The Play It Again Mayhem playlist has been very 1970s centric, and still is, but this is now the second song from the 90s on the list. Take a listen via the link below, share the playlist and let me know what you think.
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‘Naked Truth’ is the new album from dark, emotional gothic troubadour Autumn Dawn Leader. It is out this Friday, 7th February. Could this be the last release from the Song Mistress? She describes it as “The final album, and the best. This is the magnum opus. This is the legacy. This is the statement of a lifetime and the work of a life“. Personally I hope it isn’t really the end, but in the meantime let me give you my thoughts on ‘Naked Truth’. The album kicks off with “How It Ends” which has a feel of an operatic Siouxse Sioux song with supremely good prog overtones. It is a dark and slow building song and the lyrics are extremely well crafted. Especially the couplet “What began a thought. Is now a beligerent monster.” I have heard many songs about getting old, but none quite as impassioned and brutally honest as “Five Decades”. It was Autumn Dawn Leader turning fifty last year that inspired this track and she said this about it “Life begins at 40′ and other such bullshit that gets said. You’re told that you give less fucks and that you become comfortable and confident in your own skin. Yeah, well, last year saw me turn 50. I’m still waiting. We’re also told that ‘life is short’, and it really, really is NOT.” I agree with much of this, although I do have far less fucks to give now I am 66!
The Songmistress visits her primal force with the magnificent multi-octave epic “Howl” a sound that draws on Kate Bush’s proggiest moments. The emotion is turned up high on this one. At one point in this tune she sings “We howl – and call it music“. Well maybe she does howl but it is a beautiful howl, what a voice! “Howl” is probably my favourite song on this collection. “Up In Smoke” starts with a slow bluesy riff and has a 70s classic rock feel. I know it isn’t about that, but it has made me want to revisit ‘The Mothman Prophecies”. I believe that “The Picayune Dimension” might be the strangest track on the album. Autumn’s deep contralto voice is both mournful and hopeful. The music is full and sometimes choppy. Lyrics like “I take a bus across town to another dimension. I’m not quite sure what I’ve found, nor why I am chosen” add to the sense of strangeness and maybe a vein of foreboding. Picayune, I think, means something of little value or significance. But on listening to this album it is clear that Autumn Dawn Leader has great value and significance. Some songs that talk about sex are often awkward and trite, but “Life Is Unkind (Sex Is Sublime)” is so much more than that. Musically and vocally in places it sounds like a dark Abba from another dimension. It is cinematic in its ambition and needs to be played on the audio equivalent of Imax. Autumn Dawn Leader had this to say about the track, “Unless you are asexual, sex IS a love language and a HEALER. I will die, happily, on this hill. Whether you’re a sex-enthusiast, like me, or not, I hope you’ll enjoy the song. Thanks to all the great artists who added their voices to this sex-positive anthem and made it what it is“.
Chris Conway provides backing vocals and plays magical Theremin on “Slivers & Splinters”. This one made the hairs on the back of my neck rise and tingle. The state of the broken heart is almost palpable. There is a wonderful Latin feel to “I Told The Ravens” and it is probably the happiest track on display here. Autumn apparently loves corvids (a.k.a. the Crow family), especially ravens. I believe that love is very clear on this majestically moving song. The title track, “Naked Truth”, for me speaks of a relationship gone wrong, one that just never worked or a love unrequited. You could slice the exposed emotion on this tune. Have there ever been many songs that openly sing about polyamory? Probably not, but on “Limitless” Autumn Dawn Leader does exactly that. She said this of the song “This is an anthem of Polyamory. Polyamory isn’t about sex; it’s about LOVE. It’s about knowing that you can be in love with more than one person at a time, but instead of hiding it or denying it, you embrace that humans were not meant to be monogamous creatures and there need be no moral wrongness“. The counterpoint vocal from Becky! gives an almost Fleetwood Mac aura. The album closes with the poetic prose and nature sounds of “Splendour”. This could be remixed into an incredible chill out track or maybe even a goth dance anthem. I love this album. If Jim Steinman had ever decided to produce a more considered and less bombastic album than the type he did with Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler and employed Philip Glass and Brian Eno it might have sounded a little like ‘Naked Truth’. If you love great music give this album a try!
