With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

Play It Again Mayhem – “I Was Only Joking” – Rod Stewart May 5, 2022

Filed under: Play It Again Mayhem — justwilliam1959 @ 9:15 pm
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This is the twelfth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series which began back in 2020. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist, click here to take a listen! Once again this one goes back to the 70s, which remains my favourite era for music. In fact, 75% of the Play It Again Mayhem songs are from the 1970s so far. This track is, in my opinion, one of Rod Stewart’s greatest songs. It comes from his 1977 album ‘Footloose And Fancy Free’ and reached number 5 on the UK charts when it was released as a double A-Side single (paired with “Hot Legs”) that same year. Rod wrote the song with Gary Grainger and the song really feels like some kind of autobiographical lyric. I think it was probably the lyrics that first drew me to the song and it is the Rod Stewart song that I play more than any other. I have copied the lyrics below and those lines in the gold font are the lines that summed up so many things in my own youth, particularly the second verse.

“Ever since I was a kid at school
I messed around with all the rules

Apologised then realised
I’m not different after all

Me and the boys thought we had it sussed
Valentinos all of us
My dad said we looked ridiculous
But boy, we broke some hearts

In and out of jobs, running free
Waging war with society
Dumb blank faces stare back at me
But nothing ever changed

Promises made in the heat of the night
Creeping home before it got too light
I wasted all that precious time
And blamed it on the wine

I was only joking my dear (my dear)
Looking for a way to hide my fear (my fear)
What kind of fool was I? (Was I)
I could never win (never win)

Never found a compromise
Collected lovers like butterflies
Illusions of that grand first prize
Are slowly wearing thin

Susie, baby, you were good to me
Giving love unselfishly
But you took it all too seriously
I guess it had to end

I was only joking my dear (my dear)
Looking for a way to hide my fear (my fear)
What kind of fool was I? (Was I)
I could never win (never win)

Yeah baby, whoa

Now you ask me if I’m sincere
That’s the question that I always fear
Verse seven is never clear
But I’ll tell you what you wanna hear

I try to give you all you want
But giving love is not my strongest point
If that’s the case it’s pointless going on
I’d rather be alone

‘Cause what I’m doing must be wrong
Pouring my heart out in a song
Owning up for prosperity
For the whole damn world to see

Quietly now while I turn a page
Act one is over without costume change
The principal would like to leave the stage
The crowd don’t understand”

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‘What You Are’ – Skylights


The anticipation for the debut Skylights has been huge for a long while now. The band has slogged their way onwards and upwards to the point where they are selling out shows as far afield as Scotland and Ireland. They are clearly outperforming their beloved Leeds United too. As Leeds head for the Championship Skylights are heading to the top of the Premier League! Will this album cement them in the classic UK rock mantle? I think it might. The record kicks off with “Outlaw”, a mighty powerful statement indeed and in my opinion their finest single so far. What better way to kick off an album than with an absolute banger. It features Turnbull’s finest riffs to date and Rob’s vocal oozes a heady passion. “Nothing Left To Say” drops the intensity very, very slightly, but the sweeping chorus and haunting backing vocals from Jonny more than compensate. The guitar screams like a banshee on heat and Jonny’s bass would register on the Richter scale. “What You Are” makes it three anthems in a row. Then comes “Britannia” which doesn’t let up, Myles’ drumming is reminiscent of early Public Image Limited and drives the tunes, ultimately positive and hopeful, lyrics.

The acoustic take on “Darkness Falls” brings the power level down a little and is a truly sublime ballad. The string arrangements are classy and enhance the already great track. This is the band’s most complete and beautiful lyrics in my opinion. Rob’s voice has a yearning, soulful feel to it and you really do believe he is sorry as the words say. If you like post-punk “Enemies” has that kind of feel and once again features a riff-fest with the might of a neutron bomb. Just over halfway through the tune has a stupendous psychedelic feel and the chorus won’t let you go. “Breaking outta school cos we were high, Kicking down doors just a you and I, Enemies they’ve got to know, Dream those dreams don’t let ’em go” These lads have never let their dreams go and this album proves it. Next is perhaps the one Skylights track that everyone is surely familiar with, “YRA”. It is always a true highlight of their live set and it shows how far the band has grown when you consider that this great tune is not even close to being the best on the album.

