Monday, Monday. So good to me. All I hoped it would be. Monday, Monday. Can’t trust that day. How could you leave and not take me? Make your minds up Mama’s and Papa’s!! Let our choice cuts of choice choons take you with them. Nice? Really nice!!!
Bull – Stuck!
Why we love it: Bull are back again. York’s favourite alt-rock sons have returned with ‘Stuck!’, their brand new single and the opening track to be taken from their forthcoming EP Stuck between the Virtual and Physical World which will be released by EMI on the 1st of July. ‘Stuck!’ marks the band’s first new material since they released their critically acclaimed debut album Discover Effortless Living in March of last year.
Talking about the new song, Bull’s frontman Tom Beer says “‘Stuck!’ is about a character who is on a journey between the virtual and physical world. They see the entire universe but can’t get back to reality or hold onto the virtual world leaving them Stuck! ‘Stuck!’ is Bull’s answer to Smash Mouth‘s ‘All Star’.”
Most folks will probably remember ‘All Star’ from its ubiquity in many films including Mystery Men, Inspector Gadget and, perhaps most famously, Shrek, at the turn of the millennium and ‘Stuck!’ certainly shares the same zany, infectious characteristics of that song, but where it wins hands down over the 1999 hit is by having some great footage of The Crescent – York’s finest live music venue – in its accompanying video. (Simon Godley)
Ruby Gill – Public Panic Attacks
Why We Love It: because it is such a brutally honest description of anxiety and panic in such an up-beat and positive way. It starts so gently with finger picked acoustic guitar but turns in an instant to a paranoid, jittery description of that moment when you suddenly can’t breathe and you go into a tailspin, and all you want is for it to end. Unlike the song, which is such an earworm that you’ll be singing it all day.
South Africa born, Australia based Ruby says of the track the she was suddenly having panic attacks in car parks and thought “interesting – this is not the first time I’ve had a panic attack in a public parking lot. I had to start figuring out exactly why I kept freaking out and how to make it stop.” (Jim Auton)
LUIANNA – Heroin
Why We Love It: Bathed in harmonic textures and pulsing beats with ‘Heroin‘, LUIANNA crafts an enveloping alt pop tune, meditative and hypnotic she delves into her family background and growth. Wonderful vocals simmer with a loss that meditates on her absent father. This is a subtle song that holds immense promise.
LUIANNA elaborates, “this song was written about my Dad. The music was written to feel out and describe the feeling of the lyrics and the story in my life, a gentile start going into noisy chaos”.
LUIANNA was born in London, brought up in South Wales and has since spent the past fifteen years between Bristol and Berlin. Her upcoming EP ‘Skiá‘ was recorded in The Famous Gold Watch Studio in Berlin. (Bill Cummings)
Minru – Secrets and Sins
Why We Love It: Minru is the project of Caroline Blomqvist. The debut album from the Scandinavian weaves together the threads of Americana, jazz to form delicious shots of subtle, orchestral pop. Sensitive and sonorous ‘Secrets And Sins’ is invested with Minru’s whispering Scandi tones that details loss, whispering secrets to navigate her feelings. Its feather light and wonderfully refreshing, like a blanket covering your body. Offering a tantalizing glimpse of her forthcoming album.
She says “It deals with that feeling of ‘loss of control’ when you lose someone. When making this song, I think I needed in some way to balance the ‘heaviness’ behind it with a warmer, catchier arrangement. So in the end it turned out, at least musically, as perhaps the brightest song on the album”.
“I read that (Swiss psychiatrist) Carl Jung used the word “Liminality” to describe the psychological process of transitioning. I instantly felt seen; it reflected my own experience and the feelings I carried whilst making the album – a sense of the old certainties being gone, but the new not being quite there yet,” she says. (Bill Cummings)
Exit Kid – Out of Time
Why We Love It: Emre Türkmen (guitar, vocals) was previously in Years and Years and met Dylan Bell (drums) during the band’s 2017 tour. They went on to found ‘Metal Night’- a weekly backstage event where they’d rally the roadies and play 90’s and 00’s hard rock as loud as was tolerable. And so the origins of Exit Kid were created and the duo have now released their new single ‘Out of Time’.
