What’s the best thing about this week? No, it’s not my birthday. Yes, that’s right, it’s Pancake Day. Or Shrove Tuesday if you prefer and are planning on giving something up for 40 days on Wednesday. I am. I’m giving up, giving up, giving a fuck.
Anyway, one thing we’re not giving up and that’s bringing you the best in brand new music every Monday, so that won’t be changing. No sir. Smashing. Nice. Here’s 8 bops, jams, dittiez, no shittiez. Totes. Word. Alright.
Nerves – Thirteen
Why we love it: Nerves recently made their UK debut with a loud, sweaty and cathartic show in the Windmill Brixton and a French debut at a heaving Supersonic in Paris. They have now released their new single ‘Thirteen’. The experimental punk band from the west of Ireland blast forth with a track full of gothic undertones. Menacing yet energetic it begins in a swirl of sound. However there is a sudden halt and it becomes crisp and clear before ramping up again. Thundering along with a vocal full of feeling ‘Thirteen’ will again surprise the listener. The percussive drum beat and background guitar riff are gentle yet tight. ‘Thirteen’ is epic in the true sense of the word. Rather than the march to the verse chorus verse pattern, it seems to tell a story within the soundscape. The tension ebbs and flows throughout the track and the listener is wrapped within this landscape of sound.
Nerves debut EP Glórach is set for release on 15 March alongside a vinyl run in collaboration with Galway’s Blowtorch Records. With shows in Europe, and an Irish/UK tour coming alongside the EP release, Nerves are ready to grab 2024 by the scruff of the neck and make it their own. (Julia Mason)
WRKHOUSE – Getaway
Why we love it: Highly danceable, alternative synth pop telling a story, a relatable message of the unfortunate demise of a relationship. The song starts simple drum and vocal, building, building with synths and harmonies into an emotional swell before the drums crank up the big drama of it all. The path to love isn’t always an easy one, we’ve all been there lads. Might as well write a quality pop song to go with it.
The newly bi-lingual Welsh quartet are 2024 BBC Horizons Launchpad Fund awardees, and with ‘Getaway‘ the newly christened WRKHOUSE – previously Welsh-language iteration Lewys – have won great praise from Adam Walton from BBC Introducing Wales. ‘It’s glorious, towering, anthemic, and gives you the sense that you can take on the world. I love the sense of space, propulsiveness, and power, and it reminds me a little of Songs from the Big Chair era Tears for Fears,’ he said. (Cath Holland)
Angelica Garcia – Juanita
Why we love it: Angélica Garcia first came to my attention when I heard Craig Charles play her track ‘Y Grito’ twice in a row! The LA-based singer/songwriter and experimental pop auteur has now released her new single, the cumbia-inspired ‘Juanita’ about a limitless woman. The track was borne in 2020, as Garcia was sitting before an altar that she constructed in her bedroom, a culmination of her new inquiry into ancestral veneration: looking into the past to inform the present with familial knowledge. Raised by her Mexican and El Salvadoran family, with an Episcopal priest father in a traditional Latino family structure, she has devoted her recent years to the process of deconstructing religion, spirit, heritage, and womanhood, confronting grief and healing. The resulting passion and emotion seeps through ‘Juanita’, and the quality of the vocal is obvious. It soars, and yet there is also a touch of chaos in parts, as in life.
On the production style and lyrical weight of the song, Garcia shares:
“Many cumbias have lyrics about pain and longing… My intention was for the tension and confusion in the song to feel like remembering a past life. I wanted to capture what the shadow side of grief does to us. ”
The official video for ‘Juanita,’ starring Garcia, was directed by Sonia Malfa, an award-winning documentary filmmaker from Puerto Rico, and explores liberation from restrictive gender roles through its dualling characters. Steeped in Garcia’s love for her culture and passions for visual poetry and storytelling, the black and white video further explores spirituality and Angélica’s Latin heritage.
Garcia has announced a trio of UK dates in June in Bristol, Manchester and London. In addition she is confirmed for SXSW and The Great Escape festivals. (Julia Mason)
The Hanging Stars – Sweet Light
Why we love it: because, let’s be honest, The Hanging Stars never produce a bad track. And ‘Sweet Light’ readily confirms that assertion. Taken from the band’s forthcoming fifth album, On a Golden Shore – out on the 8th of March on Loose Records – this latest single from the London five-piece is yet another gem.