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Archy & The Astronauts have a cracking new single out. It is called “Sea Of People” and it rocks like an absolute demon. It draws from deep in classic rock’s motherlode. The song flys in on an undercurrent of mean riffs and I can imagine this song being a mosh magnet. There are elements of the Foo Fighters in their sound, but they are very much an original unit. This young band has already garnered a lot of interest. They reached the last round of the Glastonbury ‘Bread and Roses’ stage final and they were finalists in the Kerrang! Radio/Marshall Records final 10 Competition.
Archy & The Astronauts are Tomás Phipps (the titular Archy) lead singer and guitarist, Nathan Snook on bass and Travis Coyne on drums. Archy had this to say about the song, “This track encapsulates the aspirations we hold as a band—to create a community of fans who can all immerse themselves in the extraordinary world of live music. The song delves into the challenges of feeling like an outsider in life, urging listeners to resist settling for the ordinary and embrace a life of fulfillment and passion“. Get Archy & The Astronauts into your life now, otherwise you might miss them donning spacesuits and hitting the stratosphere in a huge riff powered rocket!
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On 4th February 1978 “Up Town Ranking” by Althea and Donna was at Number 1 on the UK singles chart. It was the duo’s only hit, making the teenage girls one hit wonders. This song is most definitely one of my favourite one hit wonders and favourite reggae songs. At the time of their huge hit Althea Forrest and Donna Reid were 17 and 18 years old respectively. The pair returned to music in 2000 and played their last gig in 2018 at Rebel Salute in Jamaica. Althea now lives in Florida and Donna in New York. But seriously, how can that song be 47 years old?????
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As a friend of mine once said, “there ain’t no party like an Avalanche Party” (thank you Mr. P) and now it is time for another huge party with the AP boys. Their sophomore album is upon us, well it will be this Friday. It is called ‘Der Traum Über Alles’ which I believe translates to “the dream above all”. Their debut album hit the world in 2019 and they toured like fuck until that big disease with a little name (to paraphrase Prince) stopped them. When the world began crawling out of that bad Covid bubble they hit the road again. This time across Europe in support of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Eventually the band found themselves in the Joshua Tree National Park in California at Rancho De La Luna studio in 2022 to record their new album. The record was engineered and produced by Dave Catching who has previously worked with Queens Of The Stone Age, Iggy Pop and the Arctic Monkeys.
The album opens with the towering (no pun intended) “John Coltrane’s Moscow Skyscraper”. the song starts in an almost chilled, subdued way and then transforms into an absolute monster as it moves to a mountainous, manic, maniacal conclusion. This is 100% psych-metal with a slight hint of LCD Sound System, but much, much darker. Jordan’s voice sounds like it might be careering up from the depths of hell and the sound might be the band smashing Satan into tiny pieces. Next up it is “Nureyev Said It Best”. This is a humongous tune. It has dance, it has rock, it has psych, it has funk and so much more. It kicks off with mountainous drumming from Kane which seems to be influenced by native American and African Burundi drums. This band sounds like no other right now, Jordan’s vocal take here is perhaps his best yet. Jared’s guitar work feels like it has travelled here from the 1970s and he has then turned it into a 21st Century master class in axe-manship. The whole track is cinematic in scope and it rocks like an absolute bastard. “No Neutral” is classic Avalanche Party and I can see this becoming a regular in their live set. The drums are thunderous and the warped psych guitar and keys give the track a depth that would hit the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
With “Shake The Slack” the band have uncovered their talent for dirty garage blues. It has a punky psychedelic dance edge. This chorus will rock the fuck out of every venue they play this year and many years after! The metronomic drum beat and languid bass and guitar that opens “Ecstasy” is hypnotic and Jordan’s vocal makes the song sound like U2, and I mean that in a good way, like back when U2 were fucking good. The first single to be released from the album was “Serious Dance Music”. You probably wouldn’t play this song at a work event! I sense an Amazing Snakeheads influence in this fast-paced, frenzied, frenetic, funky, feral, fest of a song. The band all seem to be in top form, especially Kane’s drumming. The music on “The Noise Between Us” is frantic and Jordan’s vocal is urgent and emotional. It has an 80s dark rock feel that borders into goth territory. It slows briefly about two thirds of the way in and then has a magnificent long fade with some simple but perfect keys from Glen. This is one of my favourite tracks in this collection.
