Here is the Mayhem chart for May 2024. Regular and constant readers know that the chart is based on my Spotify listening habits over the last month gathered together by obscurify.com. Apparently, my tastes are 98% more obscure than the rest of the UK! A drop of 1% from last month. The chart remains contemporary-ish (but if a classic artist releases something new they might feature in the chart). However, the top three “Legacy” artists are Johnny Nash, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to and for May those are PERCY, The Apocalypse Disco, and Joe Solo. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including two that were in the top ten last month, Frank Turner, and Delilah Bon! Delilah is the only artist to feature in the artist chart and the song chart for May, with her current single “Evil, Hate Filled Female” making it to the top of the song chart. Delilah Bon has been in the artist charts for six consecutive months. Meanwhile, a rather big artist hits the top of the artist charts. Yes, Taylor Swift has finally topped the only chart that matters! To honour that achievement she is also included in this month’s playlist! Incidentally, the longest artist name ever to reach the Mayhem Artist Chart is Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan, they are at number six! So without further ado here are those charts in full! Click on the header of the song chart for the playlist on Spotify.
MAYHEM ARTIST CHART MAY 2024
1 Taylor Swift 2 Percy 3 Paul Weller 4 Richard Hawley 5 Billie Eilish 6 Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan 7 Yard Act 8 Frank Turner 9 Dea Matrona 10 Delilah Bon
1 Evil, Hate Filled Female – Delilah Bon 2 Debris – Skanger 3 Come Alive – Francesca Faye 4 Here Right Now – Jessica Wilde 5 My Bile – Kate Nash
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West Yorkshire Superheroes and one of York’s greatest bands, PERCY are back with a new album, on 10ft Records, and despite the concerns of one band member (due to the lateness of reviews, including this one) it is most definitely not pants! It kicks off with some really dark riffs, appropriately given the title and subject of “Sink Estate Satanic Rites” which mentions classic horror author Dennis Wheatley. The video contains some essential UK horror movie tropes too. The deep bass rumble that powers “Blackout” is reminiscent of Jah Wobble on early PiL tracks. The title track is a punchy, angular, post-punk powerhouse that got me thinking of the Stranglers at their peak. Colin’s lyrics throughout the album are idiosyncratic and out-there, and frankly, no one else could create something close from a lyrical perspective. The circus-like keyboard motifs on “Thinking Of Jacking It In Again” would fit perfectly in a really warped David Lynch-style horror film. This is eerie, emotional and perhaps the closest PERCY has ever come to showing a Beatles influence. If you link hard post-punk and ghost stories then “Last Train To Selby” is right up your street! For me, this is the pinnacle of a great album which contains some monumentally mountainous musical peaks within it. I suspect that “Do You Think I’m On The Spectrum?” is a brutally honest take on those whose superpower is being neuro-diverse. Either way, I feel that I want to play this to some of the kids that I work with who are on the spectrum.
The band was born in 1996 and this is the fourth album since original band members Colin Howard (guitar and vocals) and Andy Wiles (bass) were joined by Paula Duck (keys) and Jason Wilson (drums) in 2017. I believe that it is an album that sees the band developing into something really special. Many people, myself included, have made easy and obvious comparisons with the Fall. But on this new album, PERCY are heading way beyond that and maybe in thirty years, people like me will be comparing new music to PERCY. “Greedy People” will be a PERCY live staple given its anthemic power. “I Can Hear Orgies” is probably the most PERCY track on the album, can you think of any band that could even dream of a title like this? It has a well-rounded power-pop feel, especially in the soft-to-loud guitar work. The sound on “You Never Know” draws on some fine early 80s alternative music that would have been an instant classic on John Peel’s show. A reggae remix of this would be something worth hearing I think. At almost six minutes long “Afterlife” is perhaps the most ambitious track on the album and feels cinematic in its ambition. The slowish tune is based around some classy keyboard loops and understated bass lines all underpinned by some perfect syncopated stick work from Jason Wilson. I think “Afterlife” will become one of the best PERCY songs ever laid down, after a few plays it is easily my second favourite on this record. You can purchase the album and also choose to buy a huge selection of the PERCY back catalog on Bandcamp. So what are you waiting for? Click here to spend a few bob on some great sounds!
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This was one of several shows to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the fabulous Fulford Arms. Only three years until the venue becomes a teenager! The poster above shows JUKU as a headliner supported by special guests. Sadly, no thanks to that bastard Covid-19, JUKU could not play. Which left us with Special Guests, who are Special Guests? Are they a band, no, but that might make a good name, right? There were three special guests; No Como Crees, Speedreaders, and new headliners PERCY.