“Lifeline” opens with the couplet, “I’m in the mood, I’m in the mood for grooving” and this is the Skylights track that is crying out for a warped dance mix, someone like the Chemical Brothers would blow this one out of the sky. It is already a force 10 funk gale with titanic tornado riffs. The whole band are on fire with “Take Me Somewhere” which is reminiscent of Green Day’s “When September Ends”, albeit a little faster. The album closes with “Driving Me Away” which has a Beatlesesque feel in the production and orchestration and shows just how versatile this band can be. Some versions of the release will include a commentary from Rob and Turnbull on all the tracks and they add a nice curio to the whole thing, although I think only Skylights fanatics will listen to them regularly. The album is an absolutely superb debut and without doubt a contender for album of the year! The vinyl and CD version of the album is out on 6th May and the digital release follows a week later. “Driving Me Away” will be the band’s next single and that comes out on 6th May. All on the rather splendid 42’s Records.

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The Mayhem Monthly Top 20 Artist Chart – April 2022 May 3, 2022

Filed under: Mayhem Top 20 Chart — justwilliam1959 @ 10:20 pm

Here we go with the Mayhem Artist Top 20 chart for April 2022. Many of you know that I am a keen user of a site called Obscurify. It claims to tell you how obscure your listening on Spotify is. Compared to the rest of the UK I achieved a level of only 95% more obscure than other users in the UK this month, down from 100% last month. Regular readers will know that it also lists my most obscure artists, (two of which had been there since I began doing these posts, although for the first time ever Woke Up Dead and Promethium are not on that list! Sorry chaps) which currently are;

Gene (The best British band of the Britpop era in my opinion)

Martin Rossiter (Lead singer of the best British band of the Britpop era. You can tell what I’ve been listening to this month, can’t you?)

Hazy Janes (In your face like a two-man Led Zep, a great band from Halifax)

Vaquelin (One of York’s finest young bands. Check out the video for their rather wonderful single “Iridescent Street Lights” below)

Blue Rondo á la Turk (Would you believe that it was reading Johnny Marr’s autobiography ‘Set The Boy Free’ that got me listening to these early 80s salsa, pop, jazzateers!)

Incidentally, four of those obscure artists feature in the artist top 10 for April.

As for the April Top 20, only Dame David remains from the last chart, but he has been there pretty much all the time. Other classic artists include Elton John, Roxy Music, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and Abba. There are quite a few appearances from artists that have never appeared before including TV Girl, the Ukrainians, French The Kid, and Peach Pit. Sitting at number 11 is possibly one of the finest UK bands around at present, the Howl and the Hum, from my adopted city of York. The astute among you may have noticed a young man named Harry Styles at number 14. I can sense you thinking, what is that Styles bloke doing in the Mayhem chart? Well, I am out of the closet on Harry Styles, he is a hugely talented artist and I bloody love his music! I would love to hear your thoughts on this chart. Oh and keep your eyes open for the second Mayhem Monthly Song Chart, just like an old-school top 20 singles chart! That one includes songs by a few of the artists featured in the April Artist Chart.

1 David Bowie
2 Elton John
3 Gene
4 Hazy Janes
5 Ukrainians
6 Roxy Music
7 Bob Marley & The Wailers
8 Wet Leg
9 Marvin Gaye
10 Blue Rondo a la Turk
11 The Howl and the Hum
12 French The Kid
13 Dana Gillespie
14 Harry Styles
15 Cigarettes After Sex
16 Peach Pit
17 Lana Del Ray
18 TV Girl
19 Martin Rossiter
20 Abba

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With Just A Hint Of Mayhem – Singles Round-Up 2022 Part 3


This is the third singles round-up of 2022 which includes ten great songs released earlier in the year (yes we are still catching up!) from a group of artists from all over the world. Reading, New York (via Montreal), Buckinghamshire, Ireland (two of them), Berlin, Manchester, Hull, Canada and London. I think only Head Ballet have appeared on these pages before and while the rest are new to us I am 100% confident that their first appearance will not be their last appearance. It was also rather spooky and random that the artists at 9th and 10th in this list actually have 9 and 10 in their names, freaky huh?

“Laura” – Third Lung

This excellent track from Reading’s Third Lung reminds me of U2 at their best with its immense, soaring Bonoesque vocal and a barrage of riffs all underpinned by a huge rhythm section. Can someone let Third Lung play a set at Red Rocks please?

“I Was Made For Loving You” – Karine Hannah

Karine Hannah takes the classic Kiss power ballad and turns it into a steamy, sultry torch song. A truly magnificent cover version.

“Born To Rule” – Matt James

Matt James was the drummer and co-songwriter with one of the greatest British bands of the 90s, Gene. He left the music business for a while, but now he is back and based on this track, very much on form. This Latin-tinged, brass-driven beauty rolls over your ears nicely and bodes well for his first solo album, produced by Stephen Street, which will be out later this year.

