So tell me, are you on the nice list or the naughty list? Either way may I say a big hello to all the nicies and all the naughties! You have probably noticed a change since COVID. I have let the annual Christmas messages from bands and artists slip a little. These are the bands and artists we have featured or reviewed throughout the year. But now they are back. They kicked off a few days ago with the delightful Herorangecoat. Now, we have a very special Christmas message from rock powerhouse Taylor Grace. Taylor fronts a fabulous UK metal band called Not Now Norman. They play plenty of other stuff too. They are simply a great band.
We reviewed their new album ‘GO HARD OR GO HOME!‘. It also made it into our top 20 albums of the year. We love a bit of Not Now Norman here at Mayhem Towers. You need them in your life too.
It is a while since the mighty Not Now Norman have featured on these pages, but with a new album hitting the streets very soon it is that time! The album is out on 29th November and is called ‘Go HARD or Go HOME’. It kicks off with the rather strange and at times scary (well you try listening to it through your headphones in the dark) “Norminius Sanctus”. It has a dark, monastic feel that would be perfect to soundtrack the opening credits of a Hammer Horror film. The title track starts a full on metal assault with epic scale AC/ DC style riffs that support Taylor-Grace’s pitch perfect rock vocal. At times she sounds like Joan Jett on steroids with some Ozzy Osbourne vocal chords spliced into her own voice box. The current single “Feral” is next and it has a great 80s rock hair metal feel to it with some hooks that Madonna in her prime would have been incredibly envious of. “WHO I AM” is another single and it has riffs forged in rock heaven and drumming that could smash mountains and vocally this is one of my favourite tracks on the album. If you love prog style power ballads you are going to find yourself in a relationship with “Family Photo”. This will be the next single released on the same day as the album. Taylor-Grace says this about it “This track is one of the toughest I’ve written. When I was born, a relative disowned me for being a girl. I’ve heard people praise this person highly to me, saying ‘they’re still your relative’ when they’ve never deserved it. I didn’t realise how it affected me until I started writing it. It’s for all those people who have been disowned for reasons they can’t control.” I have been on this planet a long while and it baffles the hell out of me that people with these kind of opinions actually exist.
The emotion in “Mama” is palpable and Taylor produces perhaps her finest vocal performance to date. It is huge in sound and cinematic in ambition. The band prove their funky skills on “Midnight Sun” the guitar work and drumming makes you want to move. It also has an early 70s rock vibe, like Medicine Head on speed. The rock just don’t stop on this brilliant set of songs as “Mister Know It All” takes things up another gear with a stellar, rip-roaring riff rampage. Everyone knows a Mister Know It All, right? I certainly do. There is a great blues mood on “King Of A Wasted Land” which has an occasional but wonderfully haunting vocal double track from Taylor-Grace. The guitar solo toward the end of the track is one of the best on the album. I am not totally certain who this is directed at, but my take is King Charles III, or any one of the recent UK Prime Ministers. It doesn’t matter to me I despise all of them. Just when you thought an album could get no heavier this one hits you with the titanic tower of metal that is “Bad Liar”. I was transported back to early Suzi Quatro with “Why Don’t You Like Me?”, particularly the chorus refrain which I doubt I could shake from my brain even if I wanted to. The punkiest sound on the album is probably “Green Light” which evokes Motorhead playing with Girlschool, a roaring tiger of a song. I have heard many great and interesting covers before, and Not Now Norman’s take on Britney’s “Toxic” is phenomenal. It retains the pop tropes of the original but give it a hugely harder rock edge.
This sophomore album from Not Now Norman hits all the spots perfectly and scratches music itches that you never knew you had. Am I disappointed with anything about this release? Yes, that it is about to be released just when I thought I had completed my top 20 albums of the year list! Now I need to go away and have a rethink, yes this album is THAT good!