So first up it was No Como Crees. We got two-thirds of a punky trio forced into an acoustic set thanks to drummer Dave getting the back door trots, or as Roxy Music once said, both ends burning! Did this stop No Como Crees? No, they were absolutely ace with a towering display of slacker rock! Their original tunes were fabulous and their cover of Jessie J’s “Price Tag” was stunningly spectacular and supremely sublime. Vinnie and Harrison, you fucking rock! I am sure Dave rocks too when he doesn’t have the Dehli belly!
Speedreaders were next with a kind of drone-driven indie sound. Sometimes it sounded like shoegaze on speed, and I do mean that in a good way. The harmonies were mostly perfect. There is a definite Velvet Underground influence with Speedreaders. The particular highlights for me were “Little Things” and “Nobody Died” and the wild wig out on the closing number was full-on psychedelic.
When JUKU had to pull out PERCY, those West Yorkshire Super Heroes, pulled on the number twelve shirt and headlined. They have a new album coming out later this year and their set was pretty much that whole album. They opened with what is now a solid PERCY classic, “What Les Said.” “Blackout” is brilliant and in my opinion owes a small debt to Ian Dury. I really love “Thinking Of Jacking It All In Again” and this was the first time that song had ever been played in York. It has a weird and mesmerising fairground-style rhythm to it. Introduced as a song for autistics who are not really autistic it was “Do You Think I’m On The Spectrum?” This is the kind of song that probably only PERCY could write. The same could be said of the wonderful and very dark “I Can Hear Orgies” which reminded me a little of Public Image Limited at their finest. ”It’s Not About The Money” (at least that is what I think it is called) is definitely a future PERCY classic. they closed with the modern ghost story in a song that is “Last Train To Selby”, a truly epic track. So many of the new songs have a classy and more punky edge and for me, this bodes very well indeed for the new album. This was another brilliant set from one of York’s finest bands as they enter their 28th year!
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Following on from the rather wonderful Summer Solstice Shenanigans in June at this very venue Spirit Of The Hawk is back with a Winter Solstice Spectacular. The first of the support bands was Chiang featuring some of Bradford’s finest musicians. They smashed into a stunning, incendiary set full of punk and metal energy. I am a new Chiang fan! Next up was one of York’s best bands, Soma Crew, who supported the Summer Solstice Shenanigans. They brought their “A-Game” drone skills with a collection of tunes that flow into your psyche and make you feel good. As usual, they throw in some exquisite curveballs; grunge tones, Floyd and maybe Can. Their rich sound was enhanced on a few tracks by the addition of a slide guitar. Just when you think that Soma Crew might have peaked, they do this and you know they are still on that upward curve.
Finally, it was time for this Winter Solstice Spectacular to kick into overdrive as Spirit Of The Hawk took the stage. Once again including members of Percy and Soma Crew. This was a supreme sonic fest that showcased just how good Hawkwind once were. This was a true psychedelic trip with some heavy, jazzy, proggy sounds, and, as with the Summer Solstice Shenanigans we had our very own Stacia stand-in making some flowing dance shapes in a glittery jumpsuit. This lady knows how to interpret music with dance. Every member of the band was firing on all cylinders. The guitar playing was exceptionally good. If you had shut your eyes during the set you might have imagined that it was Dave Brock on stage. There were too many highlights to mention but I loved “Damnation Alley” and set closer to “Quark, Strangeness And Charm”. When I reviewed the show in June I mentioned a quote from New Order’s Stephen Morris, “Punk rock started because in every small town, there was somebody who liked Hawkwind.” I am already looking forward to the next Spirit Of The Hawk gig, are you?
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The Mayhem Monthly charts return for the third month in a row. Regular readers know the chart is based on my Spotify listening habits over the last month. The chart remains contemporaryish, otherwise, it might be filled with classic artists all the time and that would be boring, right? The top three “Legacy” artists are David Bowie, Nick Drake, and Sam Cooke. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. As expected there is quite an eclectic mix of artists including two that were in the top ten last month (ALT BLK ERA and Ren). In fact this is the third month in a row that ALT BLK ERA have featured in the artist top ten. The top five songs features three artists who also appear in the artist top ten, that is the Delilah Bon, ALT BLK ERA and Black Pumas. Delilah Bon does the double, she is at the top of both charts, with excellent support from ALT BLK ERA! So without further ado here are those charts! Click on the header of the song chart for the playlist on Spotify.