“When I’m Not Awake I’m Dreaming Of You” – lullahush

This track from Ireland’s lullahush is, I suppose, electronica but a kind of dreamy, chilled, and at the same time dancey type of electronica. Vocally there is a folk-like element, which reminded me of Jon Marsh of the Beloved and the synth patterns are otherworldly, which maybe fits the dream subject perfectly. I love the contrasting female vocals towards the end.

“You, Me And Everything Else” – Friendmaker

This starts out as a soft lament and builds into a beautifully orchestrated crescendo, which evokes some of the great choruses produced by Semisonic back in the day. David Marron’s vocal performance is sublime and contains great emotional depth.

“Distant Shouts” – Donkey Kid

Berlin’s Donkey Kid’s songwriting for me compares lyrically, on this track at least, with Mike Skinner. But musically it has shades of some of the best alternative electro sounds from the early 80s. The sort of tracks that John Peel would have championed. I am now most definitely a Donkey Kid fan!

“To Know Yours” – Head Ballet

Supremely talented electro pop duo from Manchester Head Ballet were formed by Kiera Court and Danny Casio and with this single they have come up with another sublime stunner of a track. It refuses to leave your head after just a couple of listens. In a parallel universe this would be playing from every radio during a scorching hot summer!

“Eyes Wide Open” – Breeze

The opening to this rather fabulous ditty had me thinking of the Fountains Of Wayne at their peak twinned with the type of infectious hook and chorus that Noel Gallagher used to be good at back in the 90s. These Hullraisers can only get better, they have an average age that is just over 25% of my age! I am looking forward to seeing them live.

“That Was Yesterday” – J9

Janine “J9” Carter really is a very special talent. This track has everything from drum machine dance vibes, to dark electronic drone, androgynous vocals, a cinematic feel and a sweeping sound that would not be out of place on the soundtrack to “Blade Runner”. A bloody awesome tune! It also has a video that leaps right over the state line of Weirdsville!

“Demons” – 10 Guage

This is heavy, but not just heavy, we are talking FUCKING HEAVY! A tune that forces you to head bang along to its cascade of heart stopping riffs. Rob Jewson’s vocal performance is off the charts./ I will be first in the queue when the 10 Guage album hits the world and I hope they come and play up here in York soon.

Click here to stream a playlist of all the above tracks on Spotify. If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;

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‘IV’ – Letting Up Despite Great Faults April 18, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:53 pm
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This great new album from Letting Up Despite Great Faults, (great name by the way!), has all the hallmarks of classic indie music. Jangling guitars and low-key almost whispered vocals. What this band also have is fantastic songs with great hooks and superb production. “Kisses” is an excellent opening track with multilayered instrumentation. “Gorgeous” is more upbeat with well-balanced gossamer vocals. “New Ground” has a great instrumental introduction. “Gemini” opens out into a song with touches of The Cure and is more grandiose than the other tracks. Single “She Spins” has a good commercial feel and excellent hooks. “Curl” is a slower keyboard-led piece that breaks up the album nicely. “Self-Portrait” returns to the band’s calling card of jangly guitars and closes the album off nicely. A great album from a dedicated and skilled group of musicians.
Written by Paul Bamlett.

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Crow Black Chicken – The Crescent, York – Monday 11th April 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:31 pm
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Until this show, I had never seen Crow Black Chicken before, but I have seen both the support bands before. First up was Sweet May who I saw for the first time just over three weeks ago back in March. This is a power trio whose music comes screaming out of the bleeding, still-beating heart of 70s rock. Think Thin Lizzy, Free, Bad Company, and maybe even Rainbow. Will, Piers, and Al are supremely talented in their own right and they come to more than the sum of their parts as a sublime hard-rocking unit. I want to single out one of the band for a big shout out though. There are poor drummers, there are ok drummers, there are good drummers and every so often there is a great drummer. Step up from your drum stool and take a bow Al Perry, you really are a great drummer! Particular highlights of Sweet May‘s set for me were “Deep Space” and “Insane”. The latter had the power and passion to take the roof off the venue. Thankfully that didn’t actually happen and I am very pleased to say that the Crescent remains intact.

Sweet May

Next up it was Doghouse Derelicts, another band I was witnessing for just the second time, the first was just over four weeks ago. They sounded like early Doobie Brothers with Joe Walsh on guitar and some classy Eaglesesque harmonies at times. This really feels like a band at the top of their game, although I suspect they have a fair bit more in the tank too. “Wasted” and “Where I’m From” were early highlights in a great set. At one point the band introduced a rapper, Dandy, to join them on stage. Now on paper that combination really doesn’t sound like it would work at all. But on stage, it was a fucking masterstroke. Dandy enhanced a couple of already great tunes, particularly set closer “I Don’t Care”. Given that the crowd was quite sparse, well it was a Monday night, this was a banging, brilliant set from Doghouse Derelicts.