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This is an album I was looking forward to for quite a while after a string of stonkingly good singles from one of the UK’s finest purveyors of metal music, Not Now Norman. Taylor has a voice that knocks the spots off many of her contemporaries and is comparable to some of her musical heroes. The album opens with a short riff fest that also features a cockerel (not sure if it is the actual Norman or an imposter) and a siren which evokes the 70s pop rock classic “Blockbuster” by the Sweet. “Judas – RELOADED” showcases Zander’s block-rocking metal power chords and Taylor’s vocals are on fire here. Lyrically this is supremely good. We all love a good “stick it up your ass” phrase to sing along to, don’t we? The song is an updated take on the track from the band’s 2020 EP ‘The End Of The Day’. I am taken back to classy 80s or 90s heavy rock with “What I Want”, although this is not a facsimile, it burst with originality too. This is a band that seems to enjoy themselves and that is apparent in some of their songs, Notably, “Houston” it might not be a happy tune lyrically, but for me, it just has a good vibe. There are some guitar parts that underly the track that are reminiscent of Slade at their peak. “WHO ARE YOU” may be influenced by Evanescence and Taylor’s voice can certainly be compared to Amy Lee here. The pureness and harmonics of that voice come across like a hard rock Karen Carpenter. 2022 single “Save Me” It is a song about how humanity is destroying our planet and was inspired by the Australian wildfires and the talking shop of COP26 that ultimately achieved nothing. (Just the same as COP 27) It is a heartfelt message to humanity, especially the younger generation to do something. The riffs are drawn directly from heavy metal Valhalla and Taylor’s vocal performance once again is passionate, emotional, and in a nutshell fucking awesome. Added to that the whole band is at peak performance. The lyrics are simple but so very powerful, how can anyone ignore words like “Save me from our destiny. Save me from a time, where everything around us dies“
If Adele wanted to cover a decent rock song to expand her style she should consider Not Now Norman‘s “Chasing Rainbows” and perhaps her Not Now Norman to back her on it. This is a sublime rock ballad filled with emotion and soul. One of the heaviest tracks on the album is possibly “RE-INTRODUCING” in which Taylor conjures the spirit of Janis Joplin. “Egocentric” has a different edge given the counterpoint supporting vocal from Scarred By Truth. The latter is a collective of rather ace artists from the North East of England, which is also where I think Not Now Norman‘s secret lair is located. “Little Frankenstein – The Franken Lee Remix” takes the 2019 original into a much harder riff-laden heavy experience and it makes an already good song great! The rather spiffing “Little Cheryl” has a real old-school vibe with a chorus to die for. Maybe reminiscent of the Go-Gos with a strong pop hook and melody, Talking of a chorus to die for, “Shut Your Mouth” is in that club too, it is a fully-fledged metal banger. The music has a classic 70s hard rock feel with shades of Thin Lizzy and Nazareth, and a screaming guitar solo worthy of Ritchie Blackmore at his peak. Once again Taylor’s vocals put the icing on the cake. The album ends with a remake of the title track from their 2020 EP, “End Of The Day -RELOADED”, and what a way to sign off a great album this is. There is no filler on this collection, every track is superb and left me no option but to play the album again and again. Get this band in your lugholes now and you will have no option but to become a Norminion!
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That mighty metal behemoth better known to us mere mortals as Not Now Norman are back with what I reckon is their best song to date, and let’s face it there is some tough competition! It is called “Save Me” and is available on all platforms now. It is a song about humanity is destroying the planet and was inspired by the Australian wildfires and the talking shop of COP26 that ultimately achieved nothing. We can’t stop climate change, but we can begin to lessen its impact. “Save Me” is a heartfelt message to humanity, especially the younger generation to do something. Listen to Greta Thunberg and her peers and listen to this anthemic song. The riffs are drawn directly from heavy metal Valhalla and Taylor’s vocal performance is passionate, emotional, and in a nutshell fucking awesome. Added to that the whole band is at peak performance. The lyrics are simple but so very powerful, how can anyone ignore words like “Save me from our destiny. Save me from a time, where everything around us dies“. Click here to check out the complete lyrics. This is a mosh pit anthem with a great message. Download, stream, buy it, I don’t care how you get this song in your life, just get it, become a Norminion, and more importantly, listen to it (and I mean REALLY LISTEN), take in the message, and act!
You can catch the band live in Stockton-On-Tees this Saturday, 5th March as part of Women In Music.