MAYHEM ARTIST CHART OCTOBER 2023 1Delilah Bon 2 DJ Shadow 3 The Streets 4 Ren 5 ALT BLK ERA 6 Poppy 7 Ashnikko 8 Scene Queen 9 Wargasm 10 Black Pumas
MAYHEM SONG CHART OCTOBER 2023 1 Witch – Delilah Bon featuring ALT BLK ERA 2 Last Train To Selby – PERCY 3 Alive – The Apocalypse Disco 4 More Than A Love Song – Black Pumas 5 Your Mind’s Closed – Offbeat
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It has been a while since the last Mayhem Singles Round Up so I thought how about one that focused on bands and artists from or based in York? This post contains songs from eighteen different artists and showcases the diversity of styles, the strength of music, and the depth of the music scene in my adopted city of York. All these tunes were delivered into the world by the magical music stork in the last few months. OK fact fans, three of these acts have a link to the school that I currently work at, can you guess which ones? Click here to take a listen to a Spotify playlist of all eighteen tracks, which is more than an hour of fab music! In case you are interested, the order of the songs was simply drawn out of a metaphorical hat 🙂
“G.U.N.N.E.R” – YouVee YouVee get proper heavy on this blockbuster of a tune. Shades of early Kasabian and even Black Sabbath abound!
“Start A New” – Bull – This is a band that moves closer to perfection with each release and “Start A New” has the makings of a Bull classic. The harmonies are good enough to melt even the hardest of hearts with the genius of adding a school choir too.
“Make Up” – Pennine Suite – I reckon this is Pennine Suite’s finest song so far. It has power, awesome vocals, and a chorus that sticks around in your head for quite a while.
“In Ecstasy” – Shed Seven featuring Rowetta – York’s musical titans the Sheds are back and with an absolute banger featuring the unmistakable vocal support of the magnificent Rowetta.
“Break In The Weather” – Benjamin Francis Leftwich – A gorgeous ballad of heartbreak that shows the emergence of buds of hope. Potentially a real tearjerker.
“Rebellion” – Anthea Drive – Is this Anthea Drive’s heaviest tune yet? I think so. Full of mountainous, immaculate riffs and roaring vocals.
“Your Mind’s Closed” – Offbeat – A delicious slice of indie pop that will get everyone moving a indie nights everywhere. I felt like the ghost of Altered Images haunted this tune a couple of times.
“Said And Done” – Fendry and Liv North – British rap is alive and well and Fendry might one day be at the forefront of it. This delightful collaboration with Liv North has parallels with some of Eminem’s work with female vocalists like Rihanna. Ace beats and rap that bleeds feelings and passion.
“Alive” – The Apocalypse Disco – If the apocalypse is truly on its way then this bunch must be on your end-of-the-world soundtrack. This joyous slice of electro does make me want to stay alive though. Dance to it and tell the four horsemen of the apocalypse to fuck right off!
“Marionette” – Vaquelin – a deep, dark tune from one of my favourite rock bands, Vaquelin. As usual, the guitar sound is immense as are the vocals. But the stand out is the drumming which would give Bonham and Moon a run for their money!
“Kelly’s In The Garden” – Heavy Bloom – A wonderfully chilled indie-style pop tune, like Air with added guitars. This will be on my summer playlist for next year.
“Tomorrow” – Fervent Red – This hits you like a hard-edged Beatlesy Brit Pop tune. It has a slight psychedelic vein running through it and a rather nifty chorus.
“Solemn Power” – The Exceptional Mr. Hyde – Is this electro dance or heavy rock? Actually, it is both. If Hawkwind began in the 21st century they might sound like this. This bodes well for their upcoming album!
“Last Train To Selby” – PERCY – Those West Yorkshire Superheroes are definitely back on form. A song that only PERCY could deliver. A great singalong that highlights a ghost on the train lyric. Check out the excellent video below.
“On My Mind (Radio Edit)” – CHAZ – A pounding piano-led house anthem that would move even the comatose. Dance music is alive and well in York as this debut single from CHAZ proves. The vocals are brilliant too.
“Save Your Time” – Rosettas – This captures some of the energy and power that the Rosettas have on stage. A great tune from a great band and every member is on top form.
“How Can You Be” – Everything After Midnight – My favourite Everything After Midnight song from the first listen. It has been aired live in a different form. But now it is an all-round close to perfect tune. The guitars smack you in the face in a good way while Steph’s vocal is close to heavenly.