Doghouse Derelicts

Finally, it was time for the headliners Crow Black Chicken who gave us some ace fuzzed up, bluesy, swampy, funky, dirty US deep south rock. The band is in fact from the deep south …….. of Ireland! Think Lynyrd Skynyrd, Canned Heat, ZZ Top and Creedence Clearwater Revival with an undertow of Little Feat and that might give you a little of what Crow Black Chicken sounds like. Lead singer Christy O’Hanlon has a rough-edged, raspy, soulful voice that was made for blues-rock. His guitar work was incredible too. The band is a real live force of nature. Bassist Stephen McGrath gurns every note that he rips out of his bass guitar. He plays notes that many other bass players couldn’t. The way he partners seamlessly with drummer Gev Barrett in a rhythm section reminiscent of John Bonham and John Paul Jones is sublime. It really is hard to tell sometimes that Crow Black Chicken is not an authentic deep south US band, but that does not make them copyists. They really are a fine original band that knows how to rock. I loved the song about Oliver Cromwell and the tribute to Weather Report’s late great Jaco Pastorius. But my favourite of the whole evening was a tune about cults and in particular Jim Jones. Every song was a blinder though, Crow Black Chicken‘s set was definitely all killer, no filler! Check them out NOW people!

Crow Black Chicken

All pictures, except the gig poster, were taken by me using my very cheap Chinese Android phone. The videos were found on YouTube. If the video is yours and you would like a credit or for it to be removed please let me know.

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‘Lagoons’ EP – Ruby Tingle April 17, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 4:08 pm
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It’s that time again. That time when you come across an artist of real originality and vision with music that just knocks you off your feet. Ruby Tingle is that artist, and with this EP she has created some magnificent tracks with depth and style. The opening track “Flood” has a dreamy Kate Bush meets the Cocteau Twins with a melancholy feel reminiscent of early Roxy Music. “Glasshouse” continues this theme with a beautifully constructed and fascinating layered instrumentation. “Coil” is slightly more upbeat with great texture. “Subkingdom” has a keyboard intro, with a touch of Lana Del Rey and a danceable rhythm. The hallmark of this EP is its mysterious labyrinth of sound. “Lagoons” itself opens with a curious subverted Madonna-style intro and uses Multiple voices. The air of mystery is very strong. The mysterious and off-kilter feel of this music marks Ruby Tingle out as a highly original artist with a clear vision for her music. Can we have the album now, please?

Written by Paul Bamlett.

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The Ukrainians – The Crescent, York – Saturday 9th April 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 3:09 pm
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This was a benefit for the refugees fleeing from Putin’s war and brutality in Ukraine and fittingly was headlined by the Ukrainians, an English band of Ukrainian heritage. They are the first band to fuse western rock and punk music with traditional Ukrainian Folk Music. But more of them later as there were some rather classy support acts on first. La Rissa was the opening act, on her own rather than the usual duo as the drummer was sidelined thanks to that bastard Covid. What does La Rissa sound like? Like the legacy of the early 80s Blitz Kids. The illegitimate offspring of Steve Strange and a post-Vince Clarke Depeche Mode with David Bowie acting as midwife. She has a great selection of simply gorgeous synth sounds which at times took me back to very early Human League. Her voice soars over the music and she has some rather excellent songs. The highlights for me were “Ultraviolence” and “A Man’s World”. But the track that topped even both of those was “Eat The Rich”, which definitely deserves to be described as awesome! Get La Rissa into your lives now.

La Rissa

Next up was 1919, a band who have a considerably lengthy timeline having originally formed in Bradford back in 1980. They went their separate ways in 1984, however, thanks to the birth of streaming their early recordings saw a hearty interest in 1919 maintained. This culminated in the band reforming in 2014 with most of the original members. They have released two albums since then and appear to be building up a great following. The band’s sound has so much in it. There is punk, post-punk, and goth amongst so much more. Imagine the Psychedelic Furs forming a supergroup with the Sisters Of Mercy but only playing punk songs with passion and supported by a guitarist who sounds like a fully punked-up The Edge from U2. 1919 have some staggeringly good songs in their canon. In particular “Caged”, “Dream” and “Anxiety”. Although, despite such great competition and quality, for me, nothing could top the towering splendour of “Cry Wolf”. If you love great music check out 1919.