The track begins with a slow heavy drum and guitar vibe which then blends into Emre’s ethereal vocals. ‘Out of Time’ becomes more empowering as it progresses and the repetition of the lyrics: “Running out of time, out of time, out of time” make us take notice. Life is indeed short and we need to appreciate the present, rather than be stuck in the past or fret about the future. The passion is encapsulated in the soundscape as opposed to the vocal, and the track simply gently trails off at the end, which powerfully leaves us with a lingering thought to consider.
Emre further expands on the inspiration behind the track: “’Out Of Time’ is a song about holding on tight to the important things. We should all strive to live in the present because the clock is ticking”. (Julia Mason)
Cola – Fulton
Why We Love It: Cola have released the final single ‘Fulton Park’ from their debut LP Deep In View which will be released on Friday 20 May via Fire Talk Records. Cola is the new project from former Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and US Girls/The Weather Station drummer Evan Cartwright.
‘Fulton Park’ starts with one vibe and within 25 seconds shifts gear into something completely different. Very beat driven, it then has a midtrack flow which slows everything down again with the breezy chorus before picking up again for the verses. ‘Fulton Park’ feels experimental with its unpredictable ebbs and flows, which create an originality to the track
Tim says of the track: “Ben and I had a flow writing this record where we would send each other demos every Friday. It was a really motivating way to write, as I would spend the week working on something but then get the bonus of hearing what Ben had written when I sent him my track. I heard ‘Fulton Park’ and was immediately excited to work on vocals for it. It’s such an interesting instrumental. These lush almost psychedelic guitars in the intro and chorus are paired with this really stripped down almost honky tonk verse. It conjured in my mind this kind of old west imagery. I suppose looking back on the lyrics now, that same kind of juxtaposition is present. Similar to Landers, it takes a look at the natural world and then the odd, magical, sometimes empty things that humans do on that landscape.” (Julia Mason)
Shady Baby – Come to Life
Why We Love It: Shady Baby is the latest signing to Nice Swan Records, home of amongst others Sprints, Courting, English Teacher and Opus Kink.
It’s the musical project of Brighton-based Sam Leaver, who bored and frustrated during lockdown, like many others turned to music. Approaching Brighton-based producer Theo Verney (English Teacher, FUR, Egyptian Blue, TRAAMS etc) with his early demos, the two instantly formed a musical bond working closely together. Leaver then enlisted the support of old childhood friend Laurie Debnam on guitar after bumping into him at a house party in Brighton after not seeing each other in a decade. Nick Varnava (Bass) and Tom Jackson (Drums) complete the line-up.
Shady Baby have now released their debut single ‘Come To Life’. It’s a guitar bands response to that all too common of situations, putting up with people who treat us like shit and how we handle it. Usually it’s to put our head in the sand and then subsequently we get angry with ourselves. Not healthy. This is a confident start for Shady Baby. All guitars and drums it’s a tight debut for the 4-piece. The key change at about a third in leads to a lift in the power of the track, with a sense of that increasing frustration, and a neat ending with a touch of reverb on the guitar.
Expanding on the track, Leaver said: “‘Come To Life’ is an angry response to feeling like people treated you like shit but you let them get away with it. Feeling both angry at them but also at yourself for letting it happen.” (Julia Mason)
Bikini Body -Young Dad
Why We Love It: Edinburgh band Bikini Body have released their new single ‘Young Dad’. Previous singles have included ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘So Posh’ and they take a humorous if pointed observation of various sections of society. Rather than being political which so many contemporary bands feed on for their inspiration, Bikini Body take a slightly quirkier approach, gently goading those whose human traits are slightly ridiculous. The post-punk angular style is the perfect accompaniment to the lyrical content, and ‘Young Dad’ is no exception.
As the band further explained in a recent interview: “’Young Dad’ is an observation of the arc of the millennial British male through their 20s. It’s a jeering, aggy little number that’s intended to jab and poke you in the ribs rather than start a full-on fist fight.”
Bikini Body have a new band member in Harry Volker (guitar, percussion) and they bring a breadth and harmony to the band. Alongwith lead singer Vicky Kavanagh, Kyle Peterson (bass), Josh Booker (guitar) and Dan O’Gorman (drums) Bikini Body are busy with gigs scheduled, and fingers-crossed we can hope for a follow-up to 2020’s debut EP Pond Life soon. (Julia Mason)