“Fixed Point” – Heartsink – Those cheeky pop-punk chaps Heartsink have another great tune for our delectation. A little more acoustic than usual, at least initially. But a song that turns the riffage and passion up to 11 towards the fade.
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This was a fabulous free gig at the York Vaults to celebrate the summer solstice in the way that perhaps only Hawkind might have done. First up it was perhaps the time to reveal the worst-kept secret, secret set in rock history. Under the guise of Sisters Of Percy, who looked, and sounded, remarkably like West Yorkshire Super Heroes Percy! It was a fab show by the band. “What Les Said”, “Chunks” and “Greedy People” were magnificent highs from a set chocked full of them. They played a new song, I missed the title, but it bodes for an electric, weird, and rather spiffing future, it sounded like a 70s funk hoe down with some sharp post-punk vocal stylings.
Next, it was Soma Crew, whose set was sadly cut short owing to an amp malfunction. Top-class psychedelic drone-style tunes which take up residence in your head and stick around to have fun with your endorphins. Soma Crew are not only musical psychonauts, they add some other flavours too, like the occasional grunge lick. Whenever I see or listen to Soma Crew I feel a DNA route back to 60s Pink Floyd, Spiritualized, and even Tangerine Dream, but this bunch are not copyists or revivalists they are very much of our times.
Then it was time for the headliner for this celebration of Summer Solstice 2023, Spirit Of The Hawk. A kind of conglomerate of talent from Percy, Soma Crew, and the mystical elsewhere treating us to a souped-up sonic feast of what Hawkwind once was. Trippy vibes, psychedelic lights, and projection, heavy, jazzy, proggy music, and even a stand-in for the legendary naked, but body-painted dancer Stacia, with a rather talented lady gyrating to those lysergic beats in a Stacia style, but clad in a glittery jumpsuit. The rhythm section drove this not so mostly crew on like a finely tuned Rolls Royce, maybe like John Lennon’s 60s psyched version of the classic car. The lead guitar added some heavy muscular prog tones. Meanwhile, the vocals passionately evoked the classic sound of Dave Brock. Stephen Morris of New Order once said “Punk rock started because in every small town, there was somebody who liked Hawkwind.” Having been reminded of the two occasions I saw Hawkwind in the 70s by this excellent Spirit Of The Hawk gig, I believe that Stephen Morris was right! So, Space Rock begat Punk Rock and so much of what followed, we need more nights like this, let’s not limit it to the solstice either!
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A few weeks ago west Yorkshire Superheroes PERCY released a cracking single, “ICU”, from their latest album ‘Monorail’. We reviewed that album a while back, click here to read what we thought. The new single comes with a dark, comedic, psychedelic, animated video which features the band in a kind of warped wooden tops cartoon form. It is a great song and the video is genuinely out of this world, in more ways than one! The video was created by Hot Frog Animations who also produced a great video to accompany my favourite PERCY song from 2020, “Will Of The People”. “ICU” is a finely honed, yet chaotic, slice of post-punk vitriol that could only have been made by a great British band, which is exactly what PERCY are. The band has been playing a few live dates to promote the album and they will be playing their first London gig in around twenty years on August 27th. They have a 4.30pm slot as part of the Camden Rocks fringe. It will be at the Fiddlers Elbow (1 Malden Rd, Greater, Chalk Farm, London NW5 3HS). Scoot on down to Camden/ Chalk Farm on that date, you won’t be disappointed. Sadly I can’t make it as I will be at the Leeds Festival, but I really do think that as many of you as possible need to be there. If you go, then tell PERCY that Bill from With Just A Hint Of Mayhem sent you! 😉
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This was the launch gig for the rather spiffing new album ‘Monorail’ from PERCY (check out our review of the album here). But before that, there were a few support bands to consider. Were the support bands good? Read on to find out! First up was What Fresh Hell a York band which combine power pop, indie, and hard rock. Vocalist Mollie has a great melodic pop voice but when she lets rip it is a voice that can compete with the fiercest metal howlers. The band is incredibly tight; in particular, the drumming was spot on! One of the guitarists looks a little like Graham Coxon and plays like Coxon or Johnny Marr had they been in a metal band. “Girls Don’t Fight” was a great highlight for me.