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Those Christmas messages keep coming, sadly it looks like this might be the last one for this year, but if it is we’ll go out with a bang because it is the dynamic, delightful, dynamite rockers Not Now Norman with a wonderful acoustic update to their rather spiffing song “Little Frankenstein”. This is “Christmas Frankenstein (With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Special)” exclusively for you dear readers, at least initially. In my opinion, everyone should have the opportunity to hear this. Taylor and Zander absolutely knock it out of the park! Click here to check out their site, you can even peruse the lyrics. Then check out more Not Now Norman tunes on Spotify. Then finally bag yourself an ace band T-Shirt via Bandcamp. This amazing band is also on my bucket list to see play live in 2022.
Incidentally, I found the picture online, if the photographer would like a credit or removal please let me know.
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Last week I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Taylor Grace the bright, talented and dynamic frontwoman Not Now Norman, who are now firmly entrenched as one of my favourite bands! Taylor talks about her musical influences, bullying, songwriting, these strange Covid days and Not Now Norman among many other things. Click here to take a look at the Not Now Norman website and maybe become a Norminion! Click here to check them out on Spotify and have a look at some of their great videos below.
Click here to listen to the interview, I certainly had a lot of fun doing it and I hope that Taylor did too 🙂
If you want to listen to any of the other interviews in this podcast series steer your mouse right here and click!
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Not Now Norman are back with yet yet another absolute banger of a tune, “Shut Your Mouth”. The music has an old school hard rock feel with shades of Thin Lizzy and Nazareth, and a screaming guitar solo worthy of Ritchie Blackmore at his peak. Once again Taylor’s vocals put the icing on the cake, she has one of the finest rock voices I have heard in quite a while. Previous releases “Little Cheryl” and “Little Frankenstein” were good, but this is even better. The chorus rips through your ear canals and forcibly hooks itself into your brains temporal lobe. This will be epic in a live environment. Aligned with the bands recent and rather excellent collaboration with Geo Moon, “Run Boy” the subject matter here is domestic abuse.
Taylor said this about the song and its meaning; “The track is about domestic abuse, the words are everything I wanted to say when my abuser was berating me. The build-up is meant to get people to start shouting ‘shut your mouth’ with the track when the final chorus hits. It’s meant to reignite the fire that victims feel has died when they escape domestic abuse and boost confidence.” You can hear and feel Taylor reigniting her fire and hopefully this message will help other victims of domestic abuse in their recovery from what must be a truly awful experience. It is something I have never encountered personally, so I can only imagine how it is for domestic abuse victims. After listening to this great track click here to check out Refuge’s website, they do some wonderful work helping and supporting those who have been affected by domestic abuse!
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Delilah Bon, rap rock superhero alter ego of Hands Off Gretel lead singer Lauren Tate released another brilliant single recently. It is called “I Don’t Listen To You” and it is the very definition of bad ass. Once again Delilah takes aim at misogyny, sexism, bullying and the patriarchy. It is clear that her aim is more than true as she smashes the centerpiece of the target into oblivion. Is it possible to enhance such a stunningly great track? When you have the support of thousands of loyal fans who share your ideals it is. Lauren has created a video for the single after 10,000 Spotify streams and more than 60,000 followers on TikTok.
Lauren has spoken about the genesis of the track; “The song began as a short empowering message for my TikTok fans. It blew up overnight with other 60K views and hundreds of fan made videos. My inbox filled up with girls begging me to release the full song, thanking me for the confidence the words gave them. I got to work and in 72 hours I produced an entire song. It was really an empowering moment for myself as a writer and producer knowing my words were so important for people. I told my fans “I want to see you strutting your stuff, screaming along with me, I want you to own your sexuality and give the middle finger.”
The film is made up of mimed contributions from a wide range of her fans. It is made by women, for women and represents empowerment for women on International Women’s Day. This film is a call to arms to help the world take that leap forward that might one day mean that International Women’s Day is no longer needed as women reach a true gender parity of rights and conditions with men. But sadly that is years away. The theme of this years International Women’s Day is “Choose To Challenge” and with this song Delilah/ Lauren is calling on all her fans to challenge the norm. Today is all about awareness but the fight for gender parity never stops, but you know that. So to all those Bad Ass Queen Bees out there keep the fight going, don’t let up and never give up! This bloke is right with you! I am pleased to say I actually recognised one of the contributors to the video, the supremely talented Taylor-Grace Mitchell from a great British band, Not Now Norman.
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