After six monumentally exciting heats, we have had two of the three semi-finals. I was there as a judge for semi-final 1 but unfortunately could not make the second one. But I will be back in my judge’s wig and robes for the last semi-final on Friday, 6th October, and then the grand final on Sunday, 22nd October!
In the meantime, I can tell you that the first semi-final was, for me, the most exciting night so far and also one of the closest as far as scoring goes. It was won by HÆrtstrings, first band to qualify for the final. It was an unlucky night for Vaquelin, Attacker TV, and I Tell Lies, who all performed great. Don’t forget there will be a judges wildcard again this year so one band that missed the cut in the semis could still make it through.
I heard from my judicial colleagues that the second semi-final on Saturday was another very closely fought contest with Hunter-Gatherer coming out on top at the end. While Belle Velvet, Manic Calm, and Heavy Bloom missed the top spot, there is still the judge’s wild card to be awarded. That will be after the final semi-final. The last semi-final will feature sets from Ømmis, Fervent Red, Offbeat, and Frantics. I suggest that you be there or be a plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles!
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Regular readers will know that I was invited back to judge this year’s Battle Of The Bands competition at the Fulford Arms in York. It is a fabulous honour to be chosen to judge such a great contest! As I am on the judging panel, I do not think it is fair to review the shows. But I thought you might like a few updates, this is the third one and covers the final two of the six heats.
Heats 5 and 6 took place on Wednesday, 20th September, and Thursday, 21st September. The lineup for Heat 5 was Red Recluse, Manic Calm, Ømmis, and 5 Or 7. It was yet another close contest, and Manic Calm, along with Ømmis will be in the semi-finals! Heat 6 had another great lineup with Trent and the Crickets, Hunter Gatherer, Gents and Ginger, and I Tell Lies. The two acts going through to the semi-final from Heat 6 are I Tell Lies and Hunter Gatherer. Gents and Ginger initially made the cut but were unable to make any of the dates. Get yourself to the Fulford Arms on Friday, 29th September for the first of the three semi-finals! The other two semi-finals are on Saturday, 30th September, and Friday, 6th October. Check out the semi-final lineups below.
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I think it’s time for another Mayhem singles round-up, don’t you? Here comes the fourth for 2023, it includes a baker’s dozen of tunes that have been passed on to me or recommended during the previous few weeks and months, there are some rather spiffing tracks.
It features many artists and bands that have appeared on Mayhem’s pages before. There are also four great cover versions in this collection. There are new tracks from Avalanche Party, Apollo Junction, Vaquelin and Liz Davinci who I think all have new albums coming out sometime this year. Judging from their latest offerings, choosing Mayhem’s album of the year for 2023 will be very difficult! Let me know what you think of this great collection of tunes!
You will find a YouTube link to each song in the title (or a link to the audio of the track) and a link to the artist’s website or one of their social media pages when you click the artist’s name. You can also find the link to a Spotify playlist of all these songs by clicking here.
Ain’t no party like an Avalanche Party and the AP boys are back with what is most definitely a tune for partying to. You probably wouldn’t play this 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. This is the first single from their upcoming sophomore album, ‘Der Traum Über Alles’. The video is very classy indeed.
The Apollo Junction lads are back with another offering that will feature on their third album, due out later this year. For the first minute, it is soft, acoustic, mellow, and pensive. Then the sound continues to build with an almost drone-like guitar sound underpinning it. It finally builds to an immense orchestral-sounding, epic finish. The harmonies are superb and I can imagine this sound echoing across festival fields for years to come. Possibly my favourite Apollo Junction song so far.
This is a fine slab of fuzzy, dirty, electric blues. If you are not doing the Grayston Boogie by the end of the track then frankly you should seek medical help. The video has a few fleeting tips as to how to boogie in a Grayston way!
A brave choice to cover this one. No one could ever hope to emulate the original Amy Winehouse, so the Palava choose to take the song in a different direction. An immaculate blues rock vocal and some gritty, scuzzy garage rock style guitars. I have seen the band play this live and they do it well, but this recording is so very much better than that! I bloody love it!
This bunch is from Adelaide, Australia and this track is reminiscent of the softer side of Blink 182. It is a close-to-perfect amalgam of great pop punk and emo. A heartfelt tale of heartbreak. I am looking forward to hearing more from Sad Like You.