Fat Spatula
Kelter was next on stage. They are purveyors of jerky, dirty, angular, funky punk. A little like early Talking Heads on speed. Lead singer/ guitarist Tim nails the thousand-yard rock frontman stare perfectly. You would certainly struggle to beat him in a staring contest! Sadly he will be leaving the band later this year. I hope that Kelter will bounce back quickly and that Tim produces more great music himself. The music is dark and magnificent and is perfectly suited to a small, sweaty venue like the Fulford Arms, and oh boy was it sweaty that night! The penultimate band before PERCY was Fat Spatula. I am sure that I have made a Jonathan Richman comparison about them before and it still stands. But where they surpass Mr. Richman is that their lyrics, which enhance their wonderful story songs are even more warped and off the wall than Jonathan Richman’s finest. Stylistically Fat Spatula are post-punk, pop, humourous horror, and even country music in a punky style. “Wankers” is a brilliant song! This is a band with something for everyone!
PERCY
Finally, it was time for PERCY and as a live band these self-proclaimed West Yorkshire Super Heroes are a hard-hitting powerful musical force packed full of passion, humour, and talent. Off the back of two great albums over the last few years ‘Seaside Donkeys’ (2019) and the album launched at this gig, ‘Monorail’ they have proved themselves to easily be one of Yorkshire’s finest bands. Given the chance to play dates beyond the boundaries of the fabulous White Rose County I think the rest of the country will love them too. The new songs are great on the album but absolutely stratospheric when played live. Especially “Chunks”, which is perhaps one of Colin’s best lyrics to date, and “ICU”. “Will Of The People” from the last album remains a towering tour de force and sadly still so very relevant. But for me, the highlight of this set was the moody, mad, magical, mighty, magnificent, and masterful “What Lez Said”. PERCY are definitely one of my favourite bands right now, if they are not one of yours then I want a letter from your parents on my desk Monday explaining why!
Click here to check out What Fresh Hell smashing their epic tune “Meat Machine”
All pictures, except the gig poster, were taken by me using my very cheap Chinese Android phone. The videos were found on YouTube (and one on Facebook). 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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The brand new PERCY album comes out this week on Ten Foot Records and I have had the pleasure of listening to it a lot over the past couple of months. Have the West Yorkshire Superheroes delivered? Read on to find out dear readers. The album starts with perhaps one of the most wonderfully weird songs Percy has recorded so far, “Chunks”. No one writes lyrics quite like Colin, do they? I think this song is about how the powers that be try to mould people into bland equally sized chunks as though we are all the filling in a shitty Fray Bentos pie. Next up is “ICU” which if John Peel was still around would be a banker for inclusion in the Festive 50 for 2022. I have heard this song played live and I think this will become a Percy classic with Colin’s unique vocal style and some excellent post-punk riffage. Paula’s keyboards on “Midnight On Broadway” evoke a dark 60s cop show that might have been soundtracked by the Doors. But in reality, this is dark music for the 21st Century. After a few listens “Dry Your Tears” is the track on the album where the whole band comes together perfectly, this one is a real grower. “Disinfect Me” feels a bit goth-punk, especially the rhythm section which drives this track like a finely tuned racing car. I can imagine this being played in a nightclub scene in a very modern vampire tale or maybe even a remake of ‘The Hunger’.
The intro to “I Want” comes across as real classic rock. But then when Paula’s synth organ sound gives the song a desecrated church feel and Colin’s vocal kicks in you just know that this is Percy on top form. I bloody love “Rock A Hula” it has an eerie circus vibe about it and I reckon it needs to be included on the soundtrack to Rob Zombie’s “Munsters” film. “I’ve Been Down” is another Percy classic in waiting. The stutter in the chorus brings the song a dark and sinister pop feel. Jason’s drumming is sublime on this. Next up is a song named after a street in York. The tune has a menacing spoken vocal and a hypnotic synth motif that hooks into your brain at super speed and refuses to leave. Is the song actually about the street? Honestly, I have no bloody idea, but I do know it’s a great song. Tucked away at track 10 of 11 is the magnificent “What Lez Said” which I think is possibly Percy’s finest song to date. It drives along as though it is being performed by a strange version of the Kinks that somehow fell into our dimension from a warped parallel universe. If Carlsberg created a Percy tune it would be this one. The album closes with “Last Chance Saloon” which has “play me as a weird interlude in a Tarantino film” writ large all over it. When I eventually get my arse into gear to start producing an internet radio show I might just have to beg Percy to let me use this track as the regular intro/ theme music for it. I thought Percy’s ‘Seaside Donkeys’ from 2020 was a brilliant album and believed it would be hard for the band to better it, but they have fucking done it! ‘Monorail’ is a great album and definitely a contender for album of the year!
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