1919

Finally, it was time for the headliners, the Ukrainians. These guys are a truly awesome party band fusing traditional Ukrainian folk with western rock influences drawn from classic rock, punk, and post-punk. They are a band that proves very strongly the point that music is a universal language. I only speak English, but did that stop me from enjoying a set in which all the songs were sung in Ukrainian? Of course, it didn’t! The super, super-fast workout out on the traditional Ukrainian folk dance number “Hopak” was truly immense beyond words. Everyone in the crowd, particularly the hardcore fans near the front, performed their own interpretive dance to it, as requested by the band. As for me I just performed a very light Frug near the speakers. The band’s cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” with Ukrainian lyrics, which might have been about drinking, was a work of genius. During a short tuning break, one of the band read out the words to the Ukraine National Anthem. Very powerful and inspiring words which show up the UK National Anthem for the vile, dull dirge that it is. There was another cover, this time of the 60s Mamas and Papas smash, “California Dreamin'” and this was a total psych fest. They played one of the first songs that they ever wrote, which is about a soldier going away to fight for his country and asking his countrymen to pray for him. As the band said the world has come full circle since then. They wrote this song 30 years ago, around the time that Ukraine became an independent state back in 1991. перемога україни!

All pictures, except the gig poster, were taken by me using my very cheap Chinese Android phone. The videos were found on YouTube. If the video is yours and you would like a credit or for it to be removed please let me know.

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Play It Again Mayhem – “Graduation Day” – Head Automatica April 11, 2022

Filed under: Play It Again Mayhem — justwilliam1959 @ 10:55 pm
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This is the eleventh song in the Play It Again Mayhem series which began back in 2020. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist, click here to take a listen!

This time it is a much more recent track, in fact, the second newest in this series. It is “Graduation Day” by Head Automatica, which was released as a single back in 2006. It was taken from the band’s second album ‘Popaganda’, also from 2006. The band came into being after singer Daryl Palumbo took an interest in both hip hop and British music. He felt that these styles did not fit within his band Glass Jaw’s canon of music. So as a result he put Head Automatica together. The band issued two albums, five singles, and a couple of EPs from 2004 to 2006. I have both albums on CD and I play ‘Popaganda’ a few times each year. Apparently, there is a later so far unreleased album called ‘Swan Damage’. Someone has posted a ‘Swan Damage’ FULL(non)ALBUM (live compilation)’ on YouTube, click here to check it out.

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The Mayhem Monthly Top 20 Song Chart – March 2022


We have been publishing our Mayhem Top 20 Artist Chart for a while now, so it’s about time we hit you with our top 20 song chart right? We promised you this in the last Artist Top 20 and here it is! The inaugural Mayhem Top 20 Song chart. Who will be on the hotlist? Who will be number one? Read on to find out! Well it won’t be a traditional old skool run down from 20 to 1, we thought we’d hit you with number one first and it is………. Prairie Brigade with “Is This How The World Ends”. York singer-songwriter Rubby Addy is a close second with her gorgeous tune “Roadkill”. Meanwhile, Bang Bang Romeo follow up their chart-topping of the Mayhem Artist Top 20 appearance for March with a very respectable number three placing. The oldest release on the list is “Metal Guru” by T. Rex at number 20. Eight of the artists who featured in the Mayhem Top 20 Artist chart for March also feature on this list. We would love to hear your thoughts on the Mayhem Song Top 20 Chart as we hope to make it a regular feature. Check out the complete list below.

1 Is This How The World Ends – Prairie Brigade
2 Roadkill – Ruby Addy
3 Cemetery – Bang Bang Romeo
4 Edge Of The World – Last Of The Fallen Angels
5 Ride Home – Katy Hurt
6 You Belong – Set Your Sights
7 Mansard Roof – Vampire Weekend
8 ROCK$TAR – Police Car Collective
9 Sunday – David Bowie
10 Colourful White Lies – Electric High
11 Pieces – Revivalry
12 I Thought I Knew It All – Marq Electronica
13 Wilder Days – Morgan Wade
14 Barbara Streisand – Phonomatiq
15 Fool Britannia – The Undercover Hippy
16 Rhubarb – Childcare
17 I Wanna Be By Your Side – Na’eemah Harper
18 Little Bit Broken – Hattie Briggs
19 If You Get To Hell First – Fury
20 Metal Guru – T Rex

We love our readers so much we have even created a Spotify Playlist of the Mayhem Song Top 20 for March 2022. Click here to give it a spin!

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