Is Liz Davinci descended from Leonardo? I don’t know, but she is certainly an incredibly talented artist. Vocally there are elements of Kate Bush, Suzanne Vega, and Marcella Detroit here. This tune is beautiful and almost baroque in its construction. I love the way that Liz is not afraid to use the space between the notes. This augers well for her forthcoming album ‘Fata Morgana’.
This is the second cover in this singles selection (there will be more) and it does what I think makes a perfect cover in that it isn’t a simple facsimile of the original. This is the first track to be released from the Easy All Stars forthcoming album of a reggae reimagining of Bowie’s ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ album. This one works perfectly and bodes well for the album. The Dame’s rarely touched reggae, and when he did it was never particularly good in my opinion. But Easy All Stars with Steel Pulse show with absolute certainty that Bowie can work in a reggae style.
We have another cover in the singles round up. This time it is smoky, heavy, swampy, garage rock version on Nina Simone’s iconic classic “Feelin’ Good”. For me this version takes back ownership of the song from Muse after Matt Bellamy’s somewhat histrionic and over-the-top take on the tune from a few years ago.
Witch Of The East return with a fabulous new song. This is punk, post punk, electro, dance with a goth icing and a pinch of New Order. Based on this, if there is another Witch Of The East album in development it will be bloody wonderful.
Get into this band now, then when they break big you can impress your mates by saying you were there at the start. This song is full on rock with large shots of Yard Act and Sleaford Mods and a shady undercurrent of mounting anger. Go see them live as soon as you can!
Gemma, Danny and Aaron return with a stonking cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”. It feels like the Velvet Underground made the song originally back in the 60s and then Isaak covered it in 1989. OK, I know that isn’t true, right? This must be top of the list to be on the Twin Peaks soundtrack if there is ever another remake, prequel or sequel. I love that in the blurb to the video on YouTube the band state “Dear lovers, snoggers and nighttime doggers. We’ve recorded a cover of one of our favourites in light of the smoooochin’ season” that cracked me up, well the nighttime doggers bit anyway!
Another banging tune from Vaquelin, it kicks off like Led Zeppelin on Quaaludes and the vocals are classic 70s rock style with a dash of Bowie’s Tin Machine Style. The screaming lead guitar, particularly in the last part of the track is something Mick Ronson would be proud of. The second album from Vaquelin looks like it will be better than the first based on this tune!
The Undercover Hippy is an expert at protest tunes, because it is done in a very clever and subtle way. The reggae backing has shades of another great band, Captain Ska. This song questions the greed and or incompetence of our less than industrious leaders. We need more artists like this calling out the scummy liars in government.
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The Fulford Arms Battle Of The Bands event for 2022 took place from 26th October to 2nd December last year with four heats followed by the final. The final featured the four heat winners; the White Roses (Heat 1), The Palava (Heat 2), The Rosettas (Heat 3) and City Snakes (Heat 4), and the judge’s wild card, I Tell Lies. It was an absolute honour to have been a judge for this magnificent contest. Obviously, as I was judging the contest I didn’t think it was fair for me to also review it. I would like to say a huge thank you to all my fellow judges and the fabulous team at the Fulford Arms who put the whole thing together. There were plenty of prizes for the winners and I am happy to offer a cheeky little extra prize for all five finalists if you’re interested. So White Roses, Palava, Rosettas, City Snakes and I Tell Lies. If you want to be interviewed by With Just A Hint Of Mayhem give me a shout!
Huge congratulations to the Palava who won on December 2nd last year. There is a video from each of the four heat winners below, including the Palava. Unfortunately, I could not locate a video from I Tell Lies, so click here to check them out on Spotify! The event was so successful that the Fulford Arms Battle Of The Bands for 2023 is even bigger. There will be six heats (the first is on 6th September), three semi-finals, and then the Grand Final on 22nd October. The poster above provides all the dates and details of how to enter. Who is up for it? I will be judging 9 of the 10 shows this time around. It would be great to see your band there, you know what to do! As a brief footnote, I enjoyed the event so much that I was a judge at a Battle Of The Bands contest at a local school, which also happens to be where I work now too!
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