Joe’s bass feels ready to punch the fuck out of you when it opens glam blues stomper “Slinky”. The brass has a kind of T. Rex vibe and the counterpoint vocal adds a layer of dark weirdness. The 60s psych organ sound and freak out saxophone bursts make this one really stand out. “Chainz” opens with a series of explosive sounds that might make it a rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’. But then it moves into a slow groove which would be a perfect soundtrack to one of the creepier scenes in a Wes Craven horror film. The band show their punk and post punk credentials on “Target”. With maybe a bit of added Tin Machine. This is another banger that I believe will be a staple of the band’s live set. The album closes with “Collateral Damage”, a danceable slice of weird twisted pop. It has a deeply dark stygian funk underpinning it through bass and drums that feel like they emanate from somewhere on Dante’s journey below. The keyboard hooks mesmerise while the guitar riffs overpower the listener with ease. Jordan’s vocal is magnificent. The track takes some of the finest tranches of alternative 80s rock and early goth and repurposes them into a shape that perfectly fits the 21st century.
I know it is only February, but Avalanche Party have set the bar for album of the year and they have set it higher than the peak of Sagarmatha! There is no sophomore slump for these boys. ‘Der Traum Über Alles’ is even better than their debut album ’24 Carat Diamond Trephine’. I will be playing the hell out of this album. Especially after my hand made coloured vinyl version arrives!
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Herorangecoat paid us a visit at Mayhem Towers last week and what a great conversation we had. We spoke about musical influences, jobs, the state of the music business and the state of the world. We also spoke a lot about Herorangecoat’s fabulous EP ‘Ballads For This Age’.I really enjoyed our long chat and I reckon we could have talked for longer, especially about the music that we love. This is now officially the second longest interview I have done! I hope you enjoy it! After you have listened give ‘Ballads For This Age’ a spin. The Spotify link is below. Click here to listen to the interview!
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Sadly this was the only Independent Venues Week gig I managed to get to this year, and it was a great one! There was only one support band, and what a great choice that was. It was York’s mighty Pennine Suite. This band are the real fucking deal and they just get better every time I see them. They were firing on all cylinders in this short but explosive set. Nick’s made me think of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground taking a more pop based turn. Louise’s voice adds huge depth to their already wonderful sound. Meanwhile the pulse of the band was deep and powerful and supplied by Louis on drums and Moe on bass. This was overlaid by some shining guitar sounds and riffs from Harry. Every song was great but the two huge highlights for me were “Make Up” and “Manhattan”.
The headliners Brògeal, (pronounced ‘Bro Gale’), are Falkirk’s finest folk punkers and they blew us away with a fiery set that kept the audience moving the whole time. Brògeal are excellent ambassadors for Falkirk. But more importantly they are an incredible band with full on punk and folk credentials which they were on their sleeves. If the Pogues and the Proclaimers can achieve success with glorious celebratory Celtic rock, folk and punk sounds then Brògeal deserve it too. The band are Daniel Harkins (guitar and vocals), Aidan Callaghan (banjo and vocals), Euan Mundie (bass), Sam MacMillan (accordion) and Luke Mortimer (drums). It was Daniel’s birthday so we celebrated it by singing that well known song to him. The band brought a great following to York with them and that group started the party and made sure we were all involved. A particular highlight for me was “Girl From NYC” to which I danced and sang like a maniac. Their music is wonderfully uplifting and whatever genre gang you feel you are in I reckon you will love this lot. I am half Scots and I am proud of that heritage, even more so when I see such massively talented Scottish bands like this. After this performance I believe that Brògeal have become the first group of Scots to besiege York since the Scottish Covenanter army did during the First English Civil War in 1644.
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On February 2nd 2014 Skinny Puppy sent the US government an invoice after finding out their music was used as a torture device in Guantanamo Bay. They said they had never envisioned their music being used in such a way. They were asked how they felt about their songs allegedly being used in the detention camp for torture, singer cEvin Key replied: “Not too good. We never supported those types of scenarios. … Because we make unsettling music, we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn’t sit right with us.” I wonder if the US government had the same complaint from Barney The Dinosaur? Other artists whose music was used in this scenario include Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, David Gray, Eminem and Metallica.
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With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 