Described as a “yearning anthem to a love once lost”, the longing that lies at the heart of ‘Sweet Light’ is further emphasised by some gently mesmerising pedal steel guitar. The song puts me in mind of the psychedelic country hum and inherent reflections upon a burned-out relationship that percolates through much of The War on Drugs’ third album Lost in the Dream. It is a similarly detailed offering here that blossoms into something rather wonderful. It promises much for the new album and The Hanging Stars’ upcoming live dates. (Simon Godley)
Big Special – Dust Off/Start Again
Why we love it: Black Country duo Big Special share their first new music of 2024, ‘Dust Off / Start Again’. It’s an instantly captivating track, switching between acerbic spoken word and soulful vocals. In fact it’s striking to note that both are led by the voice of Joe Hicklin. The rhythm throughout is reminiscent of a chain gang march. ‘Dust Off / Start Again’ is somehow huge, if a song can be huge. It’s both passionate and dramatic, and that swing between the vocal styles is gut-wrenching. Thematically the song states the mental health impact of failed government policy on a generation. It acknowledges that there should always be hope of starting again after a fall, but also states that life shouldn’t be a cycle of building yourself up only to be knocked down again.
“Don’t die lad, I need you in on Monday.”
Hicklin shares the following on the track:
“’DUST OFF / START AGAIN’ is a bolt of cursed vomit, spewed into a stewpot of English class issues regarding housing, ownership, mental illness, appropriation and human rights. It’s about the disregard for the common man. And how it is expected of anyone, regardless of their situation, to carry on, struggle through and go to work. It’s about how the privileged and powerful attempt to define, debate and justify the social positions of all whilst the ideals of our governing systems are pressed upon the working-class youth, so that they quietly accept their role as a commodity and place blame on each other, as they wave the flag that keeps them down.”
Hicklin is joined in Big Special by drummer Callum Moloney and together they have announced their debut album Postindustrial Hometown Blues set for release on 10 May via SO Recordings. In support they will also set out on an extensive tour beginning in Cardiff in April and finishing at Leeds/Reading Festival in August. I’ll see you down the front. (Julia Mason)
Black Cat Bone – Shake it!
Why we love it: because who in their right mind doesn’t care for a bit of good ol’ fashioned rock’n’roll? Edinburgh rockers Black Cat Bone adopt a refreshingly no-nonsense approach to their trade and this much is evident on their latest single, ‘Shake it!’ Destined for their highly anticipated studio album, Tales of the Amplified, ‘Shake it!’ grinds out a suitably sleazy groove from the outset over which singer Ross Craig growls. Craig then adds some delightful wailing Delta blues harmonica before the song heads off in the direction of the Scottish capital’s La Belle Angele on Saturday 6th April for what will be Black Cat Bone’s biggest hometown show to date and also the launch party for the new album. (Simon Godley)
Gurriers – Des Goblin
Why we love it: Dublin based Gurriers release new single, ‘Des Goblin’. It’s their fourth and follows ‘Approachable’, ‘Sign of the Times’ and ‘Nausea’. Anyone who has heard these songs may be surprised to learn that ‘Des Goblin’ takes it up a notch or two. The electricity of the opening guitar riff merges into a psych twist on ‘Des Goblin’ with a gloriously twanging guitar. The thunderous drums and impassioned vocal all build until a calmness descends mid-track. The foreboding vocal begins to build again …. until the opening riff returns and then mayhem quickly descends. The twists and turns in ‘Des Goblin’ are gripping with all parts combining to produce a monumentous whole.
Speaking of the new single, lead singer Dan Hoff said: “’Des Goblin’ is about apathy and self-obsession in the face of impending destruction, particularly to do with the effects of climate change and war and people being too obsessed with themselves and their online personas to be able to see the wood for the trees. Musically we pulled from further afield than previously, and really leaned in on our dance influences as well as a more fluent spoken word style vocal.”
The accompanying video is directed by one of the band’s guitarists, Ben O’Neill. It portrays a nightmarish end of the world fever dream, interwoven with a performance from Hoff. Be warned, it may be a challenging watch for those sensitive to flashing images. Gurriers have also announced that Charlie McCarthy will be joining the band on bass. Charlie replaces Emmet White who departs the band on amicable terms. Charlie has previously played live with Gurriers, standing in for Emmet last year for festival shows at Haldern Pop in Germany and Off in Poland. (Julia Mason)
Melvins – Working the Ditch
Why we love it: because Melvins do not disappoint. I mean they have been cranking out this stuff – essential variants of grunge, hardcore punk, drone, and sludge metal – for more than 40 years now and they aren’t ever going to change any time soon. King Buzzo is still at the helm and he steers this incarnation of the Melvins’ mothership towards the release of what by my reckoning will be their 29th album on 19th April. That record is called Tarantula Heart and this single taken from it is ‘Working the Ditch.’ I don’t think you need to know much more than that about ‘Working the Ditch.’ Just give it a blast. It will do you good. (Simon Godley)
